Job uncertainty faced by dozens of States staff

More than 400 people have been contacted about changes to working practices within the States, particularly those in front line customer service delivery and property and facilities management.

All 96 staff on the customer service front line have been advised that they are ‘at risk’ of redeployment or redundancy, while 312 people in property and facilities management have been written to. Seventy-five are deemed to be ‘at risk’.

Stephen Langford, negotiations executive at the union Prospect/Association of Guernsey Civil Servants, said affected members were understandably concerned given the scale of the proposed changes.

‘There are currently multiple change programmes being undertaken within the States of Guernsey, which together affect hundreds of our members.

‘Each of these are currently in the consultation phase, with the staff affected being asked for their views on what is being proposed.

‘We have been actively supporting our members to provide feedback on the intended changes – and, in some cases, to challenge the inclusion of their services and job roles within the scope of the proposals.’

Until these consultations and appeals had run their course, he said it was impossible to

say what might happen over jobs.

‘Even if there aren’t job losses, change is never easy – and given the magnitude of some of what is proposed, those affected are understandably concerned about what jobs they will be undertaking if the new working practices come to fruition,’ he said.

‘This uncertainty is being exacerbated by a lack of detailed information to enable them to provide meaningful feedback.’

Talks between the union and the States will continue next year.

Policy & Resources vice-president Heidi Soulsby said that ‘significant steps’ had been taken to progress public service reform in recent months.

She updated the States last week, acknowledging that change would be ‘unsettling’ for some staff and outlining the appeals process.

‘It’s understandable that they might want to talk to deputies about their concerns, but this is very much a process that has been settled, written down and set out with the unions about how we approach this,’ she said.

‘We’re not doing anything that isn’t already understood within the whole process, but we will be giving an update in January.’