Proposed Budget Annex 2027–2030

WQ.191/2026

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER

BY DEPUTY S.J. GLEAVE OF ST. HELIER SOUTH
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 5th OCTOBER 2026 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 12th OCTOBER 2026

Question

"Will the Chief Minister advise, for each Ministerial department and non-Ministerial body included within the Annex to the proposed Budget 2027-2030, and as at the date used to prepare the 2027 staffing estimates –

1. the total number of full-time equivalent (FTE) posts, broken down by whether those posts were funded or unfunded;
2. the number of funded FTE posts that were occupied;
3. the number of individual employees represented by the occupied FTE;
4. the number of funded FTE posts that were vacant;
5. the number of funded vacant FTE that had remained vacant for –
   1. less than three months;
   2. three to six months;
   3. six to twelve months; and
   4. more than twelve months;

7. the total budgeted staff cost;
8. the annualised payroll cost of occupied posts; and
9. any vacancy and turnover allowance included in the staff-cost budget;

and will he provide the definitions used by Government when reporting staffing reductions, distinguishing between reductions in total posts, funded posts, occupied FTE, employee headcount, payroll expenditure and recurring cash savings?"

Answer

1. FTEs are published for each department in the Proposed Budget Annex 2027-2030, summarised below.

FTE figures include roles that are recharged to Funds.

2. Actual FTE is published in the Public Sector Staffing Statistics Report (see p.4 and 5), summarised below.
3. Headcount is published in the Public Sector Staffing Statistics Report (see p.4 and 5), summarised below.

(c ) (b)

4. Vacancies by Department are published in the Public Sector Staffing Statistics Report (see p.9), summarised below.

5. Vacancies are managed according to operational and workforce requirements rather than by reference to the length of time a post has remained vacant. Consequently, Departments do not routinely categorise funded vacant FTE by vacancy duration, and the information requested is not held in this format.

Work is underway to develop the capability in the Connect People system to allow reporting of vacancies against recorded dates and to confirm the budget allocation for each post. This will allow for increased transparency in workforce and establishment reporting in 2027.

6. Budgeted staff costs are published for each department in the Proposed Budget Annex 2027-2030, summarised below.

7. Annualised payroll costs have been calculated using actual payroll costs for the 6 months to 30 June 2026, extrapolated for the 12 months to 31 December 2026.

*External Relations and Financial Services Heads of Expenditure have been amalgamated in 2027

Annualised payroll costs can often differ when comparing to total budgeted staff cost for a number of reasons, including:

• Some vacancies are filled by agency workers/locums/contractors, and the costs for these are recorded in non-pay.

• Variable payments such as overtime and allowances, parental leave costs etc will have an uneven profile

• Departments operating 24/7 and similar services will have additional costs incorporated into the budgets to maintain safe staffing levels

• Departments may have taken the decision to hold vacancies to temporarily cover other cost pressures in non-pay

• Annualised payroll costs do not take into account any recharges to Funds.

8. Any vacancy management factor applied will be determined by individual departments and on a cost centre by cost centre basis. It is currently too early in the detailed budgeting process to determine what this will be for 2027.

Definitions:

Reductions in total posts – FTE is the standard measure, however depending on the reporting requirements headcount and other definitions may be used in certain circumstances.

Funded posts – those posts that have budget allocated to them and are reported in the Budget Annex, converted to FTE.

Employee headcount – refers to the total number of individuals employed by the States of Jersey, regardless of their work schedule or hours at the reporting date.

Occupied FTE – FTE is a metric that converts the total hours worked by all employees into the equivalent number of FTEs. Occupied FTE is the number of FTE employed at the reporting date. It includes those on either a permanent or fixed term contract. It excludes any temporary agency workers, locums or contractors paid outside of payroll.

Payroll expenditure – includes basic pay and all other employer only associated costs such as allowances, sick pay, overtime, bank holiday pay, social security and pension contributions.

Recurring cash savings – savings that have resulted in a reduction in net expenditure on an ongoing basis. Vacant posts – those roles active on our internal and external careers site as at the report date.