Guernsey Press

We should be wary of ideas for sweeping political reform

I HAVE observed with interest a movement of sorts calling for a radical reform of our model of government and electoral process. It is right that such views should be aired for public and media consumption, but it is also right that these concepts should be countered and challenged. The points in support have been well presented and this is only to be expected when considering the proponents of the suggested restructuring. However, it does perhaps smack of a soft coup, the offering of a tempting Garden of Eden-like apple. As such, some islanders may nod sagely or even be beguiled by these ideas, but I would advise caution.

Published

There is a view held by some members of the public that the States are somewhat disconnected from the people, that not enough political attention is paid to the oversight of operational matters, services or grassroots issues – I wouldn’t entirely disagree with that observation. In our model of government it is the politicians who should act as the opposition, provide scrutiny and generally hold the system to account on behalf of islanders. I am not overly convinced that this is fully understood by all deputies even though it is my belief that my colleagues are well intended and able people. However, a small political elite sitting atop of the system who will only have time for high level work would not improve this situation, it would only exacerbate it.

Having served as a parish constable, I am intrigued by the notion that constables could take on all parish-related work, including constituency cases. My time as a Vale constable has led me to believe that in the long term this would be unrealistic, especially when holding office in the larger parishes. My experience was that the role constituted a proper part-time position (20 or more hours a week).

I am not convinced that constables could cope with up to and over 30 live cases (I base this number on the fact that at any one time I am dealing with half a dozen cases and so presume my Vale colleagues are fielding a similar amount), some very complex and long-running, on top of their current duties.

In addition, if parish constables realised that in some cases the root causes of their parishioners’ problems were inadequate government policies, what recourse would they have to effect change? They would have no seat or voice in the Assembly, no opportunity to place and speak on a motion. Further to this, there are times when deputies petition constables and douzaines on behalf of parishioners or act as arbiters in parish-related matters.

I am supportive of government being run in a more business-like manner but, as far as I can tell, should these suggested reforms be instigated, very little meaningful political debate would occur in public, with most items being discussed and decided upon by the political executive in a boardroom-like setting.

If this small group of political supremos decided that the population policy should be slashed and an open-door approach adopted, or that another bond should be issued, perhaps to fund projects without a secure income stream and possibly rather speculative in nature, or that all services should be outsourced or even privatised (we only have to consider examples from the UK and beyond of how outsourcing/privatising services and public-private partnerships can lead to failure and ultimately great cost to the public purse when they were supposed to improve services and reduce the burden on the taxpayer to realise that such proposals should be approached with extreme caution), how could an effective political opposition be mounted? How could the views of islanders who would be opposed to these proposals be represented in a political forum?

A quick executive decision on a substantial item would not necessarily be a correct decision or one that engenders public buy-in.

I am unlikely to stand at the next general election, so I am not coming at this matter with a vested interest. I make these comments because I have grave concerns about these suggested reforms and because I have the best interests of our island and democracy at heart.

There may be a groundswell of opinion in support of radical reform, indeed, the majority of islanders may be for it, but my advice would be, please be careful what you wish for.

DEPUTY LAURIE QUERIPEL.