YESTERDAY we reported the comments of the Island’s top civil servant on what he saw as a lack of confidence within Jersey, which led us to import aspirational – but also costly and unnecessary – solutions. Andrew McLaughlin was speaking in the context of a billion-pound public sector, which the current administration says it is reining in, although that cost still continues to increase each year.
Dr McLaughlin has been in the top job for two-and-a-half years now, and as noted yesterday, it can take some time to turn a super-tanker like Jersey’s public sector. However, it is also right to ask whether enough progress has been made in that time, and if not, what exactly is slowing the turn? Change cannot happen without a rigourous, unsentimental and above all, accurate, assessment of exactly where we are now.
He hinted at change being slowed by the political system – but that really needs much further explanation. Have proposals for change been made, but not been accepted by Ministers? Or have they not even been made, in the expectation that the political will is not there to support them, with stability prioritised over reform? Is that judgement based on the current balance of the Council of Ministers; an assessment of the likely reaction of the rest of the States Assembly; or a prediction of what will be well received, or not, by the electorate or the workforce?
The situation we have is that the Island’s top civil servant has expressed significant concern with the current system, and his concerns seem to be widely accepted; but we are completely lacking in any analysis as to what changes to address them have so far been proposed, and why – presumably – they have not yet been followed through.
A good understanding of that systemic decision-making is vital if we are to truly listen to the refrain which swirls across these pages, lamenting a lack of any meaningful change.
It is also fair to say his words came across more like an independent commentary, almost like a consultant’s analysis, rather than the voice of someone at the sharp end of driving hard operational changes each day.
Pointing out the problem is one thing, and it is fair to say that even a cursory glance through these pages will reveal plenty doing that – the next level is understanding how to unlock its solution, and that analysis is perhaps a little more scarce. And then the most valuable of all, is the person who can actually put that understanding into practice, and inspire change through systemic resistance and complacency.
