More than 20 new amendments are currently being prepared against Policy & Resources’ proposals to add to the 16 which the Assembly ran out of time to debate at its final meeting before the summer adjournment.
The fresh avalanche of counter-proposals, mostly led by opponents of a goods and services tax, follows an unexpected ruling to reopen the submission period for amendments ahead of the States debate resuming on 30 September, and significantly increases the possibility of final decisions being deferred until much later in the autumn.
‘From the discussions we know are ongoing, I would expect a minimum of 23 new amendments,’ said Garry Collins yesterday.
‘I have been trying to arrange meetings between States members to discuss how we’re going to tackle this. Ten of us met recently for about three hours to talk through the options.
‘We should try to finish the debate because we have other important business to get on with, but it is going to be difficult to conclude such a mammoth debate. There is also an election for a jurat with three good candidates at the start of that next States meeting.’
Opponents of P&R’s tax package were accused of a filibuster when the States failed to reach any decisions at a three-day sitting in July. But Deputy Collins yesterday blamed the senior committee for the interminable debate over tax and spending, saying he and his colleagues had seen ‘no movement and no sign of compromise’ from P&R over the summer.
Deputy Collins is directly involved, as seconder, in only one new amendment, which he said would propose a wholesale alternative to P&R’s plan for a 3% GST, additional taxes on motoring and some companies, and reductions in income tax and social security contributions, which the senior committee estimates will improve States finances by about £40m. a year without increasing costs overall for lower- and middle-income households.
Deputy Robert Curgenven was working on several new amendments. He said some of them would deal with various details of GST which P&R had not addressed in replies to his written questions.
David Goy was preparing a total of eight new amendments, five of which will propose alternative tax-raising ideas with three focused on reducing spending, while Deputies Haley Camp, Liam McKenna and Simon Vermeulen were understood to be working up numerous motions, potentially including ideas which were rejected by the Assembly in July.
Amendments are also expected from Forward Guernsey, the party led by Deputy Gavin St Pier, the only registered political party represented in the States.
‘We’ve had a positive initial meeting with the president and vice-president of P&R and we’re also consulting other members. We’re keen to progress a number of the tax policies in our manifesto,’ said a party spokesman.
However, it hoped the growing number of amendments, which could reach a record for a single States debate, would not delay agreement on a tax and spending plan beyond early October.
‘We are also giving consideration to consolidating a number of our existing amendments into one, in order to reduce the amount of debate time required,’ said the spokesman.
‘After years of debate and delay, we cannot afford for this issue to roll on indefinitely without resolution. We think that to emerge with no decisions would be the worst of all worlds and highly irresponsible.’