THE GOVERNMENT is yet to begin the search for a “successor” to its most senior civil servant – despite there being little more than a year before the current chief executive’s contract ends, the JEP has learned.
However, while an official recruitment process is yet to begin, it’s emerged that work is underway to ensure internal candidates have the “best possible chance” at competing for the role.
Interim government chief executive Dr Andrew McLaughlin initially took up the post in September 2023 on a nine-month contract but this has since been extended, and he will now finish at the end of 2026 – making him the longest serving non-permanent leader the Island’s public service has ever had.
Recruitment for a government chief executive can often be a lengthy process, with several rounds of interviews and any one offered the job likely to have a six- to 12-month notice period before starting the role.
However, the government did not confirm whether a recruitment process had started or was due to start when approached by the JEP for comment.
States Employment Board vice-chair Deputy Malcolm Ferey simply said that “all options regarding a recruitment process to find [Dr Andrew McLaughlin’s] successor will be considered”.
Dr McLaughlin was appointed following the shock departure in March 2023 of former head of the civil service Suzanne Wylie, who had only been in the job for 12 months. In her resignation letter, she stated that her departure would “open the opportunity to assess” the role of government chief executive and whether certain aspects of it needed changing.
In 2020, Charlie Parker resigned from the public sector’s top job following revelations that he had accepted a second job on the board of UK real estate firm New River.
Union leaders and successive civil service workplace surveys since then have highlighted how instability at the top levels of government dented morale among workers, while the Public Accounts Committee has on numerous occasions questioned how goals could be set and tangible progress made without a permanent appointment.
Comptroller and Auditor General Lynn Pamment added to concerns about the lack of leadership stability in a critical report last year and called for a “robust strategy” to avoid further failed recruitment drives.
In a separate report published in March 2025, Ms Pamment highlighted that more than £300,000 – equivalent to more than a year’s pay for a chief executive – had been spent on CEO recruitment over the last four years without a successful permanent appointment being made since 2022.
A process to find a permanent successor for Dr McLaughlin was opened in November 2023 but stopped abruptly in January 2024.
The closing date for applications was due to be in mid-January, with shortlisting and panel interviews taking place the following month. It was then anticipated that the successful recruit would start in June.
However, the process was stopped following the vote of no confidence in former Chief Minister Kristina Moore, and Dr McLaughlin’s interim contract was instead extended. That failed two-month process cost the government more than £60,000.
Dr McLaughlin told the Public Accounts Committee last week that he was “very focused” on succession planning, and suggested that more weight may be given to candidates already within the top levels of government.
He said it was important to have “really good discussions with the States Employment Board about that role” and “that we give colleagues in the service who’ve got the ambition to do that role the best possible chance of competing for it”.
“I think that’s very important because going back to where I started, colleagues don’t always feel that they’ve had those opportunities,” he added.
“It’s very important that colleagues feel that they’ve had the best possible chance, the best possible support to compete for the role, because I think that will be a very important tone from the top and cultural proof point for the whole organisation.”
