‘We need an efficient States, not executive’

But Deputy Heidi Soulsby believes that government can be made more effective still.

Community consultation is set to start within weeks on a potential overhaul of Guernsey’s system of government.

The rise of political parties and the Civil Contingency Authority’s handling of the pandemic has led to questions about whether an executive form of government would be preferable to the current consensus system.

Deputy Soulsby, who is leading for the States on the work plan and the review of the machinery of government, said she did not want people getting hung up about the pros and cons of executive government as part of this review.

She said she had an open mind on what might be the best operating method for the States.

‘What I want is to see government work more efficiently so we can get things moving.

‘Having the Government Work Plan helps under our current system, but there are times where I think it can get too cumbersome from having so many people needing to be at the table.

‘When we talk about an executive committee people get so hung up about it, but I just think we need to consider how can we get something that works better than now.

‘I get a bit fed up with all this obsession about the title, and I think a lot of people when they talk about executive and committee systems don’t understand what it means in practice, because both have got their upsides and both have got their downsides.

‘Our friends across the water have got an executive system, but I don’t think they’ve built their hospital any faster with it. That’s been a long-running saga and they’ve got an executive system in Jersey. Things aren’t necessarily greener on the other side of the fence.’

Guernsey’s last review of government took place between 2012 and 2016 and it led to the adoption of the current system in May 2016, with fewer deputies and committees.

The timeline for this new review is for recommendations to be put to the Assembly no later than June 2023, so that a potential new system would be ready to go after the next general election in 2025.

Deputy Soulsby also hailed a list of achievements by the States in 2021 and said much of that was underpinned by the discipline of the Government Work Plan.

‘We’ve got a good lot of stuff done, we’ve got committees working to the Government Work Plan, it gives them more steer about what they need to do, it gives them the resources to enable them to do it, instead of having everything everywhere, so it’s given structure.’

She highlighted the first fibre internet connections going into homes, the purchase of Kenilworth Vinery to build affordable homes, and a decision on the future of secondary education.

There has also been an important policy change to allow some redundant hotels to become housing, work is ongoing on a longer-term tourism strategy, and the population policy is being reviewed to tackle staff shortages.

She said this current government was much more joined up than any previous States she had been involved in.

‘We’re bringing people together to do stuff, whereas in the past committees have felt separated.

‘We haven’t got it perfect that’s for sure, and we’ve got too much in there [the GWP] that we can deal with now, but it’s worked, we’ve focused on the priority actions and we need to keep on doing that, but we also need to hone it down and really focus on those big-ticket things that we know will make a difference.

‘It’s things that the public care about and that we know will impact us in the future, for example, climate change.’

• The States’ first big project in 2022 should be a policy letter looking to take work forward on a seafront master plan for the island’s east coast. Deputy Soulsby said this should launch a ‘significant regeneration project’.

‘The policy letter will ask States members if they want a separate development agency to run it instead of having a load of politicians and others just talking about it,’ she said.

‘We’re not qualified to do it, but there are people who can run with it and make a difference.’