All Ministers of the Government are required to be elected States members and are accountable to it.[3] They make statements in and take questions from the assembly. The government is dependent on the assembly to make primary legislation, however ministers can make secondary legislation, such as Orders and Regulations. The government is not formed of one single party, but made of multiple independent members.
The 'Government of Jersey' is the official identity of the executive and administrative arm of the States of Jersey. The government no longer uses the term States of Jersey in reference to executive and administrative departments.[2]
Under the uncodified constitution of Jersey, executive power lies in the Council of Ministers, formed of the Chief Minister and his ministers. Before 2005, the States of Jersey held both legislative and executive power through committee-led government
Since the implementation of the States of Jersey (Jersey) Law 2005,[3] the executive and legislative functions have been split between the Council of Ministers and States Assembly respectively. In 2019, the Council of Ministers formally adopted the identity of the 'Government of Jersey' for the executive responsibilities of the States.[2]
The decision-making body for the island's government is the Council of Ministers. The Council lead the island's executive and administrative governance. The ministers are nominated by the Chief Minister or by any States member and confirmed by the States Assembly. The States of Jersey (Jersey) Law 2005 establishes the role and function of ministers.[3]
The administration of the Government is made up by a number of departments that may have more than one minister. The Ministers are responsible each for an area of policy. The Ministers provide policy direction to civil service officers, having given fair consideration and due weight to informed and impartial advice from such officer.[3]
A new (or existing) Chief Minister is (re-)appointed after:
Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES)
Director General: Mark Rogers
Children's Services
Susan Devlin
Education
Seán O'Regan
Young People, Further Education, Skills and Learning
Saboohi Famili
Health and Community Services (HCS)
Director General: Caroline Landon
Group Managing Director
Rob Sainsbury
Group Medical Director
Patrick Armstrong Interim
Chief Nurse
Rose Taylor
Health Modernisation
Hilary Lucas
Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (IHE)
Acting Director General: Andrew Scate
Natural Environment
Willie Peggie
Operations and Transport
Ellen Littlechild
Regulation
TBD
Property
Tim Daniels
Capital Projects
TBD
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
Director General: Julian Blazeby
Public Protection and Law Enforcement
Kate Briden
Strategic Policy, Planning and Performance
Director General: Tom Walker
Policy
TBD
Strategic Planning and Performance
Dr Anuschka Muller
Strategy and Innovation
Steve Skelton
Statistics Jersey
Dr Duncan Gibaut, Chief Statistician
Medical Officer of Health
Dr Ivan Muscat
Deputy
Treasury and Exchequer
Director General: Richard Bull
Comptroller of Revenue
Richard Summersgill
Strategic Finance
Alison Rogers
Performance Accounting and Reporting
Steven Mair
Treasury and Investment Management
Simon Hayward
Risk and Audit
Mike Thomas
Cabinet Office (was Chief Operating Office)
Chief Operating Officer: John Quinn
People and Corporate Services
Mark Grimley
Commercial Services
Maria Benbow
Modernisation and Digital
Fiona Capstick
In April 2018, the States approved changes to the Government machinery. The Chief Executive was appointed the Principal Accounting Officer for public finances, giving them the control and responsibility for government spending. The Government states this change has improved funding allocations and government transparency.[5] In February 2022, the Democratic Accountability and Governance Sub-Committee.[6]
The same proposition also proposed to make the Government a single legal entity. Currently, each Minister forms a single corporation sole, however when the changes are implemented (as they have been approved), 'Jersey Ministers' as a single entity will become legally responsible for all areas of government. The argument in favour of this is that it will allow more cross-Ministerial working. However, some are worried that this move would lead to more centralisation of power in the Chief Minister and Chief Executive.[6]
