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Over 100 recommendations made by the Government watchdog over the last decade are yet to be implemented by the States of Jersey – representing "a missed opportunity for improvement in public services delivery".
Comptroller and Auditor General Lynn Pamment yesterday told Jersey's Chamber of Commerce that it was "frustrating" that Government procurement processes remain unchanged despite alarm bells ringing since 2014.
She explained that, although Government had made improvements, some areas had been a concern for almost a decade.
The C&AG scrutinises Government expenditure – including the audit of financial statements and wider consideration of public funds including internal control, value for money, and corporate governance.
Ms Pamment has previously produced reports on the Hospital plans, the Government's use of consultants, the pay of arms-length body CEOs, and the island's energy resilience.
Pictured: The Comptroller and Auditor General, Lynn Pamment.
Yesterday, she said: "At the end of 2023, there were still over 100 recommendations that have been made by myself and my predecessors that the States of Jersey still hadn't implemented.
"Every single one of those recommendations not being implemented, in my view, is a missed opportunity for improvement in public services delivery in Jersey.
"At the moment, it takes on average two years to implement one of my recommendations, and I do encourage Government to speed up that process."
One recommendation that was still outstanding at the end of 2023 had originally been made in 2014, and was about procurement.
Ms Pamment added that she was working on a review of financial management and internal control, but that this would not focus on procurement as the Public Accounts Committee are currently running a review of procurement.
She said that she found it "frustrating" to see recommendations going as far back as 2014 return to the same topics.
"I also noticed that actually, sometimes it takes me returning to the areas a few times before we see that improvement made," she explained.
Pictured: External consultants cost the taxpayer nearly £60 million during Kristina Moore’s time as Chief Minister.
Other areas of improvement included service delivery which "always" accounts for about half of recommendations, Ms Pamment said.
The overall number of recommendations that were still open had gone down over time, she added.
Ms Pamment also said that her annual exercise of auditing the Government's expenses generally showed "a real significant improvement" in transparency of annual reports.
But the way that remuneration and staffing matters are reported in annual reports still needed improvement, she said.
In some areas, the Government will embark on change but "loses energy along the way" – with around two-thirds of action plans "slipping a little bit".
Ms Pamment said: "Quite a few of my reports talk about projects that are being embarked on with an expectation when the Government starts the project that it will deliver a certain amount of benefits.
"But along the way, those benefits don't get tracked, and do they really end up seeing those changes through to improved outcomes?"
Video: The watchdog recently found the Government had spent nearly £900m on contracts that did not follow a proper process.
Earlier this year, Ms Pamment found that the Government had spent nearly £900 million on contracts that did not follow a proper process.
Some areas of concern she noted in a review published in March included:
Over £881 million spent on contracts that did not go through the proper procurement process over the course of three and a half years
Some contractors who were ex-employees paid at higher rates than before they left Government
Consultants employed outside of a proper tender process, with rates as high as £300,000 per year for one role.
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