Doug Perkins’ comments did strike home...

I don’t want to embarrass the chap, but this was much the same as Moses brandishing a couple of tablets of stone and warning the Assembly: ‘If thou persisteth in deviating from the anointed script, hellish damnation, eternal deficits and pestilent tax rises lie just over yonder hill.’

You see, Specsavers is so mighty it’s above the CI economy. Its revenues are more than double those of Guernsey and Jersey combined and increased by 6.6% on the previous year – and how many of us can claim that?

So Mr Perkins generally only emerges from on high when his Guernsey operation might be directly affected or – as in this case – when he fears his adopted home is putting itself in peril worshipping false idols called Jeremy and too many of the flock in the Assembly have acquired an unwarranted enthusiasm for smiting unrighteous businesses.

Which made the collective response of, ‘Yeah, whatever…’ all the more surprising. You’d at least have expected Policy & Resources and/or the Committee for Economic Development to have reacted to what were pretty strong comments.

Well, what I can tell you is that Mr Perkins’ comments did strike home – and are about to be acted on.

This hasn’t been stated publicly, in part because the Institute of Directors debate was held shortly after his intervention. Since he was there and was asked about it, Mr Perkins said, in effect, that if we had an Assembly full of Gavins we wouldn’t have the problems we do now.

Which meant Deputy St Pier was pretty much conflicted out from commenting as president of P&R. So I took it up with our own profit prophet, Peter Ferbrache, the head of Economic Development.

Unsurprisingly, since he tries to gain industry views wherever he can, Deputy Ferbrache met Doug and John Perkins to discuss their apocalyptic comments, not least because of the importance of Specsavers to the Guernsey economy.

‘I have to say that I agree with a lot of what they had to say,’ Deputy Ferbrache told me. ‘I echo the need for Guernsey not to lose its position as a positive place for business and to ensure that the island does not move away from these roots.’

What’s particularly interesting is that some of the concerns raised by the Specsavers principals – and, in fairness, others in industry – should be acted upon soon.

We’ll get a flavour of that on Monday when the Budget is published, which Deputy St Pier has promised will have economic growth and prosperity ‘at its front and centre’. More importantly, it should also lay the foundations for the island’s direction of travel and how it intends to address some of the concerns about its flagging economy.

After P&R’s ‘health, wealth and happiness’ vision was launched to no little derision last year, the States agreed that the top two priorities were a sustainable, strong and growing economy, combined with sustainable public finances. The other main committees were then tasked with feeding into the overall plan to make it happen.

Monday’s Budget – apart from taking a raft of extra cash off us – will prioritise the committee wish lists and take what was a pretty dreadful wafflefest business plan down to just 20 or so pieces of work that have direct relevance towards boosting the economy and generating funds for some of the social programmes we’ve committed to.

The significance of this in the Specsavers context is twofold. Firstly, the Budget will, if approved, reemphasise that the economy is the focus of the States’ attention and, secondly, it will recommend that Economic Development gets cash to do stuff to boost that economy.

Ah, fair words, wistful thinking and no action… classic States drivel, I hear you say.

Perhaps. Yet Deputy Ferbrache has committed to reporting back to the Assembly before Christmas on his growth plans, which he has promised will be big, bold and brave. And by that, of course, he will be judged. He also told me this:

‘Many of the issues which Doug [Perkins] outlined and elaborated upon in our meeting will be reflected in the green paper I am presenting to the States in December. In the meantime I have been clear to Doug, and many others, that I, and my colleagues on the CfED, remain committed to ensuring Guernsey is a place where business can be conducted and hence allows the island to continue to enjoy the returns of this economic activity.’

Crucially, P&R is backing this approach through the Future Guernsey Economic Fund, which Economic Development will prioritise and control. In addition, that will be further supported by the launch of a Guernsey Investment Fund, utilising some of the island’s investment expertise, and in which the States will be a seed investor.

Sorry, that’s all a bit jargony, but what it boils down to is this. Having endured all the comments about how much better Jersey is doing than us, P&R and Economic Development are poised to start stimulating the Guernsey economy and triggering some significant investment spending.

Deputy St Pier has pledged to the IoD that one of his, and the States’, top priorities is getting that initiative going no later than March 2020 and we’ll see the details shortly.

So, subject to that and what the Assembly makes of it, it looks as if Doug Perkins might have been preaching to the converted after all.

And finally…

…anyone else picking up vibes that the current Education political board is, like Theresa May, on borrowed time?

The level of dissatisfaction with the current committee, from deputies and others I’ve spoken to, is pretty high. The sense that they’re not on top of things is growing steadily and viewed in some quarters as unsustainable.

Because of the importance of education to the island, and the cost and complexity of re-engineering the post-11-plus system, several names are being discussed as possible replacements for current president Paul Le Pelley.

All eminently credible they are, as well – two perhaps more realistically placed to head up the committee if the coup ever happens.

Since the board has already survived one vote of no confidence, however, it’s far from clear how it might be toppled.

That said, the committee got it wrong on college funding, so could it continue if, say, the two-school model challenge to its plans is successful?

But however you look at it, Education Sport & Culture gives every appearance of a lame duck department under considerable pressure and in urgent need of reform.

Former College of Further Education principal Saboohi Famili lifted the lid on how bad things really are at Education in her letter in this newspaper on Tuesday and you do wonder how much longer P&R and the States’ chief executive can let things drag on when so much is at stake.

As we’ve seen at Health, real transformation can come about only when you’ve got the right calibre of officers and politicians working together and, uncomfortable for the individuals concerned or not, that issue is now actively being discussed.

There were shameful delays in dealing with earlier needs for regime change at Education. That was left to drag on for more than a decade and the learning prospects of thousands of island children were damaged.

Are we, the thinking goes in certain circles, going to make the same mistakes all over again just when the stakes have risen considerably?

• Richard Digard is a freelance writer, consultant and a former editor of the Guernsey Press.

• richarddigard@guernseypress.com