Jersey Customs restructure saves £29,000

Jersey's Customs and Immigration department has been restructured, saving £29,000 per year, and creating three new clerical posts.

The changes came about following the retirement of two customs officers.

The department employed two people from the States skills register and one young person through the Advance to Work scheme.

The restructure also frees up skilled officers for investigation and auditing work.

The States skills register is a list of staff from across the organisation whose jobs have been removed as part of the restructuring process.

Mike Robinson, head of customs and immigration, said: "We decided to reorganise the team into a manager and three clerical posts to free up the customs officers to do what they are trained for, while the office assistants take care of the clerical work."

Senator Philip Ozouf, the Treasury Minister, said: "This is just the kind of lateral thinking that I hope is going on across all States departments.

"As part of our efforts to control spending, I want to see a modern, efficient public sector that provides essential services effectively while ensuring value for money for taxpayers," he said.

The Senator said: "This shows us how we can achieve the same results for less, it has employed two staff from within the States and, more importantly, one member of staff has come from the work training scheme we set up to help young people to get a foothold on the world of employment."