Departments must produce lists of employees under the proposals

St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft wants every department to cut its employees by 10%, and for the cuts to be enforced by policy and resources.

He said the States risked losing the trust and respect of the people if they tried to impose extra charges without reducing their manpower budget.

The user pays charges are being proposed as the States battles to balance its budget, which is set to go �19m into the red next year.

Arm twisting

Mr Crowcroft said: "Like a lot of other States members, we frequently hear the public's impatience at the size of the public sector.

"There are a lot of very hard working civil servants.

"But this is about the way the civil service is structured, and I think there is a feeling that it is high time we had some leadership from policy and resources.

"The purpose of my proposition is to twist their arm and get them to grapple with this problem."

He wants every department to produce a list of employees, and a total of how much it costs to employ them.

He said: "It is to do with numbers. People have been looking at certain departments and asking why do we have them or why are there so many people working there.

"There are other issues such as non-basic pay, overtime costs, which I understand are about 12% in some departments, high sickness levels, and that of course has got to be tackled."