Guernsey Press

One senior appointment rejected by P&R’s new centralised process

A NEW centralised approvals process for senior civil service appointments has rejected just one application in its first few weeks, it has been revealed.

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Policy & Resources Committee asked member Deputy David Mahoney to scrutinise all proposed appointments above senior officer grade one. (Picture by Sophie Rabey, 29620158)

The Policy & Resources Committee decided that it would ask member Deputy David Mahoney to scrutinise all proposed appointments above senior officer grade one on 27 April – four days after it announced it was doing so, it admitted in written answers to questions posed by former committee president Deputy Gavin St Pier.

Since then Deputy Mahoney has approved six appointments and deferred one. Two he referred to the full committee, one of which was turned down, and the other deferred.

P&R told Deputy St Pier it was acting in its role as employer in introducing the process and would not be seeking permission from the States to take the move.

It also revealed that all appointments already go through an independent scrutiny process before reaching Deputy Mahoney.

There are 408 senior officer roles within the civil service, representing 7.44% of all States employees and, as of yesterday, 16 positions were vacant, notably five at Home Affairs and four at P&R.

In other questions from Deputy St Pier, the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture said it had lost more than nine full-time equivalent jobs in central education management over the past five years.

The full-time roles have gone in various directions, some into central services, others to organisations such as the Youth Commission and the Health Improvement Commission, and some lost.

Education president Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen said that restructuring and staff turnover had led to a ‘destabilising’ loss of ‘corporate memory’.

Education is still looking to fill five senior roles, with an estimated wage of some £320,000, including a new director of education, which has been vacant since August 2019.

Not all have yet been approved by the Policy & Resources Committee.

In another set of questions, Deputy St Pier also asked how staffing at levels at Amherst and Forest primary schools would change, given that the hub for children with autism will be moving from Amherst to Forest.

Staff associated with the service will transition to the new facility, so staffing levels will not change, Deputy Dudley-Owen confirmed.