Pulling down the walls of red tape and bureaucracy

THERE is a strong sense within Frossard House that the walls are finally tumbling down.

While much of the talk publicly on States reform being driven by the financial transformation programme has concentrated on cost cutting – as it would given that the issues on the line are things such as primary school closures – there is a whole strand of work which for the last few years has been about changing cultures.

Three years ago, the headlines were about the 'bloodless' coup as a team of senior civil servants was put in place to drive through the FTP.

But for it to work the programme needed to drive down, throughout the organisation, in order to get a buy-in from different levels of the public sector.

Now you will find department chief officers being responsible and accountable for delivering savings that affect others departments too – for example on how the States buys things or whether it is using the property portfolio correctly.

It should no longer be good enough to just look at what your department can achieve working in the silo. Senior staff are working across the board.

The FTP has also been an opportunity to identify and develop talent within the States.

'A number of people have been identified as having potential, people who have somewhere to go. We have to invest in their development, expose people to broader opportunities,' said head of HR Simon Elliott.

So the potential chief officers of the future have responsibility for delivering different aspects of the FTP too.

And they have stepped up to voluntarily take on the roles, on top of their day jobs.

The difference between 2009 and 2012 is quite substantial, according to Mr Elliott.

Controversial targets set last year for each department have acted as the stick, but the FTP identifies the areas where money can be saved.

Chief executive Mike Brown said that accountability had cascaded down.

'The FTP, changing the culture, the accountability, they are all starting to join up,' he said.

People are stepping up rather than being directed to make something happen.

One of the key elements is that one department is not going to deliver on its budget savings unless other work streams that cut across all the departments work.

That creates a healthy tension in the system.

Chief officers are also talking to each other more than ever before having set up an informal meeting every Friday morning – the agenda is set on the day.

A central part of the reform is the move to SAP and shared services.

The question was asked whether, for example, each department really needed to duplicate the administration involved in advertising for jobs.

The answer was no.

'The project is on track, it's on target, it's not easy, it's a massive technical piece to do,' said Mr Elliott.

'It's good, hard graft. But the acceptance is that some of those services you are used to providing yourself and resourcing yourself will be provided by someone not in your department. That's a massive shift from 2009.'

It is a resource-intensive project, one that will also inevitably lead to job losses.

'We don't have the final number, the discussion is still happening, but our principle is the same as every employer, that we will do everything we can to minimise compulsory redundancies,' said Mr Elliott.

HR, finance, procurement and IT will be

affected. The FTP is still on target to deliver some £30m. of savings, but it has yet to face the real crunch time.

Next year is where the real clashes will come – and do not bank on the FTP being the whole answer to eliminate the deficit.

Departments are again likely to be set cash targets in the Budget – and they will be tougher than those last year that caused some controversy.

Expect there to be a very real debate about public sector pay.

Staff costs are still around £200m. a year.

A one-year pay freeze is a £6m. saving – that figure will resonate with the public especially when services are under threat.

The challenge of creating an efficient public sector fit for this century has been accepted.

But there remains some very tough decisions in the short term that could still cause major shockwaves.