THE Chief Minister has hit back at accusations that his government has a “silo mentality without a clear leadership structure” – claiming that he has a “good structure” and has “worked extremely hard to build a political consensus”.
Deputy Lyndon Farnham told the Common Strategic Policy Review Panel that the Council of Ministers has “regular” meetings and “robust debate” after concerns were raised around “inter-departmental consultation” and “leadership at the top”.
Following a number of hearings in which ministers were questioned about the impact the proposed 2026-2029 Budget, panel chair Deputy Inna Gardiner described government’s “silo mentality without a clear leadership structure” as “very concerning”.
“In a small Island and Government like Jersey, there are no excuses for not ensuring we have a holistic and joined-up approach to setting budgets and agreeing priorities,” she said in a statement at the time.
During yesterday’s hearing, Deputy Gardiner asked Deputy Farnham how his “cross-government leadership” had contributed to the delivery of the CSP priorities.
The Chief Minister responded: “I’ve been absolutely clear from the time we formed the government, which could be described as a coalition government, because I think we needed to rebuild and find some unity.”
He continued: “We’ve worked extremely hard to build a political consensus. And I think that’s been done through a number of reasons, but largely through a good government structure [and] a focus on, not only Council of Ministers meetings, but the ministerial groups.”
In addition to groups and workshops, Deputy Farnham stressed that there were “informal ministerial meetings on a regular basis”.
Later in the hearing, he said that it was “far more important to have robust debate around the Council of Ministers’ table and ministerial groups, rather than having partisan majorities trying to push policy and strategy through”.
He also said the government was bound by the ministerial code “to bring policy and decision to Council of Ministers and have robust debate”.
“What I’ve also learned is that ministers have been particularly supportive even when they’re on the wrong side of a decision that Council and Ministers have made, to support that and go with it,” he added.
The Chief Minister also said that the government would be “open minded” to any amendments that might come forward for debate in regard to the proposed Budget.
“We’ve put down what we think is the best option for the next 12 months given the challenges in the longer term,” he said.
