AN EVENT organised on Tuesday by the Institute of Directors and the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce was the clearest indication that a general election is just around the corner.
Making a Difference was aimed at letting potential candidates – and their employers – know what is involved and drew on the experience of the Island Archivist and historian, the States of Guernsey chief executive and the chief minister.

It was a good presentation and one that highlighted how comparatively recent Guernsey’s democratic system actually is as it evolved from power and responsibility originally resting with the Royal Court and its jurats.

In the context of a system going back to at least the 1400s, it is hardly surprising that the way government operates is still evolving, not least because the pace of change with which it has to deal is increasing and becoming more complex.

Given a mainly business audience, it was not surprising that there was a level of dissatisfaction with the current administration and, more widely in the island, there is a hope of widespread changes among elected representatives and that this will result in a ‘better’ Assembly.

How that might be achieved and what ‘better’ might mean, however, is never specified.

There had been some hope that an independent review of States members’ pay might address some of these issues – or at least touch on them – but despite the Policy Council saying in March that this would be debated no later than November, its crucial report has yet to be published.

It is unlikely the three-person panel would be late with its submission so the concern is that it is being delayed by the Policy Council, possibly because the panel has recommended ending the final salary, index-linked gold-plated pension enjoyed by politicians on terms even more lavish than experienced by public sector employees.

Why? Because if one group of beneficiaries can lose their perks, so can others.

Next year sees the 10th anniversary of a recommendation that civil service pay be reformed and it is at least that long that the pension scheme has been under scrutiny and nothing has happened. Reform, as the Island Archivist explained, comes slowly in Guernsey.