GWP may offer insights for political reform
SOME of her senior colleagues may feel differently, but it is revealing to hear Deputy Heidi Soulsby call today for an ‘efficient’ system of government to come about from a new review panel, which recently met for the first time, rather than necessarily a new, executive one.
Chief Minister Peter Ferbrache may believe that the States ‘no longer has the luxury of debating things endlessly’ and it would be surprising if Deputy Soulsby, who has appeared rather long-suffering at times during the course of this Assembly, would disagree.
But she could not have been clearer in indicating that executive government is not a be-all and end-all of this latest review.
‘I get a bit fed up with all this obsession about the title, and I think a lot of people when they talk about executive and committee systems don’t understand what it means in practice, because both have got their upsides and both have got their downsides.’
The deputy is certainly correct in stating that people get hung up about executive government, and indeed, the review committee – which also includes deputies Jonathan Le Tocq, Carl Meerveld and Liam McKenna, in a rather curious mix of political styles and dogmas – would be well advised to do their best to steer clear of expressing a preference for as long as they can to exhaust all other options.
Does the Government of Jersey work any better than Guernsey with its executive system? Deputy Soulsby doesn’t seem convinced. Arguably you hear more complaints about the Jersey system than you do about how we do things in Guernsey.
Deputy Soulsby also leads on the new Government Work Plan and appears rather more enthusiastic about its achievements so far, though she accepts the process, and the amount of cross-committee wrangling involved, is far from being perfect.
If the prioritisation process and focus introduced in the Government Work Plan is proving as useful as the deputy indicates it is, islanders may wonder if root and branch review of the political system would be able to make any more meaningful and significant change in pursuit of effectiveness.