Ongoing costs of the Future Jersey project (FOI)

​Request

A

Please can you advise the original budget for the Future Jersey project and what the ongoing costs are?

B

Could you also advise who is responsible for its continued development and what work has been done on it since the initial launch?

Response

A

Future Jersey’s origins lay in a decision by the States Assembly to move strategic planning beyond a system based on medium-term plans, aligned to the political election cycle, to one organised around a long-term, shared vision for the Island.

In order to give this long-term vision substance and longevity, it was recognised that it should come from the voice of Islanders. A budget of £50,000 was allocated to a consultation programme, called ‘Shaping Our Future’, which was launched at the beginning of 2016 and closed in February 2018.

Once the consultation was complete, a further £10,000 was spent on the design and development of the webpages to host Future Jersey. There have been over 21,000 visits to these webpages since the launch of the site.

There are no ongoing costs associated with Future Jersey.

Future Jersey web pages

B

Future Jersey is a planning and performance tool. Its purpose is to help the States make informed decisions about its priorities and track the Island’s progress against key social, economic and environmental indicators over time. As such, ongoing responsibility for Future Jersey is now vested in the Strategic Policy, Performance and Population Department.

The department is responsible for (i) updating the 58 indicators on the Future Jersey webpages as and when new data becomes available (there have been seven updates since the launch and another is imminent) and (ii) using the framework as an integral part of the government’s planning and performance systems. As such, it has been used to support and inform –

• the work programme for the development of the Common Strategic Policy agreed by the States in December 2018

• the work programme for ongoing development of the Government Plan 2019-23 and associated departmental delivery plans

• a new sustainability appraisal framework that will support the development of the new Island Plan

• the development of a climate change adaptation plan, by evidencing the impact of climate change on the Future Jersey outcomes. The first output will be a Shoreline Management Plan later in 2019

• the development of new delivery strategies. The role played by Future Jersey in the planning process can be seen in examples such as the Food and Nutrition Strategy, which is available at the following link:

Food and Nutrition Strategy 2017 to 2022

The Island Indicators from Future Jersey will form a key element of the new Jersey Standard, a comprehensive new government performance system which is currently under development. This will align the performance of government services to outcomes. The performance chapters in the 2018 States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts were organised around the Future Jersey outcomes.