The OneGovernment structure has been criticised for blurring the lines of accountability in the Government and that the introduction of the reforms 'have had a negative effect on governance' because departments are no longer necessarily have one political lead.[6] On 28 April 2022, the States voted to scrap the One Government scheme and return to Minister-led government departments by the end of the year.[7]
Departments
Office of the Chief Executive
Group
Group Director
CEO and Head of Public Service
Suzanne Wiley
Chief of Staff
Catherine Madden
Communications
Dirk Danino-Forsyth
External Relations
Kate Nutt
The Office of the Chief Executive '[works] to support the Council of Ministers in delivering [the Government of] Jersey's long-term strategic objectives'. It answers to the Council of Ministers as a whole, however its primary Ministers are the Chief Minister, Minister for External Relations and Assistant Chief Minister for Communications. The department is structured into the –[8]
Office of the Chief of Staff - supports Ministers and day-to-day Government business
Directorate of Communications - 'aims to inform, educate and persuade islanders so that their daily lives are enhanced by the Government, and their voices are heard by the elected Council of Ministers'
Customer and Local Services
Group
Group Director
Director General
Ian Burns
Customer Services
Sophie Le Sueur
Customer Operations
Steve Jackson
Local Services
Paul McGinnety
Customer and Local Services' mission statement is 'CLS's priority is making it easy for customers'. Customer and Local Services is split into three directorates, two of which are split into 'Hubs' –[9]
Customer Operations Directorate
Work and Family Hub - income support, work-related benefits, Housing Advisory Service
Pensions and Care Hub - pensions, long-term care, and income support for pensioners
Customer Services Directorate
Business Hub - business licensing, employer contributions and manpower
Service Hub - registration cards, customs and passports, One Gov support, People Hub
Local Services Directorate - Superintendendent Registrar, libraries, disability strategy and Crematorium
The department is organised into four directorates –[10]
Directorate of Children's Social Care - safeguarding, Children in Need, residential care, fostering and adoption
Education Directorate - schools, colleges, curriculum, teaching and learning, child care regulation, special educational needs
Directorate of Young People, Further Education, Higher Education and Skills - skills and lifelong learning, Skills Jersey, Youth Service, Highlands College
Directorate of Integrated Services and Commissioning - Family and community support, CAMHS, department operations
The department for the Economy was established on 1 January 2022 after splitting from the Office of the Chief Executive. The department is organised into four directorates –[11]
Local and Digital Economy
High Value Residency
Digital Economy, including telecoms, cyber and Data Protection
Local Economy, including well as rural and marine, retail and visitor, aviation, growth, trade and arts and culture
The Department of Health and Community Services is the department of the Minister for Health and Social Services. The department is organised into -[12]
Adult Social Care, Mental Health & Community Services
Primary and Preventative Care
Women's, Children's and Family Services
Surgical and Scheduled Care
Therapies
Immediate Care
Quality and Safety
Non-Clinical Support Services
Corporate Nursing
Service Improvement and Innovation
Infrastructure, Housing and Environment
The Department of Infrastructure, Housing and Environment manages national infrastructure and the regulation of Jersey's natural and built environment. It employs 678 people and has a £77 million budget, managing £1 billion in property assets. It is organised into four directorates:[13]
Operations and Transport - maintenance of open spaces, gardens and amenities; management of transport, traffic and waste systems
Transport Highways and Infrastructure
Engineering and Development
Solid Waste Management and Recovery
Liquid Waste Management
Technical Support Services
Sports Operations
Natural Environment Directorate - Channel Islands Met Office, government vet services, fisheries protection & territorial water management, countryside access, biodiversity and crops and vegetation.
