Formation of new dedicated housing committee agreed by States
Housing will be moved into a new dedicated committee at the start of the next States term on 1 July.
Responsibilities for housing policy and social housing will be stripped from Environment & Infrastructure and Employment & Social Security respectively and merged into a new Housing Committee, with a president and four members elected by the States.
Planning policy will remain with the Development & Planning Authority and funding for housing will be retained by Policy & Resources, but the Assembly backed a requete led by Sasha Kazantseva-Miller which argued that a dedicated housing committee was needed to sort out alleged inaction on housebuilding, which it laid at the feet of E&I and ESS.
‘This should result in a more joined-up approach to solving the current and future housing needs of Guernsey,’ said requete signatory Deputy Nick Moakes.
‘I don’t think I need to remind anyone that we are in the middle of a housing crisis, and I don’t believe members want to continue seeing committees work in silos, go in different directions or fail to consult key external stakeholders.
‘We need to create a committee laser-beam focused on three things – housing, housing, housing. No distractions and no excuses.’
Another signatory, Deputy Marc Leadbeater, hit back at claims that the requete was a personal attack on the presidents of E&I and ESS.
‘A group of us have got together to try to stop the inertia and bring something forward, and we have just had resistance,’ he said.
‘The Assembly has resolved that housing is our main priority, and as a government our main priorities have a committee, and this is why we need this political committee for housing and the accountability that goes with it.’
Summing up days of debate on her requete, across two separate States meetings, Deputy Kazantseva-Miller said the Assembly ‘needed to try an experiment to adapt to changing needs’ and set up a dedicated committee ‘with that power to act on housing’.
