Communications department (FOI)

​Request

On a year by year basis, could you answer the following for the States Communications Department since its inception?

A

How many people are / were employed by the department?

B

How much has the department cost?

Response

A and B

The States of Jersey has never had a single Communications function for the whole government, because each department had its own separate arrangements for communications staffing and spending. Some of those staff had dual roles, where communications was only part of their responsibility. It is not therefore possible to answer the question with any precision.

However, an audit of communications in November estimated that around 34 staff worked in communications roles at that time, although it was not possible to estimate the cost of communications in the time available, owing to the many and varied commercial relationships that departments had with a range of agencies.

The report can be found at the following link:

Audit and review of communications in the States of Jersey

Under the One Government restructuring of the States of Jersey announced on 6 March, a single Communications Directorate is being established. Recruitment to the new directorate is underway, and the directorate expects to have most positions filled by the end of the year. The first full year in which a single States of Jersey Communications Directorate will be in place is 2019. The cost of the directorate will be included in the outturn States of Jersey accounts for 2019, which will be compiled in 2020.