THE number of people employed by the government – and the pay brackets they fall into – should be published clearly, according to a new report.
The review of government finances was carried out by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), whose role is to ensure that public money is spent as intended and extravagance and waste are eradicated.
The PAC were examining the States Annual Report and Accounts for 2023, highlighting that overall government costs rose by £146 million between 2022 and 2023, a 16.7% increase.
The report recommended updates every three months on progress on clearing the £32.5m deficit faced by Health and Community Services.
Focusing on the Health deficit, the report highlighted the “financial recovery plan” in place to save £25 million over the next three years in order to clear most of it.
It noted that part of the plan was “a reduction of the reliance on agency staff”.
Temporary agency staff in Health and Community Services could cost between £14m and £15m this year, and the review said: “There will need to be greater focus on undertaking local training, in order to better upskill the workforce in the coming years and reduce the need to rely on agency staff.”
And it said there should be greater transparency on staff numbers throughout the government: “Within the 2024 report and accounts, reporting on employee numbers per pay bracket should be included and compared with the prior year.
“This should be expressed as number of employees per pay bracket as opposed to only percentages of overall headcount.”
The review did note that “there are efforts ongoing to continually improve efficiencies in key performance areas, while reducing or removing expenditure in non-essential areas”.
Deputy Raluca Kovacs, who led the review, said: “We must address overall government cost increases, enhance the clarity and accessibility of annual reports, and improve local training programmes to reduce reliance on costly consultants.”
Deputy Kovacs also felt the annual report and accounts had not been well enough publicised or made available, saying: “Efforts should be made to better engage stakeholders and communicate effectively about the report’s findings.”
