FEARS that the finance industry will swamp the Housing Department for licences for staff were raised yesterday by the department’s deputy minister. Deputy Mark Dorey revealed that 67 essential licences were issued for the sector in the year to March 2005. And provisional figures from the department to March this year have seen an increase to 122.

Housing minister Dave Jones had told the States on Wednesday that the number of live licences issued had remained fairly stable over the past few years.

But Deputy Dorey said that recently issued, essential licences were a far better indicator.

‘There has been a dramatic increase in the number of licences issued by the department to the finance industry,’ he said.

Other members repeated the concerns. Deputy Mary Lowe criticised members who had urged her working party on population to take measures to cut the population to between 55,000 and 58,000, and were now prepared to support the Policy Council.

‘How can Housing refuse licences in the future? The States has approved growth, so they will say we need these licences,’ she said.

Peter Niven, chief executive of GuernseyFinance, the industry promotional and development body, claimed that many of the essential licences issued in the past few months were of a short-term nature, granted to help firms cope with a dramatic increase in work.

‘Unprecedented levels of business have come into the island and a number of institutions are saying that they are having difficulty with the amount of business, so it’s no surprise that there are increases in the finance applications,’ he said.

Mr Niven said that in the longer-term, applications for housing licences would be made for higher earners who would add value to the industry and the economy. Lower value business could be outsourced.

‘They are exactly the people that the Policy Council plans will want to attract here.’