There can be no room in the next States for pet schemes or projects, prejudices, virtue signaling, flights of fancy, wishful thinking or self-interest. Islanders have real problems which their elected representatives must sort out. Housing, the cost of living, healthcare, the exodus of our young people, our financial structural deficit and the growing gap between rich and poor. Your government should be focused on the needs of the majority of the people rather than the needs of the people with the majority of the money. The best interests of islanders and the island are inseparable.
Manifesto
Who am I and what do I believe in?
I was born in Guernsey and have lived here all my life. I was educated at the Vale School and Elizabeth College. I worked for 39 years in the public sector predominantly in finance (including 19 years at Home Affairs in senior finance roles, producing and managing budgets and accounts). I have an extensive knowledge and understanding of the operation of States Finances. I was also president of the AGCS branch of PROSPECT.
I am currently Senior Constable and a Douzenier for St Sampson. I also serve on a number of committees: Channel Islands Occupation Society, Retired States Employees Association (RSEA), Vintage Agricultural Show and the St Sampson’s Church Property Management Board. I am a member of the campaign group HEAL (Health Equality For All) and a member of the Committee of Management of the Odd Fellows. I am also a presenter and member of the Committee for Jubilee Hospital Radio.
At heart I have been a public servant all of my adult life and I hope to be able to continue to serve you all as a Peoples Deputy following the election. The thing that really matters to me is the wellbeing of the community. This is a pragmatic view. Without a happy, healthy and secure population the economy cannot continue to function.
My hopes for the next political term I believe that every island child has the right to a high quality standard of education regardless of ability to pay. As they grow up and leave school they should be able to aspire to full or partial home ownership according to their free choice or be able to rent a home at a truly affordable cost. They should be able to confidently raise a family here if they wish. In their old age they should be able to enjoy a comfortable secure retirement. Throughout their lives they should have access to health care and good public services fit for the 21st century. Most crucially at no time in their lives should they feel obliged to leave their island home because they simply cannot afford to stay here, and in their retirement they should not be forced to become medical tourists in the UK. An increasing number of our young people are leaving the island never to return. This is detrimental to the island in so many ways.
It is self-evident that huge numbers of islanders are struggling to make ends meet, house themselves, keep themselves warm in winter, feed and clothe themselves or even remain in the island. The day to day problems that haunt islanders of all ages are inter-related and need to be viewed holistically. They ultimately make the island an uncompetitive jurisdiction and if unchecked will destroy the local economy as well as placing intolerable strains upon individuals and families:
HOUSING – The cost of housing here is generally unaffordable. Using the term ‘Affordable Housing’ to describe housing which is clearly not is insulting to those who are well aware of the truth - the homeless and huge numbers of islanders that simply find themselves in a poverty trap. Actual progress must be made during this next term. There are many levers which could be explored – rent control for example which might initially see a contraction of the rental market but could also drive down the cost of and increase the supply of homes for purchase. It is in place in Jersey where housing costs have reduced by 0.6% in the year ending 31st March 2025. Guernsey’s housing costs have increased by 7.8% in the same timeframe. Everything must be considered, better more cost-effective land purchase options for social housing, direct employment of labour and purchase of materials and plant at source if local supply chains are not adequate. The island is gradually dying as a community and our economy is being threatened by the high cost of just existing here. The new States has an overarching responsibility to stabilise and then drive down the cost of housing. Any States scheme such as tax breaks or document duty reduction must, given the States ongoing Structural Deficit, be fully costed with funding identified and must not just effectively prop up the present over inflated property market.
THE COST OF LIVING – Without doubt the cost of living here in Guernsey is high. Inflation also remains high particularly compared to Jersey our nearest comparative and competitor jurisdiction: Quarter 1 2025 RPI in Jersey 2.3%, in Guernsey 4.2% almost double! This is in part driven by the cost of housing but the States itself either directly, or via its trading entities actively fuels inflation. Examples would be Electricity and Water charges together with fuel and excise duties.
For the last 3 years from 1 July 2022 electricity tariffs here have increased by 9%, 13% & 10% - a compound 35% rise (OVER A THIRD). RPIX for the June quarter of these same years, measured the day before each successive increase in electricity charges, used to uplift State (Old Age) Pensions on the 1st of January six months after each electricity tariff rise was 7%, 6.8% & 4.5%, cumulatively 19% i.e. a full 16% less than the electricity tariff increases that State Pensioners and other low income households have had to bear. In reality the situation is even worse. The single pensioner sitting in the one room they can barely afford to heat presently pays 23.89p per kwh and a standing charge of £68.25 whilst a person heating their entire home with an electric boiler or heat pump pays 12.24p per kwh and a standing charge of £11.41. The person huddled in their one room is effectively subsidizing the person with an electric boiler or heat pump.
HEALTHCARE – We do have excellent healthcare services. One major difficulty is affordability on an individual basis. There are many islanders who through no fault of their own find themselves unable to access primary healthcare or fall off society’s financial cliff edge often in old age. This can have catastrophic results for the physical and mental health of the individuals concerned going forward. Your wealth should not determine your health.
