IN RECENT days, this newspaper has commented on aspects of the Tribal Helm report detailing areas of inefficiency within the States and also on where the Treasury and Resources Department has, in our view, lacked rigour on the capital spending prioritisation process.
Since then, there have been two developments. The first was a surprising number of readers making contact to say that they supported our editorial line and could we please maintain it.
The second was a talk yesterday by the T&R minister to the Chamber of Commerce in which he outlined the work being done by his team to effect fundamental changes in the way government here prioritises day-to-day spending as well as on big projects.
In lay terms, what faces the States is little short of revolution, including a move to zero-cost budgeting. Instead of having only to justify increases in existing cash allocations, managers and their political board would effectively start with nothing and have to make a case for every penny.
As the Treasury minister put it, ‘The States has never before had to deal with a revenue prioritisation process, or to drive out the sort of efficiency savings which will be identified by the fundamental spending reviews. We have to learn to walk before we try to run.’
It is an impressive agenda and one that the business-based audience was delighted to hear.
The difficulty for T&R is delivering on this impressive promise, something dependent on cajoling the States to accept and departments, which Tribal Helm described as ‘almost autonomous business units’, to implement.
The plan needs to succeed, yet the sea-change in thinking in the minister’s comments is not reflected in the capital prioritisation report.
The items in the £301m. list are there, islanders are told, because they are absolute priority. Maintaining a usable runway might be, very little else is.
Replacing the St Peter Port Harbour workboat at a cost of £1m. because it is a few years old is hardly essential, especially since it is probably the best maintained vessel in the port.
T&R appears to have a reform agenda – but reducing the amount Guernsey needs to borrow appears not to be its priority.
Article posted on 22nd April, 2009 - 3.07pm
Impressive agenda skips big projects
IN RECENT days, this newspaper has commented on aspects of the Tribal Helm report detailing areas of inefficiency within the States and also on where the Treasury and Resources Department has, in our view, lacked rigour on the capital spending prioritisation process.
Since then, there have been two developments. The first was a surprising number of readers making contact to say that they supported our editorial line and could we please maintain it.
The second was a talk yesterday by the T&R minister to the Chamber of Commerce in which he outlined the work being done by his team to effect fundamental changes in the way government here prioritises day-to-day spending as well as on big projects.
In lay terms, what faces the States is little short of revolution, including a move to zero-cost budgeting. Instead of having only to justify increases in existing cash allocations, managers and their political board would effectively start with nothing and have to make a case for every penny.
As the Treasury minister put it, ‘The States has never before had to deal with a revenue prioritisation process, or to drive out the sort of efficiency savings which will be identified by the fundamental spending reviews. We have to learn to walk before we try to run.’
It is an impressive agenda and one that the business-based audience was delighted to hear.
The difficulty for T&R is delivering on this impressive promise, something dependent on cajoling the States to accept and departments, which Tribal Helm described as ‘almost autonomous business units’, to implement.
The plan needs to succeed, yet the sea-change in thinking in the minister’s comments is not reflected in the capital prioritisation report.
The items in the £301m. list are there, islanders are told, because they are absolute priority. Maintaining a usable runway might be, very little else is.
Replacing the St Peter Port Harbour workboat at a cost of £1m. because it is a few years old is hardly essential, especially since it is probably the best maintained vessel in the port.
T&R appears to have a reform agenda – but reducing the amount Guernsey needs to borrow appears not to be its priority.
Article posted on 22nd April, 2009 - 3.07pm