If Alderney is to enter any kind of financial review it should be based on facts
IN PETER Bachmann’s article ‘Guernsey needs to review financial relationship with the Northern Isle’, it is stated that Alderney costs the Guernsey taxpayer £5,000 per person. This was based on the 2023 accounts which if Mr Bachmann examines carefully, the footnotes say it was an ‘estimate’ of the cost of transferred services. It was not a fully accounted real cost.
As has been noted in the Guernsey Press recently, the estimates for the real cost of the deficit vary enormously, One researcher says it is as low at £500,000. Another ex-States member who was head of global finance of a major accountancy firm puts it around £2m. The States of Guernsey estimated accounting puts it £8.5m. There is also the moot point of the Alderney Gambling Commission revenues that Guernsey benefits from. There is talk in some circles that this has an ‘estimated worth’ to Guernsey of around £37m. Again, whether higher or lower, there needs to be more clarity on this. He also notes that there are non-resident home owners on Alderney. This segment does not draw on transferred services. They are actually net positive per household. They pay property tax, utility standing charges and form a crucial contribution islands hostelry and building industries. Two of the island’s largest employment sectors providing taxable income with guaranteed tourism every year.
Alderney has to be totally prepared to do whatever it can to mitigate costs. However as Deputy Mark Helyar has pointed out in his writings on this subject, Alderney is cheaper to run per person than quite a few remote Guernsey parishes and it does not benefit from many services such as buses, Beau Sejour, Condor etc. He also goes on to point out that Alderney people have absolutely no control over the costs of transferred services and he questions how much of these are due to bloated civil service costs.
One would hope that Mr Bachmann would agree that if we are to enter into any kind of financial review, the exact costings, whether higher or lower than the above, must be established and agreed by both parties. This at present has not happened.
In terms of capital projects such as the runway, Alderney people have contributed via their income tax to Guernsey airport renovations. The runway for Alderney is essential for its economic survival. The project would have been around £12m. in 2012 had the then approved works actually happened. Since then, costs have spiralled to the current offer of a £24m. cap. The route to Alderney also brings around 25,000 pax through Guernsey airport per annum. It is a ‘nice little landing fee earner’ for Guernsey airport.
More importantly, Guernsey would quite rightly like to see the Alderney racehorse win more economic races. It certainly will not achieve this if it has a broken leg. Alderney and Guernsey need to work collaboratively, constructively and transparently to resolve the situation. Goodwill and cooperation work far better than a public Punch and Judy show with Mystic Meg holding the cards. Let’s at least work with the hard facts and figures with justified accounts. Then we can find the best mutual way forward to identify unnecessary bloat and hopefully resolve such issues to everyone’s satisfaction.
EDWARD HILL
Alderney Representative
States of Deliberation