JERSEY’s arms-length bodies “create work for each other”, according to the government’s chief executive – who has warned the Island could be spending “too much money within the system”.
Dr Andrew McLaughlin told members of the Public Accounts Committee the issue formed part of the “complexity of governance in Jersey”.
The Public Accounts Committee is currently undertaking a review into the governance surrounding government-owned arm’s-length bodies and organisations.
A report published by the Comptroller and Auditor General last year outlined a list of 38 arm’s-length bodies, including States-owned entities such as Ports of Jersey.
Referencing the work of naval historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson – who published observations on the nature of bureaucracy and administration – Dr McLaughlin said: “When you create so many chief executives and so forth across all these bodies, they will hire subordinates and you will get growth.”
He added: “They then create work, because they create work for each other. So you then create this infrastructure where you’re actually talking to each other and generating work between this agency and that agency.
“That in itself leads to a kind of growth which, usually, has a problematic relationship with productivity and effectiveness.”
Dr McLaughlin continued: “That’s what Parkinson is calling out and that’s really what I’m calling out in the complexity of governance in Jersey.
“Between all the different things we’ve created, for good reasons or not, actually trying to run it now – it’s beset by Parkinson’s Law.
“I’m just worried that we’re spending too much money within the system talking to each other and not enough money on what really matters to Islanders.”
