CUSTOMER and Local Services is being officially rebranded as the Employment, Social Security and Housing Department today.
The government said the change would better reflect the department’s core responsibilities – pensions, benefits, housing advice, long-term care, and employment services – and align with the portfolio of Social Security Minister Lyndsay Feltham.
Staff were expected to move from La Motte Street today to the new £90m government headquarters on Union Street.
Deputy Feltham said: “This name change reflects the main purpose and day-to-day work within the department.
“With the department moving to the new Union Street building, this feels like the perfect time to make the update.”
Despite the name change, the government said that ministerial responsibilities would remain unchanged.
The Employment, Social Security and Housing Department is the latest piece of rebranding from the government.
In 2019, the “States of Jersey” was replaced with “Government of Jersey”.
This came as former chief executive Charlie Parker worked through his OneGov plan to tear up the structure of government and create several new departments.
This also meant renaming and merging existing ones.
In 2021, the Children’s portfolio was split from the Housing brief and the Education Minister became the Children’s and Education Minister.
However, the portfolios were split again earlier this year, creating two distinct roles: Education Minister and Children’s Minister.
And last year, the Environment Minister was renamed Minister for Energy and Environment to reflect the priority of carbon neutrality.
Similarly, the Economic Development Minister, as it is still called in the pages of the JEP, became the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development.
The now-Infrastructure and Environment (I&E) Department was first created in 2018 as the Growth, Housing and Island Environment (GHE) Department.
In 2019, the then-Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham suggested that work to do with the economy should be removed from the department’s remit.
The suggestion was acted on in early 2020, with a decision taken to create a separate “Economy” function, sitting within the Office of the Chief Executive.
With the “growth” (economy) section having left, GHE’s name was then changed to Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (IHE) in late 2020.
Last year, the department – one of the government’s largest – underwent its third rebrand in just five years.
The most recent change removed Housing from the department, leaving just Infrastructure and Environment.
Infrastructure alone has gone through several rebrands, and was previously known as Transport and Technical Services (TTS) and, before that, Public Works.
