As reported, more than £700,000 has been set aside for the Chief Minister’s Department to run internal communications over the next three years as part of a project to modernise and streamline States departments.
Nick Corbel, regional representative of Unite the Union, said that the amount of money being ‘wasted’ by the government while hundreds of staff face the prospect of redundancy was staggering.
About £70 million worth of staffing cuts were agreed by Members within the 2015 Medium Term Financial Plan as part of plans to plug a £145 million shortfall in Jersey’s finances by 2019.
And the States also unveiled a workforce modernisation programme as part of a project to streamline and create savings in the public sector by cutting jobs and outsourcing some public services.
The £700,000 is to be spent on providing media and material for workforce modernisation campaigns, monthly staff events and roadshows, arranging departmental visits by the States chief executive and creating an organisation-wide newsletter about public sector reform.
Mr Corbel also criticised the use of public relations agencies to ‘promote propaganda’ after it emerged last week that more than £250,000 had been spent on external communications advice since 2012. He said: ‘To spend £700,000 is completely disproportionate from what the States intends to do.
