£2m. subsidy for Sark figure 'has no basis', says Policy Council

THE chief minister has outlined services provided to Sark by Guernsey.

It follows suggestions – repeated by this newspaper – that Guernsey was providing a £2m.-a-year subsidy to the smaller island.

Peter Harwood said he did not recognise any basis for the claim but explained that services had developed over the course of many years due to close historic and geographical links and the constitutional arrangement between the islands.

He said services could be placed into three broad categories, the first being services charged to Chief Pleas.

These included legal aid, charged on a demand-led basis, and costs incurred by the presence of Guernsey Police in the island.

'Those costs and the costs of some other criminal justice services provided by Guernsey are currently recovered under a fixed fee arrangement that is negotiated annually between Guernsey and Sark,' he said.