Interim HR Director for Health and Community Services (FOI)

Request

I write with a request for information regarding the position of Interim HR Director for Health and Community Services.

The current incumbent has held the interim position since April 2018. The half-year cost is listed as between £75,000 and £99,999 as per the recently published report on consultants engaged by the Government of Jersey.

Could you please provide information on:

A

The recruitment and /or tender process that was followed - where was the position advertised and were any other applicants considered?

B

The length of the initial contract of engagement.

C

The date, length and justification for each extension to the initial contract which have been made to date, or are currently planned.

D

A copy of the P.59 document for the SEB to approve the position

E

A list of adverts or recruitment attempts to fill the position on a permanent basis since it was filled by the incumbent in April 2018. If no attempt has been made to to fill the role on a permanent basis, then is there any recorded justification for this?

Response

A

For clarity, the interim was originally appointed in April 2018 as one of four Interim HR contractors to support in the Government of Jersey Tier 1 and 2 Target Operating model (TOM) and appointed to support Health and Community Services (HCS). There was a full recruitment process undertaken by an executive search firm where the role was advertised on Personal Today and Linkedin and generated a list of 12 candidates.

Following the completion of the HR Consultants’ assignment in 30 June 2019 and due to the HR Director of HCS leaving their post and the substantive role being removed from HCS structure the interim contractor continued in assignment supporting the HCS senior leadership team in the One Gov transformation of HCS.

B and C

Initial contract: 2 April 2018 to 1 June 2018: Interim contractor at HR Director level to support the design and delivery of HCS TOM and improve HR operational practise.

Extension: 2 June 2018 to 30 June 2019: Continuation of TOM activity in HCS.

Extension: 1 July 2019 to 31 October 2019: Continuation of TOM activity in HCS.

Extension: 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020: This extension relates to the TOM of People and Corporate Services. The role has been extended to allow the transition to a new corporate team of colleagues within health. The role will end at the end of this term.

Justification for the above noted extensions are as follows:

(i) On-going work still being completed

(ii) Transition required between the Director of People Services and new Group Director People and Corporate Services

(iii) Design of new People and Corporate Services model

(iv) Implementation of new People and Corporate Services model, resulting in role being deleted post-transition.

The role will not be extended beyond the current extension as the People and Corporate Services transition phase will have ended.

Role / statement of work

An experienced interim contractor was recruited in March 2018 to undertake work in implementing the Tier 1 and Tier 2 consultation as part of the proposed Target Operating Model and to assist with the consultation process. In June 2018, the interim was engaged to cover Health and Community Services due to their background and knowledge with health following the HCS HR Director leaving their post.

HCS is the largest and most complex department within the Government of Jersey. In order to assist in the transition and implement the proposed changes as part of the TOM and a proposed new care delivery model for Jersey the role is pivotal. The role is now focused on all business as usual activity as well as providing high-level support and overview of the development of the TOM and consultation and delivery for 2020.

D

The States Employment Board approved the latest extension as part of the transitional arrangements to the TOM for People and Corporate Services on 3 December 2019. Please see attached.

Approval of senior appointments form

In order to protect the privacy of the individual, information has been redacted under Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 (the Law). Further information on daily rate paid is considered to be commercially sensitive and therefore Article 33 (Commercial Interests) of the Law has been applied to the exact amounts paid.

E

As mentioned previously, the position has been removed as a permanent role within the HCS establishment and there are no plans to recruit into the role on a permanent basis. The position is currently supernumerary to complete the HCS transformation and will complete in October 2020.

Articles applied

Article 25 Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

(3) In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.

Article 33 Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Prejudice / public interest test

Article 33 (b) allows an authority to refuse a request for information where its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information). Whilst it is accepted that the public may have an interest in the value of contracts between the Government of Jersey and third parties, it is believed the contract values are commercially sensitive as they are the outcome of negotiations between parties and that the release of this data could affect the negotiation of future contracts.