Deputies are weighed down by information

Before these events, the mood music was building towards full-time deputies with no external interests quietly going about the business of government as the role demanded. Even non-States members on committees was frowned upon as lacking democratic legitimacy.

Today, electors can see the benefits of a more technocratic approach where expert input from advisers like Dr Brink is assessed and translated into political action while those taking the decisions were already busy people before becoming elected.

While Guernsey does not need full-time deputies, it has to recognise that the time constraints are onerous and limit the ability of ordinary members to seek additional paid work. In turn, that puts off those prepared to stand and diminishes the diversity of the Assembly.

The chief reason for this is the extraordinary length of committee briefing papers and policy letters in the Billet d’Etat. Members of Policy and Resources, for instance, need to digest the equivalent of a small telephone directory every week to keep abreast of their brief.

Part of the public sector transformation process must be taming this information overload. Official reports in Jersey, by contrast, tend to be much shorter and deal with what is proposed rather than the why.

Guernsey’s (correct) emphasis on evidence-based decision making has been taken to extreme lengths over the years in mind-numbing reports that few read.

Yes, the information has to be available but not at the expense of 100 page-plus reports that seem designed to deter engagement or high-level questioning.

It might seem like a minor point but making States members more effective and better able to focus on critical events is a vital step forward if islanders really do want better government and States members properly informed about what they are debating.