This Is Guernsey

By Thom Ogier

THE highly-critical Wales Audit Report into the way the island is governed will be debated after all.

The Policy Council, while denying it has backed down on the issue, is standing aside to allow the Public Accounts Committee to bring forward a report based on the major concerns raised in the WAO review.

That should include proposals to change how the island is run.

In September, the council said it did not want the WAO report debated.

PAC chairman Leon Gallienne, dismayed by the council’s passive reaction to the report, placed an amendment to last week’s States Strategic Plan debate to prioritise the issue. But he withdrew it at the last minute, telling the Assembly he had been told by the council to go ahead with a report if he wanted to.

‘The Policy Council have written to PAC with positive instruction – giving authority for my committee to bring a report to the Assembly at some time in the near future,’ he told deputies.

Speaking yesterday, he said: ‘When Policy Council felt they were not in a position to go forward straight away, obviously this gave us some concern and as a board we considered how to take this forward.’

In retrospect, he said, that proved advantageous.

‘We thought looking at it again in April could turn into May or June and that could prove too long.

‘The fact that Policy Council did not want to do this until April, and we thought this was too long so worked on the amendment, has given us the time to analyse the reaction of people who live on this island. It has also given us time to see how our political colleagues responded to it.’

He said the direction from business and the public was clear.

‘People don’t want this to go away. They want action,’ he said.

‘People are saying to us that this needs to be taken forward and not sat on.’

Deputy Gallienne said the PAC was the right body for the job.

‘We gave this to Policy Council because of the importance of it.

‘With the zero-10 situation they have got a lot on their plates and we are probably in a better situation to deal with it.’

He said it would be inappropriate to describe what form the report would take or what recommendations it might make until he had met his board.

‘I think it is positive that Policy Council have made a decision that they give it back to us.

‘I am not a member of Policy Council, so I can’t tell you what they were thinking.’

In September, the Policy Council said that it ‘intends to use the WAO review as a template against which to measure the pace of change.

‘In this respect, rather than formally bring the WAO report before the States for debate at this time, the Policy Council intends to report on the progress achieved by the Fundamental Spending Review, States Strategic Plan and related workstreams in the States Strategic Plan report in 2010.’

Deputy Chief Minister Bernard Flouquet said this week that the council was not doing a U-turn and had never blocked the PAC.

‘Policy Council’s view has been, and was some weeks ago, that we now have the FSR and the SSP and what Policy Council decided to do was allow these two to go on for the next six months to make sure they have got going and gauge the effects they have together.’

They would answer many of the concerns expressed by the WAO, he said.

‘But if they fail, Policy Council will look at the governance issues. All of that still stands.’

Deputy Flouquet told Deputy Gallienne in the States debate that Policy Council had not told the committee to move forward.

‘Policy Council has not instructed PAC to do anything at all. It has said they would see the report going forward and if they see fit to put recommendations in that is entirely up to them.’

Article posted on 5th November, 2009 - 2.30pm