Alderney considering move to executive government

The Policy & Finance Committee is calling on the States to approve the island moving towards the separation of executive and legislative powers as soon as possible, and to have the required changes made to the Structure of Government Law and the Rules of Procedure, to enable them to go out to public consultation and for the States to consider further.

In P&F’s report, its chairman, James Dent, said the subject had been discussed since a report produced in 2016 on Alderney’s Choices.

This included a call to action from its author, Andrew McDonald, who said that although Alderney had rejected reform in the past, it would be perilous to do so again: ‘Now more than ever, Alderney needs strong political leadership, grounded in popular mandate and supported by an effective civil service,’ he wrote.

But despite this report getting strong support in a public consultation, nothing had happened since, and Mr Dent said that the result had been the continuation of a system that was not fit for purpose in meeting 21st Century challenges.

P&F set up a good governance group to look into the matter further, and this concluded that the one key question that needed to be resolved before looking at the detail of a new system of governance was whether or not the States considered that a move be made to separate executive and legislative powers.

‘The combination of both in government in its present form meant that “accountability and transparency within government are hampered and scrutiny of executive decisions is not carried out”,’ wrote Mr Dent.

He called on members to commit to a course of action: ‘Without such a commitment, we would be doomed to remain trapped in the perilous pattern which Andrew McDonald identified,’ he said.

Another report from P&F in this month’s Billet d’Etat is calling for members to have absolute privilege, like States of Guernsey deputies, and for a change to be made to the Government of Alderney Law, 2004.

The Billet also includes a revised code of conduct for members, which is also up for approval.

. The States of Alderney is due to discuss these matters at its meeting on Wednesday.