Marine Resources and Management
Biodiversity team
Office of the Chief Veterinarian
Land Resource Management
Meteorology Office
Property and Capital Delivery - maintenance of States property, delivery of capital projects
Property Strategy
Project Delivery
Estates and Property Maintenance
Commissioning
Regulation - Driver and Vehicle Standards (DVS), housing and food regulation, consumer protection, pollution control, town and country planning, border controls for plants and animals
Development and Land
Regulatory Improvement
DVS
Environmental and Consumer Protection
Justice and Home Affairs
Justice and Home Affairs manages the island's law enforcement, emergency services, immigration and customs and health and safety services and laws.[14]
The department is split into a number of 'services':
Strategic Policy, Planning and Performance 'leads strategic policy, planning and performance to achieve the ambitions of Islanders for the future'.[15]
They are responsible for –
Future Jersey
Government strategic policies: Common Strategic Policy, Government Plan and Island Plan
Policy programme and development
Legislative programme
Scenario planning and long-term planning
Performance analysis, reporting and framework
Corporate Portfolio Management
Risk Management
The department is divided into –
Directorate of Policy - 4 Heads of Policy
Justice and Criminal Justice Policies
Education, skills, Family law justice, Structure and government organisation and constitution
Children, Families, Care Inquiry, Wellbeing and health
Population and migration, housing, social assistance, social inclusion, diversity and employment and labour markets
Director of Strategy and Innovation -
Sustainability and Foresight: Sustainability; Environment, energy and climate change, Foresight, Development of Future Jersey, Strategy reviews and capability
Planning Policy and Historic Environment: Planning policy (Island Plan) and supplementary planning guidance, housing land supply, place-making and master-planning, urban design policy, historic environment
Directorate of Strategic Planning and Performance -
Strategic Planning and Accountability: Strategic planning framework, Common strategic policy, Government plan, Department Business Plans, Strengthening public sector accountability, business planning capability
Health and Social Care informatics: information culture across government, Informatics Strategy, health and social care informatics
Head of Governance
Delivery planning and performance review
Best practice governance of resources
Governance of Department Arms Length Functions
Department improvement
Working with partners
Treasury and Exchequer
The States Treasury is divided into four teams -[15]
Strategic Finance - long-term financial sustainability of Government
Business Planning - financial plans and the Government Plan
Cost-benefit analysis and investment appraisal - investment decisions of the Government
Business and performance - efficiency, effectiveness and financial control
Performance, Accounting and Reporting
Finance Business Partnering - ambassadors in each departments who have financial insight
Finance Hub - operational centre of management and financial accounting
Shared Services Centre - services to Government and to customers like suppliers and pensioners
Group Reporting - financial performance information
Analytics and Management Information - reporting to stakeholders across government about financial data
Treasury Investment and Management
Treasury investment and Management - oversees cash and investment management
Shareholder relations - acts as the shareholder in States-owned companies
Risk and Audit
Internal Audit
Governance - formal rules and regulations including Public Finances Law
Risk management
Revenue Jersey
Revenue Operations - assessment and collection of taxes
Revenue Policy and Technical - modernising tax legislation
International Tax Policy and Operations
Tax and Information Governance - training for Revenue Jersey, data protection, programme management
Cabinet Office (was Chief Operating Office)
The Office aims ' to deliver effective public services through the provision of the appropriate people, technology, commercial and support arrangements; and to protect the organisation from external and internal threats to the provision of these services' –[15]
People & Corporate Services - manages the States of Jersey workforce, skills
Modernisation & Digital - centralised IT department for States of Jersey
Commercial Services - procurement, supply chain and commercial
Common Strategic Policy
The Common Strategic Policy is the Government's high-level ambitions for the island.[16] As of 2023, the Government's proposed Common Strategic Policy consists of 'seven priorities for change':[17]
Housing and Cost of Living
Economy and Skills
Children and Families
Ageing Population
Health and Wellbeing
Environment
Community
The strategic priorities for the 2018 to 2022 Government contained five strategic priorities, 8 common themes and 5 ongoing initiatives:[16]
Put children first
Improve Islander's wellbeing and mental and physical health
Create a sustainable, vibrant economy
Reduce income inequality and improve the standard of living
Jersey is divided into 12 parishes, which are further divided into vingtaines (or, in St. Ouen, cueillettes), divisions that are historic. Today they are used chiefly for purposes of local administration and electoral constituency. Each parish has their own Assembly.
^Chief Executive Office, Government of Jersey (2019). ONEGOV: One Year OnArchived 21 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Government of Jersey. 4 April 2019 [Accessed: 21 February 2022].