Scrutiny to tackle States recruitment and pay

Sunday 21 April 2024

With the States spending £287.3 million on employees' wages during 2022, the Scrutiny Committee has decided the time has come to take a closer look at how recruitment and retention is managed.

The total wage bill equates to a quarter of the States entire outgoings for 2022, at a time when the island's residents were being warned that our public finances were reaching a perilous position.

Employee wages are collectively the largest single area of expenditure for the States of Guernsey.

While the total expenditure on pay during 2022 was £287.3m, that money equalled 35.5% of the island's consolidated total public expenditure of £809.7m. This covered the wages for the equivalent of 4,904 full time staff.

Having documented those figures, the Scrutiny Management Committee says it now intends to form a Review Panel to consider the Recruitment and Retention of Public Sector Workers.

The Review Panel will include representations from members of the Committee as well as individuals independent of Government.

Deputy Yvonne Burford is President of the Scrutiny Management Committee.

“This review will focus on the current policies and procedures of the States of Guernsey in regard to the recruitment and retention of its workforce and consider whether these are efficient and value for money for the public purse,” she said.