New man takes the helm in Alderney's troubled waters

ALDERNEY went to the polls on Saturday and ushered in a new era - but one with familiar challenges to overcome. Stuart Trought was elected the island's President with a strong showing to replace Sir Norman Browse, who has been in place since 2002.

He comes with no political baggage, he says, and a manifesto that promises to ensure that in inter-island relationships Alderney will not be disadvantaged to the benefit of other islands, that communication with the UK will be improved and relations with France strengthened.

Just as with Guernsey's chief minister role, each incumbent appears to have latitude to interpret the job description how they see fit.

But both, increasingly, have to look outwards.

The President of Alderney has a casting vote in the case of the 10 ordinary States members being evenly split - and he chairs the States meetings.

He also represents the island on the international stage.

Much like the chief minister, it is a title that seems to come without the tools in the box some argue are needed.

The question of Alderney's relationship with the other Channel Islands is one that has cropped up time and again - most recently in the 2020 health vision debate in Guernsey.

Then it was Alderney representative Boyd Kelly who was rattling the cages.

It began with disappointment that Alderney has not been consulted before the publication of the initial 2020 report.

There was a fear that any outsourcing to NGOs or charities could be problematic for Alderney because they might not operate there.

Some services that are funded in Guernsey by HSSD, such as home care, are not provided in Alderney. There is no equivalent to Beau Sejour in Alderney.

'We have common taxes and social security contributions, but clearly don't receive the same services,' said Mr Kelly.

The transferred services are a live political topic at the moment, with a team of chief officers from Guernsey in talks with Alderney.

The current relationship between Guernsey and Alderney largely stems back to the recovery after the German Occupation.

In 1948, amid UK fears that Alderney had not come up with a plan to prevent the total dereliction that was threatened, agreement was reached that Guernsey would become responsible for Alderney's airport, health, social and education services, police and immigration, main roads and drains and water supplies.

There has been little movement since.

Alderney States took back responsibility for the roads, drains and water supply in 1955. In 1974, adoption was added to Guernsey's list and in 1997 childcare was added.

Two members of the States of Alderney are elected by the public to sit in the Guernsey States, with the same voting powers as deputies, although not the pay packet.

Since the Government of Alderney Law 1987, there appears to have been no major holistic investigation of the relationship.

But there are always signs of strain.

Alderney currently ships its waste to Guernsey, but an increase in tipping fees has led it to look to Jersey and its new incinerator instead.

Each Public Services minister in Guernsey has spoken strongly of trying to control the deficit at Alderney airport, now some £600,000 a year and which Treasury and Resources funds.

And then there is the breakwater.

Enough said.

The main problem has been the reluctance to look deeply at the services received for the level of taxes and contributions made.

Both sides are perhaps fearful that what might be uncovered could make uncomfortable reading for them.

But it is essential if the cracks in the relationship, and the sense in some quarters in Alderney that they are the poor cousin and getting a rough deal, are to be smoothed over in an informed way.

Questions about how sustainable a capital investment model based on the success of one industry - e-gaming - in such a small island should be addressed.

Alderney clings to the hope that the massive tidal power resource will be the answer to its ills, but with no commercial units operating successfully yet and an extremely harsh marine environment to overcome, it is not one that will take effect quickly.

A study of the transferred services inevitably draws you towards the concept of Alderney becoming essentially another parish or district of Guernsey, but it would come with a loss of autonomy that no doubt would be resisted.

Some of Mr Trought's time will no doubt be spent on the communication flow with the UK, an issue that a Policy and Finance Committee letter exposed last year.

A process whereby communication from the Ministry of Justice passes through Guernsey can cause delays, it said.

'The committee, while recognising the value of Alderney's association with Guernsey, feels that this sometimes obscures (particularly when viewed from London) the separate interests of Alderney in certain areas such as the extension of the territorial sea and seabed rights impacting on the development of tidal energy.'

Shortly after being elected, Mr Trought said he wanted to be a unifying President, one who would help steer the island through the troubled times it was in.

He did not expand further than that, but it hints at internal struggles as well as the outward picture picked up in his manifesto.

His term of office runs until December 2012.