Chris Clark (pictured right) – who is stepping down after three years – has also criticised the delays to the hospital project, hinting that the States should have opted for the People’s Park as the most viable site but instead opted to ‘placate the verbal minority’.
States chief executive Charlie Parker is responsible for overseeing the ‘OneGov’ programme designed to streamline government departments. He previously held a similar post for Westminster City Council.
Mr Clark’s comments come as plans for a new operating model for the States police have been suspended over concerns about the impact on staff. (Full story: Page 6.)
The force say they are halting Project Horizon – which they claimed help deliver £1 million of savings – after recent staff surveys indicated that morale among officers was low.
Mr Clark said engagement between the IoD and the States had improved over the last year and regular meetings with Chief Minister John Le Fondré had been held, something he hoped would continue, ‘providing us an opportunity to be both a sounding board and critical friend’.
He said: ‘We help to ensure that the Island retains the simple things which differentiate us – simple, clear and consistent policy, taxation and a brand-positioning statement, which will maintain our place as an attractive place to live, work and prosper.
‘There have been rumblings regarding an increase in taxation once more, yet no evidence that the government has made any steps in becoming more effective or efficient. We do have to consider whether the chief executive is genuinely right-sizing government for an island of 103,000 citizens or, as challenged at our mid-year review, creating Westminster-on-Sea.
‘We believe more scrutiny is required, at times of local unrest, whether it is the teachers striking or nurses requiring cost-of-living pay increases on one hand, yet on the other, a burgeoning executive team and UK-supply behaviour which does little to support or fuel the local economy. ‘‘Think twice, buy local’’ is a required behaviour – it is not a strapline.’
He added that the IoD had to hold the Council of Ministers and Mr Parker to account but said the organisation ‘continue to support’ both the Chief Minister and the chief executive particularly given the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Mr Clark also said he was disappointed at the lack of progress made on the hospital project – branding it an ‘embarrassment’ – and the failure to deliver a Jersey university.
He said he would have hoped to have seen progress with Highlands’ aspirations to become a South Coast University campus, ‘which could provide so much value to Jersey by introducing new talent to our island’.
‘The do-si-do dance steps around the hospital are simply an embarrassment,’ he continued. ‘The government needed to show leadership and choose the right site for the hospital, rather than their approach to placate the verbal minority or maintain a political majority. A park sits empty yet was the right site for logistics and the safe delivery of essential services for all Islanders. My frustration is obvious, so I will leave it there.’
He will be replaced as IoD chairman by Jersey Finance’s head of technical, Lisa Springate.
