Planning and Environment: Request for Additional Manpower

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A decision made on 27 January 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2014-0008
Decision Summary Title:	Department of the Environment – Request for Additional Manpower		Date of Decision Summary:	22 January 2014
Decision Summary Author:	Finance Manager, Department of the Environment		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Department of the Environment – Request for Additional Manpower		Date of Written Report:	13 January 2014
Written Report Author:	Finance Manager, Department of the Environment		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The Department of the Environment (DoE) has requested an increase of 5 Full Time Equivalent Posts (FTE) requiring an increase of 5 in head count, to the Department’s established manpower, in order to achieve the department’s objectives identified in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and to cope with the increased demands on the Department resulting from the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
Decision(s): The Minister for Planning and Environment approved the request for an increase of 5 FTE requiring an increase of 5 in head count, to the Department’s established manpower, in order to achieve the department’s objectives identified in the MTFP and to cope with the increased demands on the Department resulting from the introduction of the FOI.
Reason(s) for Decision: To comply with P67/1999 (Regulation of Public Sector Employment), this decision will enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources, who is charged to regulate the number of persons employed by the States, to approve the requested increase.
Resource Implications: The approval of this decision will permanently increase the DoE established manpower by 5 FTE, requiring an increase of 5 in head count. As a result the Department’s FTE and Headcount will increase from 112.5 to 117.5.
Action required: Finance Manager to inform Senior Human Recources Manager that the post has been approved and to take note of the new post when completing the States Manpower Report.
Signature:		Position: Deputy R C Duhamel Minister, Department of the Environment
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Planning and Environment: Request for Additional Manpower

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Department of Environment

Ministerial Decision Report

Department of the Environment – Request for Additional Manpower

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister to approve a request for an increase of 5 Full Time Equivalent Posts (FTE) requiring an increase of 5 headcount, to the Department’s established manpower, in order to achieve the department’s objectives identified in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and to cope with the increased demands on the Department resulting from the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).

Background

MTFP (+3 FTE)

The MTFP identified several requirements for additional manpower within the Department of the Environment (DoE). These are detailed below.

Succession planning (+2 FTE)

The age profile of DoE staff is such that succession planning needs to be addressed. It would also support job opportunities for the younger generation and the strategy to provide more on-the-job training for school leavers. The proposal would be to recruit one trainee (school leavers / graduates) in each of Planning and Met Office (2 FTE / headcount). The job profiles for these are as follows:

- 1 Trainee Building Control Surveyor

- 1 Trainee Forecaster

Countryside infrastructure (+1 FTE)

Current resources are insufficient to adequately maintain the national park and environmental car parks. Capital investment has been approved from 2014 onwards for the Island’s countryside infrastructure, e.g. footpaths, which would improve the network for walking, encouraging people to live a healthier lifestyle. There is a need for one additional staff member (1 FTE / headcount) to enable work to further improve the environment in which we live. It is envisaged that the staff member will work as follows:

- Access and Interpretation Officer (1 FTE)

An Officer is required to manage the existing footpath network and implement the Recreational Access Strategy (currently in draft).

Filling Management Invest to Save Initiative (+2 FTE)

The department has been allocated Invest to Save funding to specifically reduce the planning and building services hard copy file storage needs and associated storage costs in support of the department's CSR savings. A project has been set up to utilise Invest to Save funds to review the existing 55,000 files held and to reduce (dispose and/or scan) of documents as agreed under the departments file management policy. This project requires 2 x FTE.

- 2 file management staff appointed on fixed length contracts (2 FTE / headcount)

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) comes into force in 2015 and this Invest to Save project is linked to the broader department file management / FOI project that is receiving funding and FTE support from the central FOI office.

MTFP Costs and Funding

Costs incurred will depend on the grades recruited, level of experience etc. The Chief Officer for Department of the Environment will ensure that associated costs are in line with budgets agreed in the MTFP.

The financial budget for the posts has been approved in the MTFP as both revenue (succession planning) and capital (countryside infrastructure) allocations.

FOI Costs and Funding

Costs incurred will depend on the grades recruited, level of experience, etc. The Chief Officer for Department of the Environment will ensure that associated costs are in line with budgets.

The budgets for the posts have been identified from the central Restructuring provision and carried forward from 2012.

The FOI project is also contributing budget and 2 FTE / headcount to the department, which is in addition to the above.

Recommendation

The Minister approves the request for an increase of 5 FTE requiring an increase of 5 in headcount, to the Department’s established manpower, in order to achieve the department’s objectives identified in the MTFP and to cope with the increased demands on the Department resulting from the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act.

Reason for Decision

To ensure compliance with P167/1999 Regulation of Public Sector Employees.

Resource Implications

This decision will result in a permanent increase in the Department’s established manpower of 5 FTE requiring an increase of 5 in headcount. As a result the Department’s FTE and Headcount will increase from 112.5 to 117.5.

Report author : Finance Manager, Department of the Environment	Document date : 13/01/14
Quality Assurance / Review : Business Manager	File name and path: I:\FINANCE\Ministerial Decisions\DOE\2013\Additional FTE's\WR - DoE - Request for Additional Manpower - Revised.doc