No clarity on States CEO replacement plans
ATTEMPTS to find a new chief executive of the States of Guernsey to replace Paul Whitfield, who was deposed last week, appeared to be in confusion after Policy & Resources was unable or unwilling to say what recruitment process will be adopted to replace him.
Sources earlier said that a preferred candidate had been approached but it is now thought a more formal procedure will be used, in keeping with civil service protocols.
Asked to confirm that, a spokesman for Policy & Resources had nothing further to say on the subject.
This leaves considerable doubt around the role of interim CEO Mark de Garis. There is no official word on how long he is expected to be in post or whether he is working on the Framework for Public Sector Reform first introduced by Mr Whitfield.
P&R announced on Monday that it was moving into the next stage of what is now being called public service reform and has not ruled out redundancies or job losses.
Politically, questions are also being asked about the manner in which Mr Whitfield was relieved of his duties – and the potential expense of that to the taxpayer.
Reliable sources have told this newspaper that the total cost is anticipated to be around £400,000, including legal fees, because P&R’s statement on the change of chief executive made it clear Mr Whitfield had been dismissed.
‘The committee recognised the need for a change in senior leadership and have taken action to bring this about,’ chief minister Peter Ferbrache said.
Instead of moving Mr Whitfield to other duties and letting his contract expire in two years’ time, P&R have opened the taxpayer to the risk of damages and compensation for reputational harm.
No official confirmation is available on any of this and P&R also refused to say when asked when a formal recruitment process will begin, if a job description will be circulated or whether recruitment would be an open process or restricted to existing staff.
The committee would not comment on whether it is advertising off-island what is the most high-profile job in Guernsey or whether it has approached UK-based head-hunters to help fill a mission-critical gap in public sector leadership.
Meanwhile, employees within the public sector are being contacted to be told if they may be affected by the restructuring programme, announced on Monday, with a caretaker CEO in place.
A statement from P&R said the reforms ‘are part of a carefully developed plan which commenced during the last term of government’ implying they were included in the process launched by Mr Whitfield back in 2015.
