The Bailiwick Commission was set up last year after the approval of the governments of Guernsey, Sark and Alderney and its brief is to look at the relationships between each pair of islands, including the 1948 Agreement between Guernsey and Alderney.
Its brief includes making non-binding recommendations on how improvements might be made across areas including governance, legislation, judicial links, economic ties, international agreements and inter‑island service delivery.
Its last meeting in Guernsey was in April and it has also held public meetings in Sark and Alderney.
The commissioners’ visit this week will include another trip to Sark, and speaker of Chief Pleas Paul Armorgie said he was looking forward to meeting them again.
He had been impressed with the approach of the commissioners during their last visit.
‘Our relationship with the commission is very encouraging,’ he said.
‘I had a good initial conversation with them when they first came over.’
Their establishment had led to some conspiracy theories being raised in Sark about their purpose, he admitted.
‘Some people thought they had a certain agenda and were trying to catch Sark out,’ said Mr Armorgie, but he did not share these people’s scepticism.
‘They were clearly aiming to find ways in which Sark and Guernsey and Alderney could work in harmony together.
‘We welcome the communication we’ve had with them so far and look forward to continuing our discussions with them next week.’
Although they will not be visiting Alderney on this occasion, the chair of the island’s Policy & Finance Committee said she had also had a positive experience with the commission so far.
The island had been keen to engage with the commissioners, said Jeannie Cameron, and of all the submissions put to them Ms Cameron said she understood that well over half – 62% – had been made by Alderney residents.
Ms Cameron, as well as Guernsey chief minister Lindsay de Sausmarez and Sark’s Policy & Finance chairman John Guille, had an hour alone with the commission during a visit to London soon after it was launched.
‘I’ve found that in all our dealings with the commissioners that they’ve been really listening and really trying to understand what the issues are,’ she said. ‘They do appear to have listened to the community.
‘We’re very much looking forward to whatever recommendations they make.’
An interim report is expected from the Bailiwick Commission before the end of this year.
During this week’s visit commission chairman Sir Bob Neill will be joined by members Philip Rycroft, Prof. Caroline Morris, Dr Lisa Cameron and Lord Carwyn Jones.