IT’S hard to know how to react to the news that Education is to ask the States to approve in principle a system of universal free nursery education – but without any request for funding at this stage.

On one hand, if Guernsey can achieve structured pre-school education for every child in the island it will be a massive step forward. All the research evidence shows it will reduce a range of social problems and should eventually actually save the island money. Of course, that does nothing to help provide the estimated £1.6m. a year needed in the short term.

On the other hand, where will it lead if the practice of asking the States to debate and approve schemes ‘in principle’ – knowing there is no cash to actually implement them – really takes off? A lot of very expensive civil service and parliamentary time could be wasted talking about wish-list projects which members could no more oppose than they could vote against motherhood and apple pie.

Then, if a plethora of schemes are approved in this way subject to funding, what will it really mean? Sure, the States will have indicated a burning desire to implement them, but which of the pre-approved projects will really have priority for scarce resources? I suspect it will be a bit like legislative prioritisation, where so many potential new laws are given an A-rating that the whole system becomes almost meaningless.

I really don’t want to be negative because I do regard universal nursery education as a vital and long overdue project. As far back as the days when Deputy Pat Mellor was vice-president of the Education Council, it was identified as a top priority. I know the failure to deliver on it was her biggest regret from her time in politics.

When I chaired the Social Policy Group in the States, it was top of our to-do list and it was a cause of huge frustration that we couldn’t secure the funding to make it happen. It could help to achieve a huge range of social aims, from raising educational attainments to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. So any genuine move forward is to be warmly welcomed.

Perhaps it’s felt that getting the project approved by the States in principle will put it in the box seat for a time when the island’s finances are healthier. If so, that could set a dangerous precedent. Other departments will have their own top priorities, which they will be tempted to treat in a similar way, asking for an amber light to ensure they are on the starting grid when the cash arrives. I can imagine that HSSD alone must have a dozen or more irresistible projects that the States couldn’t help but approve, ‘subject to the cash becoming available’.

It could become a real farce, with so many pre-approved schemes waiting for funding that their approval in principle becomes meaningless. And to approve a project and then leave it waiting unfunded for years would surely bring the States into disrepute with an impatient public which had had its expectations raised.

That nearly happened with the Domestic Violence Strategy, but if it evolves into the standard approach to overwhelmingly desirable but costly projects it risks becoming no more than politics for politics’ sake: a way of being seen to move forward important initiatives while, in reality, they are no nearer to happening.

If Guernsey was going through a short-term problem with public finances, with the prospect of a return to large revenue surpluses soon, then it wouldn’t matter too much. It would simply be the States approving a wish-list during the tough times, to be implemented when the good times returned.

Alas, to think along those lines would be to ignore the fiscal realities.

Yes, Guernsey’s economy is still doing very well, but only by offering a super-competitive tax regime which limits government income. The prospects of big surpluses returning any time soon are slim. They’ll get even worse if Jersey manages to persuade ECOFIN (the EU’s financial code group) to approve zero-10.

So, should Guernsey give up on such a desirable project as nursery education? No, but it shouldn’t mess around with hollow approvals in principle, either.

Education should go for it. It should demand the funding even if that means some increased taxes for those who can afford them. It’s simply that important.

Alternatively, it could be funded by making savings elsewhere in its budget – college funding, perhaps?