You want better government?

From what I saw, most of it was positive and that there is now a growing sense that while the way we run our affairs may not exactly be unfit for purpose, it could certainly be improved.

The civil service is aware of this and is ahead of the deputies in that regard. Which is why States chief executive Paul Whitfield and his senior team are working through a series of far-reaching reforms.

Politically, however, we haven’t yet copped on to how serious things are. That’s not surprising: wood for the trees, that sort of thing.

And as my old Jersey MD Jerry (now Jurat) Ramsden was fond of saying, when you’re up to your behind in alligators, it can be hard to remember the key task is draining the swamp.

Jonathan Le Tocq touched on it when he returned from Masnieres last month, having represented the States and the island in commemorating the loss of so many Guernsey lives there 100 years ago.

The experience, he said, had caused him to reflect on how we might go about restoring such integrity and courage in public life today.

It’s a significant point and I hope he pursues it because the dominant word there is ‘restoring’. In other words, integrity and courage has been lost or, to avoid putting words into his mouth, at least diminished.

But you knew that already, didn’t you? The respect, the esteem in which we hold deputies has definitely diminished over the years. Yes, you can argue that’s to be expected: in these more secular days, we’re less prone to doffing our caps.

More importantly, however, respect these days has to be earned and not merely expected – hoorah for that – but, as Deputy Le Tocq will find if he does follow up his concerns, that’s the biggest single point of weakness for government.

Bluntly, we now expect the States to fail. Not on a daily basis. Services are good, public sector staff get paid, we’re all safe and secure as we go about our daily lives.

But throw up ‘an issue’ and all hell breaks loose. I won’t use Education and the two/three-school model as an example, tempting though that is, but we can’t even float a long-overdue and vital green paper on stimulating the island’s economy without the wheels falling off.

So when it comes to the big stuff, government no longer looks sure-footed, in charge or – dare I say it? – credible.

Yes, of course it’s far more nuanced than that but islanders aren’t fools. They sense Brexit is a huge uncertainty for us, that connectivity (lack of) is damaging the economy, that their standard of living is declining while the cost and demands on them of government are increasing but the demographic difficulties of an ageing population still haven’t been addressed.

What they aren’t getting is any sense of hope, vision, purpose or leadership from the States that these things can and will be tackled in a sensible, successful fashion. What future for Guernsey, eh?

This is why the system of government has to change. I was challenged after the last piece by a very senior politician who broadly agreed with it but said ‘the system’ is a red herring – without the right people in the States, nothing will change.

Yes and no. There was actually more executive government in the pre-2004 reform days when we had 50-plus committees in that the old Advisory and Finance had more clout and influence than Policy & Resources has today and the committees themselves had far less individually than the super-departments do today.

Equally, the complexity and difficulty of running this community bears no relationship to those far-off days of conseillers and a States Supervisor, who basically ran the show.

What I’m really saying is that, back then, it was easier to get things done than it is now and becoming a States member was far more attractive as a result to those whom we’re now told we lack. And, of course, by getting things done in a quietly practical fashion, we respected them more.

Now, the consequence of elections based on personality politics means deputies risk over-promising while campaigning and under-delivering when in office.

At the same time, because they are each in the Assembly as an unaligned independent, their pact with the electorate demands those promises and personal convictions are pursued, irrespective of the island’s wider needs.

All of which means that Guernsey was – perhaps counter-intuitively – more task-based and task-focused when it had 50-plus committees running individual elements of elements.

Less joined up, certainly, but equally individual members had less freedom to impose their will on islanders when it came to things such as car use, recycling, saving polar bears and distributing islanders’ taxes towards off-island good causes.

Whether this is good or bad depends on your point of view. Nevertheless, a generation-plus of prosperity means successive Assemblies have lost touch with the basic requirement to balance the books and look after islanders and instead want to reshape the community according to their own beliefs and preferences, irrespective of the cost, consequences or futility of doing so.

Since we want to remain a democracy but don’t have executive government, political parties or a fitness-to-govern examination for those seeking public office, we need something else. Yes, the solution has to be cultural. This is how we get there:

l We need to be much clearer when voting on what deputies do and what they’re for; the attributes, skills and experience they – and we – require to carry out those tasks so we’re less prone to putting in mavericks just, you know, to see what will happen.

l The way the States conducts its affairs has to appeal to busy people with external interests who have much to contribute but limited time to do so, but who want to help make a difference without being hag-ridden by frustration and the begrudgers.

l We need to be aware that Guernsey does not need full-time ‘professional’ politicians, although the role does require individuals who can process enormous amounts of information and reach practical conclusions on that data and who put the Bailiwick’s needs first.

l Collective responsibility has to become the norm in the Assembly and within committees.

And finally,

l The Code of Conduct Panel needs to become much more robust and vocal in setting out guidelines for what is, or is not, acceptable standards of behaviour for those in public office.

I’m sure Deputy Le Tocq will have many other, better suggestions too. So all I’d say is, please get a wiggle on Jon. We don’t have much time left…

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

Email: newsroom@guernseypress.com.