Sacc will not budge on election spending
Proposals to allow election candidates to spend up to £7,500 will be back before the States in September, even though at least one member of the States’ Assembly and Constitution Committee believes that they might be rejected again.
‘We are going to get slaughtered on this,’ said Yvonne Burford during Sacc’s discussion of its revised policy letter.
When its last report on the subject was debated recently, the idea of increasing the limit by inflation from £6,000 was approved. The committee was directed to look at it again.
There was some support for even lower limits, but no amendment tabled.
Sacc's updated report will include various reasons why it believes an increase is right, including how it would not be fair to reduce the limit a candidate’s spending, when sitting members won their seat with far more to spend.
Deputy Burford suggested that the updated report should also stress that the committee had done additional research having taken the Assembly’s concerns on board and compared the amount being proposed with that spent by candidates for election is other jurisdictions.
‘At the request of the Assembly we have come back and brought them even more evidence,’ she said.
‘There could also be an argument for increasing it because of the nature of Guernsey’s election,’ said Sacc president Carl Meerveld.
