In the nine years since I was first elected, I have worked hard to improve our government. I have championed things I believe strongly in, whether through committees or independently, and I wish to continue doing so.
While I want to address many vital issues, none has the potential significance of the once-in-a-multi-generation opportunity to develop a commercial-scale offshore wind farm. If re-elected, I intend to dedicate a significant portion of my efforts to this game-changing project, which can not only generate revenue to address our fiscal issues but also make a substantial contribution to mitigating human-induced climate change.
Manifesto
When first elected in 2016, my campaign slogan was "Vote for change." When re-elected in 2020, my slogan was "Fight for what's right." Many current and past Deputies have highlighted how difficult it is to achieve results within Guernsey's government structure, and it is. However, I have fought hard for what I believe in, and my efforts have helped bring about change.
My slogan for this campaign is "Get things done." We are past the stage where we can ignore or defer decisions on the big issues our community faces, particularly around fiscal sustainability, to continue funding the services people want and need. We are coming to 'crunch time'. The new Assembly will have no choice but to face this and other significant issues, which previous assemblies have failed to do; we will have to get things done!
Some of the most significant things I have championed as an independent Deputy outside of committee roles include opposing the two-school model (the Green Ribbon Campaign), promoting island-wide voting (the 'Option A' campaign), and the anti-GST (Red Ribbon) campaign.
Two important but less high-profile initiatives I led as President of the States Assembly and Constitution Committee were the introduction of Simultaneous Electronic Voting, an electronic system that records all members' votes enabling complete transparency on each Deputy's voting — something not available for most votes taken before the introduction of this system in September 2022. Plus, introducing an independent Commissioner for Standards to impartially evaluate complaints against serving Deputies.
In line with my "Get things done" slogan. If re-elected, I will work on several key areas with my fellow Deputies to get done during the next term.
THE HOUSING CRISIS can be addressed by reducing the State's planning bureaucracy, which hinders and delays private developers from building more homes, while supporting the Guernsey Housing Association in constructing more affordable social and key worker housing.
TRAVEL CONNECTIVITY is an economic enabler and a social requirement that directly impacts our cost of living. We must ensure that transportation routes are reliable, seats and freight costs are affordable, and Guernsey remains open for business and family life.
IMMIGRATION LAWS must be strengthened to ensure that those coming to our island are net fiscal contributors, helping to grow our economy and fund services, not a financial burden on taxpayers.
AN OFFSHORE WIND FARM is the single most impactful and beneficial opportunity I wish to focus on getting done in the next term.
Since writing the Offshore Wind Scoping Report, published October 16th, 2022, I have spent two and a half years developing this initiative, despite opposition from sceptics and political obstruction by some pro-GST Deputies, including them firing me from the Offshore Wind Group, which I chaired, for publicly stating that this project can generate more revenue than GST and negate the need for it — something I had been telling Deputies privately for two years.
Despite these headwinds, experts were engaged under Deputy Trott's P&R Committee, who then confirmed the scale of opportunity for Guernsey and quantified the potential revenue.
For political reasons, the full scale of this opportunity was not fully reflected in the Offshore Wind Opportunity policy letter, which the State's Assembly overwhelmingly supported in April.
Assuming we develop the full 610 km² that experts initially identified as potential wind farm sites, the estimated annual base-case lease revenue is over £150 million, with an optimistic estimate more than double that amount. With expectations of receiving initial revenue in 2027, before the planned introduction of GST. The policy letter did not mention the potential corporate tax revenue, which could be even more than the lease payments, and only alluded to revenue generated by activities associated with the wind farm development, potentially adding millions to government revenue per year.
By comparison, a 5% GST would raise approximately £50 million in net revenue annually, and a 10% increase in income tax would raise around £28 million. Therefore, a large-scale wind farm could generate around double the revenue of a 5% GST and a 10% increase in income tax combined!
A wind farm would raise enough revenue to avoid tax increases and re-fund our capital reserves. It would also help grow and diversify our economy, creating approximately 200 non-finance-related jobs. It would also enable Guernsey to contribute disproportionately to reducing human-induced climate change, an existential threat to future generations. Although the success of the wind farm project is not guaranteed, our experts and developers assure us that we have a significant opportunity.
We have already lost fifteen months due to political obstruction, and every month we delay in this unstable global political and economic environment risks adverse developments that may negate or reduce that opportunity. We need to properly resource and progress this project at a pace and get it done!
GST is not an inherently bad form of taxation, but I fought against its introduction because we need to reevaluate how the States of Guernsey supports our community and break our tax-and-spend culture. The introduction of GST will lead to a larger government, and the percentage charged will inevitably increase to fund further growth. We cannot tax our way to prosperity. We must grow and diversify our economy through initiatives like the offshore wind farm project.
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY are essential to preserving public confidence in government. Having served as Chair of the Administrative Decision Review Board, the ultimate body responsible for hearing complaints regarding administrative failures within the States, has convinced me that this body is unfit for purpose. We need a Freedom of Information Law and an independent Ombudsman to hear complaints. They are essential to ensuring proper transparency and accountability, and I will fight to introduce them.
I also want to see the reinstatement of the Public Accounts Committee, a financial watchdog to oversee the States' expenditures.
IF RE-ELECTED, I commit to delivering the initiatives detailed above, the most significant and far-reaching of which is the offshore wind farm project.
Please trust me with your vote in the 2025 election in and allow me to continue my efforts for our community.
Carl P. Meerveld
Thank you for your support