Jersey Performance Framework

Background

Jersey is one of a small number of jurisdictions that have enshrined into law a requirement to consider sustainable wellbeing in Government decision making.

Under Article 9 (6) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 (the 2019 Law), the Council of Ministers is required to take account of the medium-term and long-term sustainability of the States’ finances and the outlook for the economy in Jersey in preparing Government Plans.

In addition, under Article 9 (9) of the 2019 Law, the Council of Ministers must take into account the sustainable wellbeing (including the economic, social, environmental and cultural wellbeing) of the inhabitants of Jersey over successive generations in preparing the Government Plan. It is also required to set out in the Government Plan how the proposals in the Plan take that sustainable wellbeing into account.

The Government Plan is a key element of planning and resource allocation within Government. Sustainable wellbeing should therefore be central to considerations underpinning the way in which the Government plans, makes decisions and designs public services in Jersey.

In order to measure progress against long-term wellbeing indicators, the States of Jersey established the Jersey Performance Framework.
The Jersey Performance Framework combines:

• a set of Island Outcome Indicators that measure the progress that Jersey is making towards achieving sustainable wellbeing. These indicators focus on long-term progress rather than short-term intervention; and
• a set of Service Performance Measures that are short-term indicators showing how well the Government is currently performing.

The Island Outcome Indicators are focussed on three main themes – community wellbeing, economic wellbeing and environmental wellbeing.

Scope

The review has evaluated the extent to which sustainable wellbeing and Island Outcome Indicators feature in frameworks used for providing advice to support effective decision making within the Government of Jersey.

Conclusions

Jersey is a leading jurisdiction by enshrining into law a requirement to consider sustainable wellbeing in Government decision making. While legislation requires the Council of Ministers to take account of sustainable wellbeing in the Government Plan, there is no statutory requirement for sustainable wellbeing to be taken into account in preparing a Common Strategic Policy (CSP).

There is no statutory responsibility placed on officers to take account of sustainable wellbeing in providing advice to Ministers or in planning the provision of public services. The only obligation on officers is that contained within the Public Finances Manual (PFM) in respect of expenditure decisions made by Accountable Officers.

No explicit responsibilities are placed on scrutiny panels, the Public Accounts Committee, internal audit, the risk and audit committees or the Comptroller and Auditor General to scrutinise or provide assurance on sustainable wellbeing obligations.

The Island Outcome Indicators are published on the Government website and are updated on a real-time basis as new data is available. The Government has recognised the need to, and has a stated intention to, improve the public reporting of sustainability matters.

The Jersey Performance Framework has not been based specifically on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Island Outcomes set out long-term sustainable wellbeing outcomes that have been chosen for Jersey by Islanders. The SDGs however are a common standard for sustainability reporting globally. To avoid confusion it would be helpful to set out and explain the similarities, differences and interactions between the Island Outcomes and the SDGs to enable broader comparisons between Jersey and other jurisdictions.

The C&AG has identified a number of areas where processes can be enhanced to meet best practice in embedding sustainable wellbeing principles into Government process. One important area for enhancement would be for key Government documents, including, as a minimum, Ministerial Decision cover sheets, to set out an explicit accountability statement of how the document will positively impact on the three themes of sustainable wellbeing (economy, community and environment) and how the delivery of the actions that lead to these outcomes will be assured.

Jersey has been at the forefront of best practice in implementing a requirement to consider sustainable wellbeing in Government decision making. An updated suite of Island Outcome Indicators has been published recently. Following this update there is an opportunity to enhance further the duties, accountabilities and underlying processes that support the delivery of sustainable wellbeing to current and future generations of Islanders.