THE government has been challenged to prove its worth after new statistics revealed that more public-sector jobs have been created over the past five years than in the private sector.
The annual Labour Market report, produced by Statistics Jersey, reveals that between 2018 and 2023, the total number of private-sector jobs increased by 1,490 – up 2.7% – while public-sector roles increased by 1,570 – up by 20%.
The government departments with the largest annual increase in staff were Children, Young People, Education and Skills (up 230), the Chief Operating Office (up 70) and Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (up 50).
The rise prompted one senior backbencher to voice concern over whether the 20% increase in public-sector jobs over the past five years has been fully justified, while Reform Jersey’s leader said that the figures showed that attempts to streamline the civil service introduced by former chief executive Charlie Parker had been a “failure”.
Deputy Steve Luce said: “There are some encouraging statistics in the report, such as the return to pre-Covid job levels for hospitality, but, for me, the headline is the differential between the public and private sectors.
“A 4.9% increase in public-sector jobs over the past year raises more than an eyebrow, and then there’s a 20% increase since the Ian Gorst government of 2018. They are both concerning figures.
“I firmly believe that education is key, so I can support the increase there, as I can the increase at the Environment and Infrastructure departments, but 70 jobs in the Chief Operating Office? This is a new feature for the government and I’m not sure what it is doing or achieving.”
Deputy Luce, a former Environment Minister, said: “We hear a lot about the drive to increase productivity, so if we are doing that at the same time as increasing staff numbers, I think the public would expect to see a lot more happening.
“You have to ask, what exactly are we getting for our extra 20%?”
Successive governments have pledged to get a handle on civil-service headcount – without much success, according to statistics.
It emerged last year that the number of public-sector workers had grown by 800 since the launch of the OneGov streamlining model led by former chief executive Charlie Parker, which was designed to drive efficiencies.
Earlier this year, Chief Minister Kristina Moore – speaking at an Institute of Directors event – said that the government could not keep recruiting staff while there was an acute shortage of housing and that the public sector must increase productivity to “deliver value for money”. Figures published subsequently revealed that the civil service had grown further.
Reform Jersey leader Deputy Sam Mézec said: “The Charlie Parker reforms were meant to lead to a more lean and efficient public sector, yet these figures show that there has been a significant increase in public-sector headcount in that time.
“The reforms were clearly a failure, and unfortunately a lot of energy is now being expended on reversing them. We have severe pressures in parts of our public services right now, especially Health, which does not seem to be an area that has had the same kind of growth as others. One area that has been expanded massively in recent years is communications, where our staffing and expenditure levels far exceed our neighbours, for little tangible benefit to Islanders’ lives.”
The Labour Market report does note that the proportion of all jobs in Jersey that were core government jobs in June, at 12.4%, was very similar to the mean for the last two decades.
There were 6,720 people working for the civil service in June 2018, compared to 8,070 people this June. Adding those on zero-hours contracts, people working for the parishes, trading bodies and the Jersey Development Company, the number of public-sector jobs rose from 7,700 in 2018 to 9,270 this year.
Commenting on the rise, Constable Andy Jehan, who as vice-chair of the States’ Employment Board has a key role in recruitment policy, said: “Inevitably, we will need more teachers if we are going to improve outcomes for young Islanders and better support those with complex needs.
“We have listened, which is why we have recruited 100 new teaching assistants, and we still have vacancies to fill.
“While we certainly need to look at how we can automate back-office jobs, we need face-to-face employees, especially in Health and Education.
“We have to make sure we are putting resources where they are needed and challenging in other areas to make sure we are getting efficiencies.”
He added: “In SEB, we are focused on measuring what people are doing, how they are performing and ensuring that we do not need to bring in people when we have talented people already who can do the job.
“Yes, there is a lot of work to do, and SEB takes each application for a senior post very seriously and challenging whether it is needed.
“The front-line staff in some areas need more people, not less, but in other areas we certainly need to see more efficiencies, greater use of technology and more creativity.”
Mark Grimley, chief people and transformation officer, said: “In terms of growth in numbers, these are set out in each Government Plan and include:
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Over 120 new teaching assistants.
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Growth in the number of police officers.
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Investment in fire and ambulance staffing levels.
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Major projects for ITS, the new healthcare facilities programme, electronic patient records and cyber security.
“There has been a recent focus on filling vacant posts for teachers, teaching assistants, doctors and nurses, which provides long-term savings,” he added. “A new accommodation service to manage any new starters from out of the Island was recently launched while investment is being made in more Island-based training through Highlands for teaching, nursing and social work alongside apprenticeships and internships to reduce out-of-Island recruitment needs.”
In numbers
Looking back at the last 12 months from June, when the annual snapshot was taken, there was a total increase across all sectors of 1,360 jobs, a 2.1% increase to 65,010.
Breaking that down, there was an increase of 930 jobs (1.7%) in the private sector, and a rise of 430 jobs in the public sector (4.9%), driven by an increase in the number of ‘core’ government employees, rather than those on zero-hours contracts or not working directly for the civil service.
