The blame lies rather deeper
Wednesday 23rd June 2010, 2:55PM BST.
HERE’S a conundrum. Is the man who writes our Roffey column ‘one of us’ as a regular Guernsey Press man and therefore ineligible for criticism in this leader piece? Or are his antecedents as former politician and Health and Social Services Department minister still sufficiently fresh for his past conduct to be fair game for scrutiny?
The questions arise following his latest comments yesterday on the Assembly being minded to bay for blood through votes of no confidence largely because deputies like the taste rather than it serving any particular purpose.
His former department, of course, must have been fearful of being on the receiving end of a vote of no confidence because of HSSD’s lamentable financial performance – if blowing the budget and having no credible turn-around package aren’t grounds for sacking a minister and/or its political board, what are?
As it is, HSSD’s elected members still face the possibility of a code of conduct referral, so they are not completely out of the woods yet, but in little more than 100 days, their new chief officer does seem to be pulling them and the department out of the mire and the politicians will doubtless bask in their new-found popularity as austerity cheerleaders.
But how much of the financial mess was of their own making, how much was inherited from the previous political board and minister and how much should be attributed to the professional team?
What is clear is that a new regime is now in place that is confident enough to say that the runaway spending will be curbed this year, which suggests that it could have been done before if people had had the will or the skills.
In turn, that questions – as Tribal’s work in the financial transformation programme highlighted – other departments’ attitude to spending, particularly Education’s, and what central government wasn’t doing to ensure the right people were in the right place to ensure the right outcomes.
Everyone other than the States knew that economies could be made without devastating service cuts and the failure to face up to reality has cost the taxpayer tens of millions and expanded the black hole entirely unnecessarily.
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As you have invited us to comment on the above, I will try not to disappoint you. Your recent editorial and the rather I thought, timid criticism of your column writer Mr Peter Roffey is unusual as the Press often protects its own. However I think on this occasion what is being said outside and in some quarters of the States, has forced the Press to say something. You are right and such criticism is in my view fair game, after all Deputy Hunter Adam and his board have not got health service in this mess in two years, they inherited much of the problems from the previous board’s mismanagement of their affairs. Although Dep Adam and Dep Brehaut are also culpable to some extent as they too served on the previous board of H&SSD. It has also been pointed out in this piece that Mr Roffey and his board should have been prime candidates for a vote of “no Confidence” given in the Editorials own words the “lamentable financial performance of Its Minister and political board. No wonder My Roffey bailed out at the last election, he certainly did not want to be found holding this particular parcel when the music stopped. At times and given his weekly written views on just about everything in his GP column I wonder if Peter recognises any of his shortcomings at all. He has for years confused his undoubted ability as a first class orator, with his total lack of ability to lead and often in his time in the States confused being eloquent with being right. Health, as we now know, was in a real mess at his time at the helm. This of course was also at a time when Peter was telling anyone who would listen, that being a Minister was only a part time job and shouldn’t take up more than two or three days a week. I can only say had he spent more time on the detail of his responsibilities then he might have had a better idea of what was going on. We were told on several occasions that it was his staff that ran our health service and he was there with his board, purely to formulate policy. Well that is all fine and dandy but if your staff are rudderless and as a result you subsequently find out things you should have been aware of all along because of this arms length supervision, then you are bound to be accused as the recent Editorial has implied, of lamentable behaviour and its Ministers obvious lack of management skills. For example if you are paying thousands of pounds for nursery school places you don’t use, a contract that Peter Roffey locked H&SSD into, at a time when health was desperate for cash for front line services. Or you have convinced everyone that Health needed a hugely over priced expensive computer system that was supposed to save several posts and therefore money, a system started in 2006 and that is still not been delivered or saved any posts in 2010, a project that has run significantly over time and I suspect over budget and needs to be brought back to the States in order that we can see what has gone wrong. I have no doubt Peter will have several things to say on this issue and I will undoubtedly figure prominently in one of his future columns but given many of the brick bats he is prepared to throw at States members from time to time I think he has got off relatively lightly.
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Well said Dave, PR’s very good at dishing out criticism but doesn’t take it very well. He was deeply unpopular with a lot of HSSD staff, particularly with those involved in the provision of mental health services. This area has been and continues to be woefully underfunded and poorly organised, despite dozens of promises over the years to sort it out.
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Excellent post Dave Jones.
