What have we learned in 2066 years ?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled,
public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should
be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands
should be curtailed lest we become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

Cicero 55 BC

So, evidently nothing!

I also have a commercial background and founded two companies in the UK where I traded with success for over 35 years. Moved to Guernsey with my wife and daughter in 1997 to an OM property where we still reside. I fully agree with your general views that the current system of Government in Guernsey needs to be changed asap in various ways. The civil servant numbers with their well cushioned pensions also need reducing and need to have much more experienced people at the top actually running Guernsey Plc. rather than looking after vested interests, Guernsey needs to actively encourage more financially independent people with proven business skills to move here and, subsequently, encourage these people to create new businesses (away from finance) in order to avoid being so reliant upon the finance industry, as at present. Although still Ok for now, the future of the offshore finance industry will become more and more uncertain and less profitable, going forward. This is an undeniable fact which clearly seems to escape our current deputies, given that instead of encouraging more successful people to move into Guernsey at a time in history (higher taxes in the UK and in the Eurozone) when this could be more easily achievable than in the past, they have driven people away from Guernsey to places like Switzerland (to quote an example) as a direct result of their very badly timed and very poorly handled OM review which could now take ages to complete, going by what Deputy Jones stated only recently. In the meantime, ideal and potentially new Guernsey residents are moving to and setting shop elsewhere to the real detriment of Guernsey Plc.'s future overall finances. We also have to consider some of the plans that our deputies currently have in the pipeline which will entail continuing spending vast sums of money on projects which, going by past experience, we can only guess what the final cost figures will actually turn out to be. Where will the money be coming from to meet this expenditure, if people with new money and new ideas are being driven away from Guernsey by an OM review which is ridiculously being left in limbo by our deputies and is certainly causing potential incomers to distrust Guernsey's system of government? It could take years for new people who, at one stage, intended to move to Guernsey to regain their trust in Guernsey as a suitable place to move to with their money, unless the uncertainty and the damage being currently done is effectively remedied without much further delay.

With reference to the proposed increases in port fees, what sort of message are we sending out to the rest of the business world when we can't get papers or post in the quickest possible way. Deadlines may not be met because vital do [beep] ents don't turn up on time, this will lead to loss of business and damage the island's credibility as a financial centre.

If these price increases go ahead the public will ditch their national papers, preferring to get the news online or 24/7 on tv. Newsagents will be hit and some may go out of business, leading to an increase in benefit payments. No doubt the cost will also be passed on to the consumer, Guernsey is slowly pricing itself out of many markets. If this continual rise in costs carry on where will we be in 5-10 time as business continually walks out of the door? Businesses are becoming more and more portable these days and will relocate, at the drop of a hat, to jurisdictions that are business friendly and cost effective.

Is it so wrong to run the ports at a small loss as they are crucial to the daily running of the island, afterall, we have been propping up aurigny for the last 5 years or so!! It is time to get some solid business brains into our states of deliberation so we can get the island on a firm footing and running at a profit once again.

Instead of seeing raising prices as the only solution therefore causing inflation, perhaps, we should consider cutting costs in some areas to bring in business. Increase the footfall, increase the turnover and hopefully become profitable. Just a thought!

Following on from my post with regard to good governance within the States of Guernsey, you may ask how do we ensure transparency,accountability and integrity of our elected representatives?

In my opinion and in agreement with the Public Accounts Committee the role of Auditor General or an Audit Commission should be created. this would be a totally independent acting on behalf of the local taxpayer to ensure that all States resources are managed effectively and in a totally transparent manner. It would investigate how the various committees spend their budget and make sure finances were managed to the highest standards. also, and this is a key point, the Auditor General's office would strive to make sure that value for money was being delivered.

Another key role of office would be to, where appropriate, suggest improvements in management practices to create a more efficient use of Government finances. It would demand compliance with all legislative requirements.

As well as financial audits I would expect the office of the Auditor General to carry out performance audits to ensure objectives are met within the time constraints set out and that duties are carried out as required by the various Government departments. Any issues that arise out of these audits must be reported to the department that is being audited so that a thorough investigation of the issue can be made and a report and suggested solution be prepared. If a significant problem arises then a report is to be prepared and put before the States of Guernsey. All audits, where possible, are to be made available to the public.

Any recommendations that are made by the Auditor General can only be implemented by Government. It is expected that any recommendations made by the Auditor General should result in savings of public funds and efficiencies going forward.

The following post concerns good governance, financial management and control procedures within the States and the civil service.

In this age of increasing levels of education, improved ICT skills and the influence of the media, the public take good government and sound governance as a matter of course. They want to know how and why, and who is responsible if things go wrong. In my opinion the following equation is the way the public sector should work.

An organisation (States of Gsy) achieves objectives (policies) on behalf of stakeholders (the Gsy people.)

Governance is safeguarding the organisation to ensure the objectives are achieved in an accountable and transparent way.

We need compliant financial management and a control policy that ensures government policy is effective in its day to day working. Do we have performance orientated management? Do we have annual appraisals in which specific targets are set out and met? We must learn from our mistakes and where there has been mis-management in the past whether it be improper administration, fraud, failed supervision or just administrative errors, if these were systemic failures then we need to make sure that procedures are put in place to ensure that these failures don't happen again.

As I see it a Minister should take a managerial view on his department's policies. This is what he/she is accountable for. These are policies that would have been set out by the States. A system of procedures then has to be put in place and maintained by his/her department ensuring that the policy objectives are achieved. The department has to provide information on all procedures undertaken therefore rendering itself accountable. Any risks in carrying out policy must be noted and filed appropriately, this is sound governance. We must have adequate supervision to establish whether policy objectives are actually being met. Accountability reports that provide an account of activities within the States must be issued on a regular basis and in a clear and transparent manner.

How do I define good governance?

Governance is trying to achieve better Government by ensuring effective controls are in place to ensure transparency and high standards of conduct and behaviour. It can be broken down into three sections.

Integrity, Each member must be honest and objective and set themselves high personal and professional standards.

Openness, The public must have confidence in each members ability to make decisions, and any consultation with the public must be genuine.

Accountability, All states members/staff must take responsibility for their decisions and actions. All members must make themselves available for external review should it be required.

In my opinion a code of governance must be drawn up to ensure that the government is subject to ongoing scrutiny and applies good governance at all times. This code will outline a set of procedures which will be accepted as best practice. The aim of this code is to ensure that the public has confidence in the Government and that is acting in the public's best interest by showing transparency and accountability. All members must have a clear understanding of their role and their responsibility within that role, this can only come about if a robust corporate governance structure is put in place with clearly defined targets for its members.

There must be annual reviews, by a scrutiny committee, and a report produced for release to the public which clearly details any failure to adhere to the code of governance. This report must provide details of any measures taken to rectify problems that needed addressing.

In the case of the States of Guernsey and its members a vision for Guernsey must be created and implemented and all members must work together to achieve this vision. All members must make well informed decisions at all times, and these decisions must be transparent and subject to scrutiny and risk assessment.

The local population must be consulted on all major policy shifts, if necessary, by referendum, to ensure accountability at all times.

To save states money, stop Mr Trott from going off on his globe trotting expeditions, I haven't noticed that he's actually achieved anything. Also we should use local firms such as Architects and surveyors instead of going off island, we have good practrices here quite capable of doing any jobs necessary