Jersey's Chief Minister hints at public sector job losses

Jersey's Chief Minister says the island's public sector could shrink over the next two years, with potential job cuts within the Cabinet Office and upper management.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham made the comments as he was questioned by Scrutiny.

The Cabinet Office was created by Deputy Farnham's predecessor as Chief Minister, Kristina Moore, during her first 100 days in the job.It brought together several existing government departments aiming to make things more efficient.

Recent figures showed it employs nearly 650 people and costs £79 million a year to run.

Read: £79M spend on Cabinet Office is a 'farce'

Deputy Farnham has told a scrutiny panel that he wants non-essential work to be re-prioritised, and the public sector's structure reviewed by 2026.

He confirmed he is looking at the Cabinet Office, communications and layers of management across the civil service, as well as the use of outside consultants.

Read: Previous government spent £58m on consultants

Following the Scrutiny hearing, the Common Strategic Policy Review Panel expressed concern about possible  job losses and said it wanted more details of where they might occur. 

“The Panel is keen to receive the updated reprioritisation of the 2024 budget and to be kept informed of any further developments around the potential job losses mentioned by the Chief Minister during the hearing.”

At the end of 2023, there were a record 9,450 States jobs.

Read: Jersey's public sector reaches another record size

It was also revealed during the scrutiny hearing that details of how ministers will fund their 12 priorities before the end of their term of office will be published on 9 July.

A new Government Plan is being drawn up following the change of leadership in January. 

Scrutiny has told the Chief Minister that, while the aims focus on what needs to be delivered before the next election in two years' time,  challenges such as the ageing population and the future economy must also be addressed.