ONE of the Policy Council’s best recent moves was the decision to seek a deferment in debating the Government Business Plan and, perhaps more courageously, the long-awaited capital prioritisation debate.

The headline reason, that States members as a whole are insufficiently engaged with its purpose and value, is justification alone.

However, more significant than that is delaying the prioritisation debate until the Assembly has an effective fiscal policy in place. Given the demand there has been for members to discuss what projects should go ahead in what order and how they are funded, the delay will not be popular.

However, deputies surely have to have a clear understanding of the consequences of their decisions, how they will be paid for and, given the heavy borrowing requirement implicit in the process, the impact of that on taxpayers.

The council’s actions should ensure time for that understanding to be in place and, under the lead of the Treasury minister, for a simpler, more understandable business plan to emerge.

Central to States plans over the next few years will be expenditure – and expenditure control.

In that context, the current Treasury and Resources view that capping department budgets is sufficient control can at least be challenged. Until it is and changes introduced, the current ‘strategy’ means that payroll costs rise above inflation and services are cut.

The reason is the out-of-date employment practices and terms and conditions enjoyed by public sector staff – highlighted as long ago as 2003 – which mean that contentious, hard-working and committed staff get paid the same as slackers while annual increments push salaries up above RPI but without increasing value or performance.

Add to that the difficulties and cost of weeding out dead wood plus the well-documented reluctance to address difficult issues and it is clear that departments cannot effectively manage their own costs without significant structural change, which has to come from the centre of government.

The steps taken by the Policy Council can facilitate that long overdue process.