JERSEY’s children’s rights watchdog is struggling to recruit and retain staff with the right skills and experience, a new report has revealed – and the situation is set to get worse due to government budget cuts and a public sector recruitment freeze.
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner 2024 annual report warned that Jersey’s small pool of professionals trained in children’s rights and safeguarding is limiting the watchdog’s ability to build the team it needs to deliver its statutory duties.
“OCCJ cannot recruit and retain appropriately trained and skilled staff because there is a limited pool of people in Jersey with relevant experience as well as limited training available,” the report reads.
“In addition, Government budget cuts and recruitment freeze will make this more challenging.”
Despite progress in promoting children’s rights across Jersey, including setting up a new strategic plan and working directly with hundreds of young Islanders, the report added that the Office’s work was being hampered by wider resourcing pressures.
“There is insufficient resourcing to deliver on the statutory functions and duties of the Office due to cuts in the OCCJ budget from 2025 onwards,” it reads.
Children’s Commissioner Dr Carmel Corrigan said: “The issue of limited skills pool in Jersey is a result of the fact that the Island has a relatively small population, and the experience of children’s rights here is relatively new.
“The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was extended to the Island just ten years ago, so it will take time for experience and knowledge specifically around children’s rights to build and become evident in the workforce. Hopefully, that is something that will become less relevant and less evident over time.”
She added: “What makes recruitment more difficult is the budget cuts and the recruitment freezes that we have been subject to. The risk of reduced funding is not related to an unwillingness on our behalf to work effectively and efficiently under tight budget constraints. We have always done that, and we are willing to do that.
“Rather, I think the question is one of protecting and safeguarding this office’s independence. We are the only human rights institution in Jersey, and our independence is enshrined in the law, and it’s absolutely essential.
“The government has a duty under the law to adequately support us to carry out our functions and duties, and that should protect us from having to restrict our ability to do that because of funding pressures from the government.
“If we’re genuinely going to protect children’s rights, then we have to remain empowered to challenge, scrutinise and act without fear or favour to anybody. But to do so, we need to be adequately resourced. And that’s the real question about being under budgetary pressure.”
“I feel very strongly that if the Office is not resourced to do its job effectively, then it will have a knock-on impact on children’s rights in Jersey because we are the only children’s rights organisation.
“If we’re not standing up for children’s rights and protecting and promoting them and informing and influencing government policy and law, providing opportunities for engagement, raising awareness of children’s rights, amongst children, amongst adults, among the professionals – then who else is? There is no other body to do it.
“Therefore, it will have a knock-on effect on children’s rights, and it will have a knock-on effect on children, because who else is going to take that right lens and critically scrutinise policy, law and provision on their behalf?”
“We’re currently in discussions with the Children’s Minister and government officials who are very heavily involved in this process about how we can meet our duties and function, and about the extent to which we can continue to take cuts without it affecting us meeting our statutory obligations, and also where we don’t have a lot of scope for economies of scale in our very small team.”
The office was created to promote and protect children’s rights and has powers to investigate breaches of children’s rights, advise Government, and represent young people both locally and internationally.
