WHILE the chief minister focuses on representing Guernsey off-island, who is responsible for overseeing domestic policy? It’s a question that is being increasingly heard both inside and outside the States.

Under our decentralised political system, most policy-making is a matter for the 10 departments. But ideally, those detailed policies should all fit within a strategic vision for Guernsey. So the real question is, who is overseeing that strategic policy formulation?

The right answer should be the chief minister. The real answer seems to be no one.

At best there’s a sort of quasi-strategic vision arrived at second-hand through T&R’s financial prioritisation. Cash is obviously vital to turn strategic aspirations into reality, but this sort of process – where money comes first and policy considerations follow – is far from ideal. It doesn’t get to the heart of the big question: Where does Guernsey want to go as a society? It’s a classic case of the tail wagging the dog.

To be fair, there’s also the annual States Strategic Plan, which includes sections as diverse as social policy, the environment and the economy. Alas, this shows few signs of turning into a real route map to a better-governed Guernsey. Again, this is mainly due to a lack of forceful and focused political leadership of the process. Who’s to blame for that? It has to be the chief minister, because his main role should definitely be leading the creation of strategic policy.

Of course, ours isn’t really a chief minister in the sense of chief/prime/first ministers elsewhere. Despite the title, we don’t have a ministerial system of government. So it would be quite inappropriate for him, or the Policy Council, to hand down strategic policies to the States like tablets of stone. However, when the Policy Council was set up, its prime task was to formulate, develop, implement and coordinate the big strategic policies that the island requires.

All these things remain within its mandate today. While the States must always be free to endorse, reject or amend the strategic proposals coming out of the council, it is that body’s prime responsibility to work on their creation and development. What else is the Policy Council there for?

There’s a simple test as to whether the States’ strategic policy process is working well. Take half-a-dozen deputies at random and ask them what the present House’s agreed vision for the future is. They should all give similar answers. Some will be four-square behind that vision, some opposed to it, some equivocal, but they should all know what it is. At the moment, you’re likely to get six very different replies.

I’m certainly not saying ‘it was better in my day’. This lack of agreed strategic policy has cursed the States since the dawn of time. The point is that the political reforms of 2004 were supposed to correct this chronic problem. The corrective process was to be led by the Policy Council and in particular its chairman, the chief minister. So if it isn’t happening, the buck stops with him. He should be ensuring that at least half of the Policy Council meetings focus solely on the big strategic issues and don’t waste time discussing the minutiae of government.

It may well be that Deputy Trott is doing a good job pressing the flesh beyond these shores. I’ve no idea. He’s certainly doing a lot of it, but whether he’s making a real difference to the way the world views Guernsey or just keeping the photographers and spin-doctors busy is hard to tell from the outside.

However, while this ambassadorial role may be important, it should be very much a secondary part of his job. His main task is on-island, leading the formulation of big, overarching policy. Ensuring Guernsey is well governed, not through dictatorship, but through persuasion, vision and leadership.

Maybe he doesn’t see this as his forte, although that would seem very odd indeed in a chief minister. Perhaps he’s more in his comfort zone away from Guernsey and that’s why he’s ‘bigging up’ that aspect of the job.

In that case, his responsibility as a leader is to delegate the ‘vision thing’ to someone more comfortable with strategic planning. That doesn’t mean getting it done by default by T&R but rather allowing somebody else to lead the process within the Policy Council. The question is whether any of its members have the aptitude for that role. Where is Stuart Falla when you need him?The chief minister’s role should be leading the creation of strategic policy, says Peter Roffey.He’s the most high-profile politician in the island – but is he shirking his real responsibilities? Peter Roffey questions our chief minister’s role and leadership style and doubts that deputies could even agree on the strategic vision for Guernsey‘This lack of agreed strategic policy has cursed the States since the dawn of time’