THE day that the Guernsey Press was suggesting that there was little evidence that Guernsey’s government was doing anything meaningful to control public expenditure, the States of Jersey unveiled a robust package of measures to ensure that its public services were appropriate to the needs and size of that island.

Staffing is to be reduced by nearly 4% – 246 posts – over the next three years, the final salary pension scheme is to be closed and departmental budgets are to be cut by £65m.

The same day, we were also running the story that Guernsey Post is to reduce its costs by £3m. because of falling income and the need to become more competitive.

In contrast, this island’s government is sitting on its hands and pretending either that it’s all too difficult or else that everything is so lean and efficient that nothing more can be done.

The reality, as islanders are well aware, is very different. There are layers of cost, tiers of management and elements of bureaucracy that have to be removed if the island is to have a competitive future.

Perhaps the most baffling part of this is the absence of leadership or any sense that there is even a scrap of political drive behind the need for economies.

Again, as islanders are well aware, the reason for that is because the only time ministers will break into a sweat is to spend more money or to protect their own empires. That is why the Education minister was happy to employ an extra 14 staff last year at an additional cost of approaching £500,000, totally ignoring the need for restraint.

What makes this doubly depressing is that government here is missing out on the opportunity that this represents to restructure a bureaucracy that has expanded simply because it could, to divert existing expenditure to priority areas and to free staff to work more productively in the private, wealth creating, sector.

All this is self-evident – except, it seems, to States members, who this year will cost each taxpayer £44 or a total of £1,850,000.

It is time islanders started asking what value they get for that expenditure, too.