These three issues are of great concern for and have significant impact on the majority of islanders. The States should always work to reduce the local cost of living not increase it. The electorate are suffering now. The most recent Guernsey & Alderney Well Being Survey showed that 35.6% of islanders have experienced a significant amount of stress in the past year. This is hardly surprising.
OTHER ISSUES
GLOBAL WARMING AND RISING SEA LEVELS
It is self evident that sea levels and the temperature of the planet are rising. It is also clear that whatever we do here on the island will have a miniscule effect worldwide on either of these issues. That’s definitely not to say we should as a community do nothing, but as an island which has significant densely populated low lying areas, including large areas below sea level, we must spend adequate amounts on coastal defences. This will not be cheap but it must be done. It should also be recognized by our elected assembly that so called ‘green’ taxes are still taxes and taxes make people poorer at a time when ‘in work’ poverty is steadily rising. The high tide mark of relative poverty has reached a huge number of islanders.
OUR AIR AND SEA LINKS
Since 2020 our position has worsened. Effectively we now have one (States owned) airline which lost around £100million in public ownership prior to 2020 plus massive one-off losses during the pandemic. The airline continues to lose money on a grand scale. It also has a recent history of unreliability and is very expensive to fly with, again most crucially when compared to services of our nearest competitor jurisdiction. Sea travel and freight is now dependent upon two relatively old vessels which are presently only due to be ‘refreshed’ over the next 15 years. The fast craft will be 40 years old and the Ro-Pax vessel will be 35 years old by the end of the current contract if not replaced. Jersey by contrast is to have three new vessels in the not to distant future. The next States cannot afford to take its eye off these issues.
EDUCATION
The issue of tax-payer funding the three private colleges has been ‘put to bed’ by the present States. The colleges are to receive a fixed sum per pupil regardless of the financial position of the parents. The period of notice to change this arrangement is longer than a States term. Crucially what still remains to be addressed is the perception that drives parents to in many cases beggar themselves or have multiple jobs to put their children into the colleges. If improvements are required in the State sector they must be driven forward in the next political term. Our young people represent the island’s future. We cannot afford to let them down. In pure fiscal terms this needs to be addressed even more urgently now as every additional pupil in the private colleges now means that the taxpayer funded grant goes up.
THE EXODUS OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE
It is a fact that our young people are leaving the island in droves. It’s hardly surprising. It is uncompetitively expensive to live here. Everything the next States do should concentrate on improving the lot of the population not making it worse. In particular for our young people.
THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR
The increasing gulf between the very well off and the average and poor is a show stopper for the island. It’s not fair or equitable but just as crucially again drives people away from the island. The result being that there are less and less people left to make the island function.
OUR STRUCTURAL DEFICIT
This is a reality. We have been eating into our financial reserves steadily for years. The next States must resolve this once and for all. We need people in place who will not ‘kick the can down the road’. Push has come to shove. The next States have the ability to either run the island into the ground or sort things out. It won’t be easy or palatable but it must be done. We are rapidly approaching ‘one minute to midnight’ as far as our public finances go. Again we owe it to our young people to sort this out. Now. Successive States have lead us to believe that economic growth alone may get the island out of the red. It hasn’t happened and mindful of the financial instability of the world due to present US government policy it’s even less likely to happen now. Likewise whilst in the medium to long term an offshore wind farm for example might drastically improve the island’s situation it will do nothing straight away. It’s also largely dependent on the UK’s Contract for Difference (CfD) policy (It is self evident that a harsh wind of financial and electoral reality is blowing round the Secretary of State for Energy Security & Net Zero). Many sure fire winners have fallen by the wayside over the years – the babaco (savior of the growing industry), the casino (savior of the tourist industry), the data park that never was and our cannabis industry. Finally of course savings targets are not savings until the savings have been delivered. Projecting savings of say £25 million per year by 2029 means absolutely nothing unless the savings materialise and of course what shape would public services and public infrastructure be in if they were achieved? Food and medical bills should definitely be exempt from any increase in indirect taxation.
THE THIRD SECTOR
Guernsey relies heavily on charitable organizations for many of our vital services. Both morally and financially the States needs to nurture the third sector. States of Guernsey contributions over the last ten years have remained static at around £5million per annum. There is an urgent need for the new States to review and increase the real term value of the States contribution to put Third Sector organisations on a stable footing going forward. In addition it is imperative that if new taxes are enacted adequate mitigations are put in place to protect the Third Sector. Finally of course charities rely heavily on the older generation for volunteers. At present older volunteers are just not being replaced.
PETITION LAW
It is clear that there continues to be general public dissatisfaction with the way that States members interact with and listen to the public between elections. Government should be there to govern however it should also listen to the electorate other than for a few weeks prior to each election. I would support the introduction of a petition law as in Jersey and the UK (Thresholds – Jersey 1,000 signatures = ministerial response & 5,000 signatures = consideration for States debate, UK 10,000 signatures = response from government & 100,000 signatures = consideration for parliamentary debate)
Proposed by – Paul le Pelley
Seconded by – Michelle le Clerc