Brian Firstly Guernsey is not the UK and we have our own rules which have served us well for many years. They do not always suit those who come to Guernsey but as I say they are our laws and we are likely to stick with them until the new permit system comes into force. As you rightly say, those that live in HSSD accommodation don’t need licences and yet the turnover amongst nurses in this HSSD accommodation is just as high as it is amongst those that here on licence, so the evidence does not support the case you make and recruitment and retention clearly isn’t just a licence issue it is as much about remuneration. Also Housing has issued lots of 15 year licences to Health and Social services staff over the years, many of these licence holders have since left and moved away. My last point on this issue is that our records show that HSSD have not been refused a single licence for specialist health employees they have asked for. The cost of Housing is expensive for everybody on the island; the fact that HSSD have their own accommodation for their employees, actually makes it more affordable for those coming in, than it is for local people. We spent 8 million on a purpose built accomodation block for nurses and other health employees. The TRP issue is to try and protect properties at the lower end of the property market for local people, as some Health workers Doctors and other highly paid professionals can afford to live in properties at the higher TRP rate. The long term answer to this issue, is a massive training programme for local nurses and health workers, we have done it with teachers and it has worked particularly well in the primary school sector where by far the majority of teachers are now local people. Deputy Sandra James a new board member and a 40 year veteran nurse is now on HSSD and has some new ideas on how training local nurses can be beefed up and in the end it will cost much less than expensive relocation packages and loyalty bonuses that are used at present to recruit and retain staff. Finally Mark Dorey was a former Deputy Minister of Housing and is well versed in all the issues to do with Health workers and housing licences and I have already said to him that if he has any issues we can help with at Housing, he only has to pick up the phone.
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
