Outsourcing to parishes requires trust

If it succeeds, it will mark a remarkable turnaround by the States and halt years of marginalising the parishes and stripping them of previous functions – including their own representatives in the Assembly, coordinating road closures and administering welfare benefits.

It will not be an easy journey. Government will need to be satisfied if it outsources service delivery, and the finances to enable it, that what is provided is up to acceptable standards, and equitably administered.

And by virtue of size, some parishes have less administrative capability to act as an agent of government, for all the enthusiasm there is to do so.

What has been missing in discussions to date, however, is any indication of the types of function that could be devolved to the parishes.

Immediate suggestions from the parishes at the meeting called by P&R vice-president Heidi Soulsby included resuming responsibility for managing road closures and some involvement in planning issues.

The feeling remains widespread in the parishes that road closure disruption has never being so bad since the States took it over. Meanwhile the biggest complaint from douzaines is that the Development and Planning Authority disregards parochial views when giving out development consents.

By linking devolution to the GWP, P&R appears to be moving towards a process that releases its resources for progressing priority recovery activities by calling on businesses, the community and the third sector to lend a hand elsewhere.

This also makes sense and parochial involvement could be a significant contributor to one of the key tasks of the GWP – right-sizing government.

The working party that is being formed to look into this more deeply will come up with many examples of where douzaines can help.

Critical to the success of any parish involvement, however, will be a government-wide willingness to relinquish its own control and trust others. That has been lacking in the past.