This Is Guernsey

By Tom Edwards

A DEPUTY on the Housing Department board has resigned over an important document that was not shown to members before it went to the Policy Council. St Peter Port South deputy Barry Brehaut said a paper with far reaching implications for the department should first have been circulated to the board.

He believed the paper, Establishing a Labour Utilisation Strategy and Reviewing the Housing Control Law, clearly cut through Housing’s mandate.

‘I have always appreciated the manner in which information has been disseminated at a political level,’ said Deputy Brehaut.

‘Members, up until now, have always had early sight of documents and information that has helped them in the policy process.

‘I was bitterly disappointed to read papers that were to be tabled at a Policy Council meeting that had far-reaching implications for Housing yet had not been seen by any member of the board, including the deputy minister.’

Deputy Brehaut said that although he was not opposed to the aims of such a paper, another Policy Council sub group was not the most productive way of moving forward.

He also said that more fundamentally, he was concerned the initiative regarding the manner in which the public and business interpret the department’s work had been lost.

‘Mixed messages over the integrity of our existing Housing Control laws and doubts expressed by ‘Housing minister’ Deputy David Jones over the rigidity of the five-year aspect of licensing only seek to further muddy the waters and raise expectations,’ he said.

Deputy Jones said he was at a loss as to why Deputy Brehaut had resigned over an error that had been rectified before a decision could have been made.

‘Perhaps it should not have been circulated to Policy before our members had the chance to see it and I accept that,’ he said.

‘An explanation was given of how it happened by myself and the chief officer and the other board members accepted that. Deputy Brehaut did not and I think he has acted in haste.

‘He said himself this is the first time in seven years that he has felt excluded, which means for seven years we haven’t made a mistake.’

The paper itself was not radical and did not cut into Housing’s mandate by seeking to review housing controls, said Deputy Jones.

‘The Housing Control laws are currently with the Law Officers to make sure they are compliant with human rights issues,’ he said.

‘The paper is simply about the meshing together of factors such as demographics and utilisation.’

Deputy Jones added that he did not accept Deputy Brehaut’s claim that he had sent out mixed messages regarding licensing.

‘I have been having talks with Health, Education and Home about whether the five-year licence is the best way forward or not,’ he said.

‘I have made no secret of a personal view that perhaps it’s time that we look at how much autonomy the various departments have.’