A REVIEW of arm’s-length organisations funded by the Economic Development Department has been shelved, its minister has confirmed.
Deputy Kirsten Morel said that the review – which was to have been completed by the end of last year – would no longer take place because of a combination of workload pressures and the number of strategic documents currently being produced affecting a number of the organisations with which they work.
He told the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel that the review had “metamorphosed” into a single “deep-dive” review of Jersey Sport, which he said they would continue in the future with the other organisations, as well as working in a forum with them “to ensure they are working as efficiently as possible”.
A number of previous reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General have highlighted issues of accountability between the government and the ALOs that it funds.
A 2017 review of relationships with some of these bodies, including four funded by the Economic Development Department, recommended that the government “adopt a States-wide approach to structured review of ALOs, challenging whether functions are still needed, whether the route for service delivery remains the most appropriate, whether greater value for money can be secured and whether the lead department remains appropriate.”
Responding to questions from Scrutiny panel member Constable Richard Honeycombe, Deputy Morel said that the change of approach did not affect their scrutiny of the objectives of the organisations they fund.
“We are always looking at the KPIs of the ALOs and each is being looked at… to understand whether the KPIs are suitable and help us to understand their economic impact,” he said.
The Economic Development Department has agreements in place with many of the highest profile ALOs, including Visit Jersey, Jersey Heritage and the funded arts organisations.
Deputy Morel said that they were about to complete a detailed review of Jersey Sport which he said he would be happy to share with the panel “in the next couple of months”.
Challenged by panel chair Deputy Moz Scott, the minister conceded that he did not have a timetable for any comparable reviews of the other ALOs, nor could he give a date for conclusion of the work, but he added: “We are determined to understand and make sure that the ALOs are structured in a way which means that they deliver the best for their sectors of the economy and operating in a way which is efficient. I already have views about some of the inefficiencies in ALOs and that is something we will be doing in the year ahead.”
