A measure of sustainable wellbeing

Jersey’s Performance Framework, which shows how Jersey is doing on the journey towards achieving sustainable wellbeing, has been published.

Sustainable wellbeing is a new way of measuring the progress of a society. Previously, countries have focused on measuring Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Value Added (GVA) to monitor how well their country is performing.  

Sustainable wellbeing is a more holistic concept and uses different tools to measure how well society is doing across the key areas that are contributing to human wellbeing. It focuses on long-term progress rather than short-term intervention, and measures: 

• Community wellbeing – the quality of people’s lives
• Environmental wellbeing – the quality of the natural world around us
• Economic wellbeing – how well the economy is performing.

The Government of Jersey has made a strong commitment to sustainable wellbeing. The Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 requires the Council of Ministers to take into account the sustainable wellbeing of current and future generations when they develop the Government Plan. This change means that sustainable wellbeing is now central to the way in which the Government makes decisions and designs public services. 

The Performance Framework is where we measure the progress that Jersey makes towards achieving sustainable wellbeing. The framework includes objective measures (those that include data and figures) and subjective measures (those that include what people think and feel). 

The new performance framework is a tool to measure to how we are doing against the vision and aims of Future Jersey, Jersey’s community vision. It brings together a range of metrics in one place in an accessible and transparent way. 

At this first stage of its development, the performance framework focuses on Island-wide outcomes and the indicators that provide a view of how Jersey is doing. Later on, the Government will start to add performance measures for public services, which show how its activities and actions contribute to improving those Island-wide outcomes.

The Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, said: “Sustainable wellbeing means thinking about what’s right in the long-term for future generations. When looking at the big strategic picture we have to factor in many different needs, such as providing affordable homes, supporting people with mental health needs and protecting and evolving our economy.

“The Jersey Performance Framework will act as the barometer of Jersey’s sustainable wellbeing. It provides an accessible tool for all of us to see how well Jersey is doing across a wide range of social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing.” 

Dr Anuschka Muller, Director of Strategic Planning and Performance said: “We measure sustainable wellbeing across a number of Island-wide outcomes. Outcomes are broad statements of aims across community, economic and environmental wellbeing. 

“Examples of Island-wide outcomes include: Children have the best start in life; Islanders benefit from healthy lifestyles; Islanders enjoy living in a vibrant and inclusive community.

“Jersey’s Performance Framework now brings together all these outcomes and indicators in one central place, so that it’s easier to see how Jersey is doing across all aspects of life. It is our Island’s sustainable wellbeing performance framework.”