No later than November, the States is scheduled to debate a Policy Council report based on the findings of an independent review board which is looking into States members’ pay and whether the principles on which it is based remain sound.

The central point currently is that no one wanting to stand as a deputy should be prevented from doing so for financial reasons – few islanders would take issue with that – which is why the current remuneration package, including pension, is roughly in line with the last declared average earnings figure.

What does not appear to have been subject to public scrutiny, however, is whether islanders believe they want or need full-time States members.

The new review board has not indicated whether it seeks or welcomes external input but it is to be hoped that it does.

States members and aspirants might regard attention on the remuneration package as unhelpful or even critical, but it is not. While members are frequently judged, it is not clear on what criteria they should be measured.

And when electors pass judgement on this Assembly – frequently decried as the worst ever – it will be on the basis of its collective decision-making rather than on the performance of individual members.

If the view that the current House is, indeed, poor is accepted, the obvious question is what needs to be done to make the next better.

In other words, there needs to be clarity on the roles and the individual and collective responsibilities of elected members and what attributes the model deputy might need to deliver the performance required by islanders.

How to attract best-fit candidates then becomes the issue and it is only at that stage that a reward strategy can be considered – and thought given to what element of voluntary public service, if any, islanders might demand from their representatives.

As things stand, the review board appears to have a mandate to consider pay for a role States members have made for themselves rather than what’s actually needed or what islanders have said they require.