First test of States' appetite to say no

The Revive and Thrive plan begins, like all major strategy documents, with great expectations, grand promises and ambitions.

It needs to work quickly and efficiently to provide the fuel to fire up the economy again.

The finances are in place following the States' decision to borrow, but that, as has been witnessed with the government bond money which remains in a large part unspent, is no guarantee of measurable success. Having the cash is one thing, creating the right systems and processes for deciding how to spend it and spend it efficiently is quite another.

It will also require a discipline to prioritise that has not been evident before, a need to focus on what is really crucial even if it comes at the expense of projects that are already on the drawing board.

That message will be tested with Policy & Resources asking members to reject further work on the £26m. Dairy rebuild project this week, something which has never appeared in any prioritisation lists.

It is the first time we will see where deputies are when faced with the dilemma posed by projects they once thought were essential falling down the agenda and where they are going to set the spending bar.

An environment has been created for the States to do what it should have been doing all along, prioritising and then delivering, but with added urgency that only being so close to the flames can cause.

We have witnessed in the last few months quick, decisive action that has been well communicated when it comes to public health policy. The danger is that competing political interests and voices will stymie progress with the economic recovery as we go back to more politicians sitting around boardroom tables.

It is vital that the revive and thrive ambition is not stuck, as other major strategies and projects have been, by processes which drag it into the quagmire of public sector thinking.

The States needs to do something it has not been set up to do, act quickly and decisively.