The big issues tackled before the end of term

October 2015

Family allowance had been in the firing line for some time. It had been frozen in 2014 and 2015. Social Security wanted to do so again in 2016. But it and Treasury had backed down on proposals within the tax, pensions and benefits report to phase it out over 10 years which left something of a vacuum in its place. In came former Social Security minister Mark Dorey with a proposal to investigate using all or part of the £10m. budget to fund free or subsidised children services instead – that report is now due by October 2017.

How they voted on investigating ending or altering family allowance and using the money to fund services such as children's healthcare, school dinners, breakfast clubs and holiday clubs.

For: Deputies Le Pelley, Ogier, Trott, Fallaize, Laurie Queripel, Le Lievre, Collins, Duquemin, Green, Dorey, Le Tocq, Brouard, Wilkie, De Lisle, Burford, Sillars, Hadley, Harwood, Brehaut, R. Jones, Le Clerc, Gollop, Sherbourne, Conder, Lester Queripel. 25.

Against: Deputies St Pier, Gillson, Lowe, Spruce, Paint, James, Adam, Perrot, Inglis, Soulsby, Luxon, O'Hara, Kuttelwascher, Domaille, Langlois, Bebb. 16.

Absent: Deputies Stewart, D. Jones, Quin and Alderney representatives Jean and McKinley.

November 2015

Earlier in the term members backed States-funded, universal pre-school education, just not how to fund it. It had left Education and Treasury at odds, not for the only time, over how to move forward. In the end a compromise was reached – and pre-school education was no longer going to be free for all. It also will mean a reduction in family allowance and a delay by one term to January 2017 before the scheme started. Just five members voted against – Deputies Gillson, Lowe, Perrot, Inglis and Quin with Deputy Trott abstaining and Deputy D. Jones absent.

As the States entered its twilight there was an increasing sense of a Treasury Department trying to rein in spending in the face of growing bids for new projects. The biodiversity strategy was one of those. Treasury wanted Environment to find the money to fund it from within its existing budget, in the end deputies backed raiding a pot of money put aside for things such as pay rises and emergency spending.

How they voted on spending States reserves and then increasing Environment's budget to fund a biodiversity strategy:

For: Deputies Harwood, Brehaut, Domaille, R. Jones, Le Clerc, Gollop, Sherbourne, Conder, Bebb, Lester Queripel, Ogier, Fallaize, Laurie Queripel, Le Lievre, Green, Dorey, Le Tocq, James, Brouard, Wilkie, De Lisle, Burford, Soulsby, Sillars, Luxon, O'Hara, Hadley and Alderney representative McKinley. 28.

Against: Deputies Kuttelwascher, Langlois, Parkinson, St Pier, Stewart, Gillson, Le Pelley, Trott, Lowe, Spruce, Collins, Duquemin, Paint, Adam, Perrot, Inglis, Quin and Alderney representative Jean. 18

Absent: Deputy Dave Jones.

The States moved on to debate spending £25m. on Aurigny's lossmaking parent company, Cabernet, and Deputy Darren Duquemin saw an opportunity to make another move at rebranding Aurigny to include Guernsey in its title – something rejected by Treasury back in 2013 because of the £500,000 price tag and other more important priorities, including presumably stemming the losses. Members backed an amendment to investigate the rebrand.

How they voted on whether to investigate rebranding Aurigny, something which could eventually cost £500,000:

For: Deputies Kuttelwascher, R. Jones, Le Clerc, Gollop, Sherbourne, St Pier, Stewart, Gillson, Le Pelley, Ogier, Trott, Fallaize, Spruce, Collins, Duquemin, Green, Le Tocq, Adam, Perrot, Brouard, Wilkie, De Lisle, Luxon, Quin. 24

Against: Deputies Harwood, Brehaut, Domaille, Langlois, Conder, Bebb, Lester Queripel, Laurie Queripel, Lowe, Le Lievre, Dorey, Paint, Burford, Inglis, Soulsby, Sillars, O'Hara, Hadley and Alderney representatives Jean and McKinley. 20

Absent: Deputies D. Jones and James.

December 2015

One of the biggest social policy debates of this term took place when the States discussed whether to introduce same-sex marriage. The Policy Council had for a long time favoured an option that was not full equal marriage – union civile – but faced with a majority of the public telling them otherwise, backed down.

How they voted on same-sex marriage:

For: Deputies Harwood, Brehaut, Domaille, Langlois, R. Jones, Le Clerc, Gollop, Sherbourne, Conder, Parkinson, Bebb, Lester Queripel, St Pier, Stewart, Gillson, Le Pelley, Ogier, Trott, Fallaize, Lowe, Le Lievre, Spruce, Collins, Duquemin, Green, Dorey, James, Brouard, Wilkie, Burford, Soulsby, Sillars, Luxon, Quin, Hadley and Alderney representatives Jean and McKinley. 37.

Against: Deputies Kuttelwascher, Laurie Queripel, Paint, Adam, Perrot, De Lisle, O'Hara. 7

Absent: Deputies D. Jones, Le Tocq, Inglis.

Many, many, many hours had gone into debating Guernsey's new population management regime. There was just one thing missing – the policy to guide how many people should be living on the island. It had been an issue ducked throughout the management debate where it was insisted a focus on numbers would distract from the core issues of getting the right tools in the box. When it came to the big reveal, Policy Council attempted to shift the focus onto the 'working population' number, although buried within its report was indication that to achieve that the total population may need to hit some 70,000 people. The policy faced objections from those who felt it was too vague – members, though, rejected the opportunity to effectively cap the working population at its current level.

How they voted on the Dorey amendment to cap the working population:

For: Deputies Brehaut, Domaille, Gollop, Lester Queripel, Ogier, Fallaize, Laurie Queripel, Lowe, Le Lievre, Green, Dorey, Paint, Brouard, Burford. 14

Against: Deputies Harwood, Kuttelwascher, Langlois, R. Jones, Le Clerc, Sherbourne, Conder, Parkinson, Bebb, St Pier, Stewart, Gillson, Le Pelley, Trott, Collins, Duquemin, James, Adam, Wilkie, De Lisle, Soulsby, Sillars, O'Hara, Hadley and Alderney representatives Jean and McKinley. 26.

Absent: Deputy D. Jones, Spruce, Le Tocq, Perrot, Inglis, Luxon, Quin.