I think it would be equally true if you substituted the old Board of Administration for HSSD except that their wasteful president has at least had the courtesy to go to ground since he jumped ship
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My enduring memory of Peter Roffey’s States career was visiting the gents in La Piette hotel and finding a newly erected poster warning about the recently enforced smoking ban. Under the section that advised patrons who should be told of any sneaky toilet smokers, someone had scrawled the words “hypocrite Roffey”
I can’t say whether there was any truth in the allegation but it certainly had a ring to it and made me chuckle!
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The States have always had members who can be classified as “Jack of all trades, but Masters of none”
Three spring particularly to mind, Tony Webber, Peter Roffey and John Gollop. Excellent back benchers but a waste of space as Committee chairmen or Ministers.
No doubt other names will occur to other readers.
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@Phil
Do you know what you say is for sure?
I agree that we should be ably to criticise strongly Mr Roffey, since he is now a media star.
I am sure it is not Mr Roffey’s fault that the mentally ill are not getting the treatment they need. If it is, I suggest he retaliate, or provide an explanation of why we are in the position we are in concerning the advancement of mental health treatment.
Maybe T&R can help too. They like to help out the finance sector: whcich we are suffering a ‘black hole’ from, eh Lyndon?
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Quite simply, former Deputy, Peter Roffey is one of the sad band of Guernsey politicians who are unable to give up their previous supposed level of “clout”. Granted, he was an excellent speaker, whilst IN the States, but to my way of thinking, very little else. It has become more that apparent that he wishes to try to continue to maintain a facade of authority. His all too frequent rants in the local paper are so obviously acting as an ego stroking excercise. Very easy now for him to have “his say” without fear of his parish saying no thanks at the next elections. How sad he is.
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Arnald
Two friends of mine worked in mental health whilst Roffey was in charge (both have since left) and it’s them who told me of his unpopularity. Also of his unwillingness (or even inability) to take any criticism, which has been demonstrated further on this very forum. He didn’t even bother to comment on the complete waste of money re childminding places, and doesn’t seem to be interested in fighting his corner on several other issues either i.e. this one!
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@Stiletto – I don’t have a problem with Peter Roffey having his say, or anyone else for that matter. Forums such as this are designed so that people like you and I can have our say on things. As you might have noticed, I quite enjoy having my say on this and other forums.
There is always one condition though: that anyone who speaks up is happy for those with a different point of view to respond with equal vigour!
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Phil
Thanks for replying. I was unaware of that, I have been through the system since his departure.
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Paul le Page – in full agreement, free speech for all and, all that. So, do you imagine that ex Dep Roffey is too busy preparing his next rant, or just too arrogant to respond to Dave J,only politician to date and, us others who also recognise his “true worth”?
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i find it highly amusing that Mr Roffey is being paid by the Press for what must be the longest election campaign ever – almost a dead cert that he is going to stand in 2012 and join his mate Matty!
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Criticise a Guernsey islander!!!!
Good grief! Pigs will be flying next!!
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The bloke’s allowed a job-after-politics. He’s BBC trained, can cearly write. No issue.
The percieved problem the all media has of course is that it’s generally the one holding the microphone and, depending on what side of the fence you sit on any given issue, that can be a good or a bad thing.
Anyone remember life before the Internet? To be fair to the GP this forum does allow a right-to-reply. I’d also add that Policy Council used to have a paid PR servant, now left for the private sector.
Four legs good, two legs bad?
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Neil Inder – of course “a bloke” is allowed a job after politics. I understand that Ex Deputy Roffey, whilst with BBC,the corporation included in his training speech theraphy, in order to allow those then listening to understand what he was saying, no doubt this was to his personal advantage during his life in real politics. As for his foray into journalism, I can’t help wondering if he has also had training into how to write his diatribes. So, where I stand, there is an issue.
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Stiletto
Here’s the good news. Did a random spot survey on some friends last night – normal members of the public, who regularly read the GP. None of them can remember the Roffey or Gollop column.
I can’t help thinking that the columns’ reach is generally as far as the political class and associates and very few others; ergo, not that influential.
The three Fs maybe?
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Neil Inder –
Not a lot of surprises there.
I have also done a “Gallop” pol.
General overview is:
Who is P R?
I think he was our paper man
Never give it the time of day – don’t believe in ego wallahs
John Gollop on the other hand had a mixed reaction:
I don’t read the dailies, only the Globe (!)
He is very good on bus routes
His views are good, he comes up with new things
Perhaps Mrs P in the Pantry has some opinions to share?
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