The lazy days of summer are about to end for States

IT has been something of a muted start to this States term.

That settling-in period, which seems to last so long in Guernsey under the consensus model, is to blame.

Much like the Guernsey summer in which it happens, it has its brief flashes of excitement, a two-day heatwave if you like, but mostly it is nothing to shout about.

Plenty of time since the election would have been spent bringing new members up to speed on the intricacies of not only how the States operates, sticking them all in hi-vis jackets and hard hats to tour different sites, and also educating them on key policies for which they are now responsible.

To those on the outside it all seems to take an inordinate amount of time, though.

Broadly speaking, the world of the States can be split into the proactive and the reactive – ideally it wants to be involved in much more of the former.

The proactive side is all about policy and service development, being ahead of the game.

We know nothing particularly new can happen until the 40 members have agreed on what is effectively a manifesto for the next term.

Agreeing the high-level policies that will guide all the action beneath, but importantly hitting the balance between offering tangible, understandable goals without either becoming too sweeping or too detailed.

But there are two policies in particular that were inherited from the last States that major movement should be expected on early in the life of this Assembly.

And while the waste strategy has made some tangible progress – planning permission granted, kerbside funding supported for a time, and the business plan close to being in the hands of Policy & Resources – and with it at least opening up the opportunity for a decision to finally be made – we still wait to hear of what the future of secondary education will be.

Those on the Education, Sport & Culture committee have been committed to publishing some kind of report for a States debate by November.

Aside from the teachers' survey, and some pre-gleaned knowledge from the election process, few know what is on the committee's minds and how far its report will go.

Having gone down the reform route, this is not the time for further procrastination, but there is a whole world of trouble lying ahead in terms of managing expectations.

A vast majority of teachers want one thing, the end of selection, yet the majority of the public want another – someone will be disappointed or, if there is a fudge, everyone will be.

You can add to the inherited list the new Island Development Plan – a terribly dry, but terribly important, document that will determine how the island will grow in the next decade.

It is clearly not without its debating points, chief among them affordable housing and parking requirements, and being pencilled-in for an early autumn debate it could be the first time we find out the personality of this States.

The odd spat aside, suitably enough over the publication of the planning inspectors' report, we have yet to see how this Assembly handles disagreements and tension – we are still in the honeymoon period, with everyone trying their best to project a corporate togetherness.

In terms of the reactive, transport links have topped the agenda. Over at Economic Development in Guernsey, and from their colleagues in Jersey, we are hearing about lots of meetings with lots of strong words being exchanged, and assurances being given over both air and sea travel.

What that betrays, of course, is beyond words there is really very little that can be done by government when dealing with private operators unless it wants to get really aggressive with how

Aurigny operates, or spends another sizeable chunk of taxpayers' money on a ferry.

The future direction of Aurigny will be the subject of a Policy & Resources review that aims to answer finally whether the States wants a commercial operator turning in a profit or an economic and social enabler which it is happy to subsidise – as it has effectively been doing for so many years but without any real explicit direction.

As the States will not cast Alderney adrift, and it is Alderney that is responsible for the current losses, according to Aurigny, you can see that route going out to tender with a subsidy attached.

What of inter-island travel?

Will the States be willing to get Aurigny involved in a competition with Blue Islands/Flybe again and at what cost to itself and the rival?

Come September we should see our first glimpse of the Scrutiny Management Committee in action.

Earlier this month it announced its intention to do a full review of the £330m. States bond, yesterday it added the waste strategy to its agenda for a snap hearing in September.

Unencumbered by the machinations over strategic policy plans, Scrutiny should be nimble enough to get its new work off the ground very quickly.

Those behind the waste strategy have already been briefing deputies behind the scenes in an attempt to educate and smooth the progress of what is already on the table.

Scrutiny's work should help inform the public who are not fortunate enough to get these briefings.

If the strategy remains robust – and the means of delivering it will still hit the goals that have been agreed in terms of things like recycling levels and, crucially, costs – the hearings will show that.

If not, then Policy & Resources, who will be handed the business case to sign off, will have all the reasoning it needs to knock it back to States Trading Assets or the States.

Too often Scrutiny in previous terms turned up too late to the party to have any real influence, this might just be a sign of things changing.