The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, released today, details total salary packages for chief executives – including pensions, bonuses and other payments. Remuneration deals range from over £400,000 for Graeme Millar, chief executive officer at Jersey Telecom, to under £100,000 for the CEO of the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (the Jersey branch of CICRA), Michael Byrne. Guernsey gives Mr Byrne a separate remuneration package.
Packages for the chief executives of Jersey Post, Jersey Water, Andium Homes, Digital Jersey, the Jersey Development Company, Ports of Jersey and Jersey Finance all range between £200,000 and £300,000.
The Jersey Financial Services Commission chief executive’s deal exceeds £300,000, while the head of Jersey Electricity, Chris Ambler, receives a remuneration package of just under £400,000.
The heads of Visit Jersey, the Data Protection Authority, Jersey Heritage and the Jersey Employment Trust receive packages in excess of £100,000.
There is a similar spread of payments made to board members and chairmen, from organisations where members give their time free of charge – like the Jersey Employment Trust and Jersey Heritage – to the Jersey Financial Services Commission, where payments of around £150,000 and nearly £400,000 are made respectively to the chairman and non-executive directors of the organisation.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report says that effective relationships between the States and the bodies examined in the report are essential to the delivery of high-quality public services and it concludes that the main issue facing government is to ensure that payments are appropriate to the circumstances of the organisation concerned.
It accepts that variation in remuneration is inevitable but it says that arrangements should be ‘objectively justifiable’, which it says is difficult to demonstrate at present in the absence of an ‘overarching policy’ which should set out the parameters for remuneration packages.
The report recommends that a new body is established to take on responsibility for the oversight of remuneration arrangements. Currently, Ms McConnell says that it is not obvious where that responsibility would lie.
‘The establishment of a high-profile board drawing together senior officers with an interest in finance, policy, delivery and governance would provide a focus for the oversight of such bodies which is urgently needed,’ Ms McConnell said.
‘Without a clear framework it is difficult to demonstrate the appropriateness of board remuneration and to ensure that good governance is being maintained. But, perhaps as importantly, the lack of a clear framework together with weaknesses in oversight of the varied bodies funded by the States can lead to poor relationships with a consequent potential impact on services.’
Although the report highlights what the Comptroller and Auditor General describes as ‘tense exchanges’ between government and Andium Homes over the remuneration paid to its two senior officers, it takes a broader view of the challenges facing government in managing relationships with organisations that receive government funding.
‘This report has focused on remuneration but reinforces my concern, as reflected in many previous reports, that insufficient priority has been given to overseeing the relationship with companies, statutory bodies and funded bodies.
‘In my view strengthened oversight is necessary, including through determining and monitoring compliance with minimum corporate governance requirements,’ she said.
