RETIRING Alderney States member Richard Willmott used his last speech in the Assembly to give the Bailiwick’s media a bit of a kicking and he chose three main themes.

Despite the much good work that government did and no matter how favourably the islands compared with other jurisdictions, it still received a bad press, plus the calls for a different system did not stop.

His final point was what he called the ‘constant misinterpretation’ of the Wales Audit Office report, largely over this newspaper’s portrayal of it as a nought out of 10 judgement on the States.

On a narrow point, he is correct. The WAO’s view was that the States of Guernsey does not yet fully comply with any of the six principles of good governance, so perhaps our classic school report format should have read 0/6.

But he – and many other States members – would disagree with that, too. Far too harsh an assessment, they would say. Far more like 5/6 or four, at worst.

Yet the WAO’s judgement was precise:

The States of Guernsey does not have a clear strategic direction or agreement on its strategic objectives and desired outcomes. It lacks the structure for clear corporate leadership and there is a lack of clarity regarding States functions and roles. Its decision-making processes are unclear, protracted and not always underpinned by good quality information and it does not have effective systems of accountability and scrutiny in place. Finally, government lacks appropriate mechanisms to address concerns regarding the conduct of States’ deputies and staff.

It does not make for pretty reading, particularly since good governance is a prerequisite for every public body to deliver sustainable, value-for-money and quality services in a transparent manner.

What this actually illustrates is the States’ dislike of independent reports about them and the conclusions that others can then draw.

As the WAO found, there is no independent scrutiny of government (other than by the media) and no effective accountability.

And that is why, 15 months after the Wales report, there is still no action being taken to rectify the significant deficiencies it identified.