In brief: Deputy Alex Curtis has submitted an amendment to the Government of Jersey’s Common Strategic Priorities, arguing that ministers need far greater digital ambition to simplify the public sector and cut running costs. The amendment calls for a centralised digital budget and clearer accountability, and will be debated in the States Assembly from 10 November.
More Ambition, Please
If you have ever tried to navigate Jersey’s regulatory landscape as a business owner, filling in Word documents and PDFs to apply for an alcohol licence or an event permit, you will have some sympathy for what Deputy Alex Curtis is saying. The St Clement representative has submitted an amendment to the government’s Common Strategic Priorities (CSP) proposition, urging the Council of Ministers to commit explicitly to digital transformation of the public sector, and then, crucially, to be held to account for delivering it.
The Jersey Evening Post reports that Deputy Curtis argues the existing CSP document gives “little firm direction” on how to achieve its own stated goals of a leaner, less complex public sector with lower running costs. His amendment calls for a “stated commitment to be ambitious” that would set the tone for the new political term. As he puts it: “If the government is ambitious, it should be clear and say it, and then be held to account for delivery.”
It is a reasonable point. Aspirational language in government strategy documents is hardly in short supply. What tends to be rather rarer is a concrete plan, a budget to match, and someone whose job it is to make sure it actually happens.
The Problem in Plain Sight
Deputy Curtis is well placed to make this argument. He served as Assistant Chief Minister with responsibility for digital initiatives during an 18-month period before the change in government in January 2024, giving him a working knowledge of where the obstacles lie.
His report accompanying the amendment highlights a fragmented regulatory environment that places a real administrative burden on Jersey businesses. Tax and social security operate on different platforms. Planning applications, alcohol licences, vehicle permits and event permits each have their own systems. Some processes still depend on Word documents or PDFs. This is not a picture of a government confidently striding into the digital age.
The deputy argues that before Jersey creates new regulation, such as proposed food licensing or a new events licensing law, it should first tackle the administrative burden that existing regulation already imposes. That is a sensible sequencing of priorities that any business owner dealing with the current patchwork of systems would likely applaud.
He also calls for “fundamentally new ways of digital working” and a willingness to step outside the comfort zone of siloed departmental thinking, while maintaining cyber safety and resilience. The amendment specifically includes a commitment to retaining in-person and offline options for islanders who struggle with digital platforms, which is a thoughtful acknowledgement that not everyone is equally comfortable online.
A Centralised Budget and Clear Direction
The practical centrepiece of the amendment is a call for a centralised budget for the digital programme. Deputy Curtis argues this would make it easier to prioritise the delivery of key elements and to “grow the government’s digital maturity,” rather than leaving individual departments to pursue their own, often competing, digital agendas.
This matters because one of the persistent failures of public sector digital transformation, not just in Jersey but across many jurisdictions, is that money gets spent in departmental silos, producing systems that do not talk to one another and deliver far less than the sum of their parts. A centralised budget with clear political ownership would at least create the conditions for a more coherent approach.
States Members are due to debate the Common Strategic Priorities, along with several other amendments, in the sitting beginning on Tuesday 10 November.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
