10 October 2019
Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, issued a report today summarising the Government’s engagement activities following the lodging of the draft Government Plan 2020-23 on 22 July.
He also announced that Ministers will be inviting all States Members to two further detailed briefings on the Government Plan, on efficiencies and modernisation (24 October) and front-line services (week commencing 4 November).
The report showed that over the past two and a half months:
- the Council of Ministers have presented the Government Plan and responded to questions at separate briefings to States Members, stakeholders and the media
- Ministers, Assistant Ministers and senior officers have attended 16 Scrutiny hearings
- officers have provided documentation in respect of 168 separate revenue and capital projects
- officers have responded to 23 letters, including more than 200 separate follow-up questions on their areas of responsibility
- Ministers and Assistant Ministers presented at five public meetings, attended by more than 100 Islanders, with each event covering one of the five strategic priorities agreed in the Common Strategic Policy
- the Government published full-page adverts in five parish magazines (others had gone to print too early)
- the five events were live streamed on Facebook, and have been viewed more than 5,500 times to date
- the Government issued three news releases, securing coverage in 23 articles in the Jersey Evening Post, 9 articles in the Bailiwick Express, 5 Channel 103 online articles, 6 BBC online articles, and 5 ITV Channel TV reports
- the Government issued 73 social media posts on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, with 160,000 potential views (note that this figure is not unique individuals as it includes people who will have seen multiple messages), with 3,900 engagements (clicks, comments or retweets)
Senator John Le Fondré said: “It is vital that the Government communicates and engages with Islanders and Scrutiny over the Government Plan, and the scale of our engagement demonstrates our commitment to an open and transparent approach to policymaking.
“The Council of Ministers has wanted to explain how the Government Plan takes forward the five strategic priorities agreed in the Common Strategic Policy, and to set out how its initiatives will be funded over the next four years.
“Ministers have also wanted to ensure that Islanders and Scrutiny understand how spending will increase, and that delivering £100 million of efficiencies over the next four years will support the growth in spending, and investment in critical technology, without increasing taxes.”
Chief Minister's update on communication and engagement for the Government Plan
gov.je