Embrace action without living in fear of failure

Not just in the sense of wasting money on vanity projects and white elephants but in the dynamic process of proposing, agreeing and then implementing an idea.

No one who has observed this Assembly in action can be confident that it can be dynamic. It loves to strategise, to commission reports, to consult and to argue.

What it is not so good at is getting spades in the ground and projects off the drawing board.

Even before Covid-19 and lockdown paralysed all parts of government with the exception of Health, this Assembly and its predecessors had a poor record of investing in infrastructure.

Despite a fiscal framework rule calling upon the States to spend 3% of GDP on capital spending it averaged about half of that over the decade.

Three years ago, in the last policy review before independent economic advisors were pensioned off, the experts called for a wide-ranging debate about capital spending and infrastructure investment.

The pandemic has brought new focus to that discussion. It matters little how many tens of millions the States has on tap to reinvigorate the economy if its political inertia stops it spending.

Whether it is the inability of deputies and committees to see a plan through to its conclusion or that each project is tied up in so much red tape that it cannot break free is unclear.

The result, however, has been a lack of action that has frustrated both politicians and islanders.

That must now change. Some of the energy and decisiveness that has characterised the response to Covid-19 must be brought to bear in the coming years.

To do that the States must be prepared to fail. Just as there was no roadmap for dealing with Covid-19 and mistakes were inevitable, not all projects will be roaring successes.

The island can live with that. What it cannot accept is a government which does nothing because it is paralysed by the fear of not being perfect.