A licensing regime affecting them, which was introduced only six weeks ago, will be scrapped next week if the Assembly backs a proposal submitted yesterday by Andy Sloan.
He criticised the new regulations, signed off by the Environment & Infrastructure Committee in January, as ‘another example of nanny-knows-best government’ and said it should be rolled back if deputies were serious about limiting the size of government locally.
E&I president Adrian Gabriel claimed that the licensing regime was carefully developed following States directions and professional advice, and that ditching it would remove important protections for animals, their owners and businesses in the sector.
‘These provisions are now in effect and are designed to safeguard animal welfare, provide reassurance to the public, and ensure that responsible businesses are operating on a fair and consistent footing,’ said Deputy Gabriel.
‘Annulment would remove those protections completely and create uncertainty for animal owners and businesses, including those operators who have already engaged constructively with the new licensing framework.’
Deputy Sloan was disappointed that E&I put the new rules into operation a week after agreeing them, on 31 January, just days after he had first asked for them to be laid before the Assembly. It is common for committees to make statutory instruments in that way, but on this occasion he believed it had shown ‘contempt for the democratic process’.
But his main concern was that the licensing regime made new rules in an area of island life which did not need them.
‘It’s the extension of the state by stealth – the long arm of bureaucracy,’ said Deputy Sloan.
‘When I came here 18 years ago, this was not the way the island was, but we are now frequently imposing new rules and regulations on the economy and our society.
‘Do we open the pages of the Guernsey Press to find lots of people being bitten by dogs out of control of their walkers?
‘We are a small island and we should have small government. We can’t continue expanding the state like this.’
His motion to annul the statutory instrument will be seconded by Deputy Mark Helyar, who has consistently criticised the licensing regime.
It will be scrapped, effectively immediately, if a majority of States members vote in favour of their motion when the Assembly meets next week.
Public consultation held before the licensing regime was developed had indicated support for extending existing animal welfare rules.
‘E&I recognises the important contribution made by these local businesses and has consistently sought to listen to and work with those affected, and that approach will continue,’ said Deputy Gabriel.
‘The committee remains open to hearing concerns, monitoring how the regime operates in practice, and making sensible, evidence-based improvements where they are justified.
‘Engagement is an ongoing part of responsible governance, not something that ends at commencement.’
He also appealed to the Assembly to focus on important new issues rather than revisiting changes already agreed at committee level.
Deputy Sloan claimed it would be as easy to find opponents as supporters of additional licensing, and said that in any event ‘it is not about consultation – it is about principle’.
E&I was allowed to make the statutory instruments, the lowest level of legislation, under an ordinance about animal welfare approved by the States in 2012.