Home could yet be top of the class
WITH this Assembly half way through its political term, attention has inevitably turned to how well it is doing and whether it has yet earned the title of 'worst States ever'. The answer is no. It hasn't done enough yet for islanders to draw an informed conclusion.
Nick Mann's Inside Politics took a closer look yesterday at the departments whose activities will help decide whether this is a good, bad or indifferent administration.
Where there are green shoots of the promised Sarnian Spring are at Treasury and Resources, where a firmness of purpose is emerging and a greater focus on outcomes.
That isn't yet in evidence at Social Security but it has at least acknowledged that its rising expenditure cannot be regarded in isolation from the rest of the States finances.
On the Policy Council, too, there are a number of ministers determined to try to move things on and direct the operation.
Education has a vision and a determination to change things for the better and is close to pulling that off – if it gets some support. As Inside Politics noted, by contrast Environment is a basket case and things there cannot improve until there is a shake-up at political and management level.
The two to watch, however, are Health and Home.
How soft – and therefore at the expense of islanders – will HSSD be in reviewing specialists costs and the anti-competitive cartel that GPs operate? The signs thus far are not encouraging.
Home, however, has the potential to break new ground. Merging the police with Customs should have been done years ago but was blocked on purely political grounds. The infighting, the attempted stitch-up of the police chief and the personnel departures from the Guernsey Border Agency indicate where the resistance lay and where fiscal and other discipline needed to be applied.
A successful conclusion of the merger could be the trigger for Jersey to take similar action. The bigger prize, however, is for an integrated Channel Islands enforcement and border security operation with the consequent savings and efficiencies.
Achieve that and significant shared services should follow.
