Peter Ferbrache

Manifesto

Personal Statement

It is rightly said that we must never forget our history when making decisions for our future.

The history in Guernsey of my branch of the Ferbrache family goes back centuries. It is typified though by the efforts of my 3-x great grandfather Daniel Ferbrache (1782-1851). Dr Rose-Marie Crossan, a legal historian and author, kindly sent me details of his life when she was researching a work about some well-known figure of the day. My ancestor worked for that gentleman as a day labourer, but eventually went off to sea and sailed the World. His maritime adventures ended when the vessel he was sailing in was captured by a French privateer off Cuba. So back he came to Guernsey, married and had eleven children. He worked at a variety of jobs, was entrepreneurial, and through his efforts

Aims

I want those values to continue. I want people who live here to be aspirational. To do that they must live in an environment where they think that is possible.

When I was a young man, although I had little money, I always presumed if I worked hard I would own my own home. Lots of young people, without the advantage of the bank of Mum and Dad no longer feel they will ever be able to do that. We must change that and we can.

I have been a States Member for fifteen years. I have served on a number of Committees and been President of four of them. I looked back to my 2020 Manifesto bought two houses and land at Les Dunes. He thus showed the characteristics that are ‘Guernsey’ – he was driven, adventurous, hardworking, and aspirational.

My own humbler journey has taken me from Vauvert Infants to Amherst Junior School, Elizabeth College, Law School, being a lawyer in England, and then returning to Guernsey and becoming an Advocate, a profession I have enjoyed for forty-four years. I had far less children than my ancestor, a mere four plus seven grandchildren who all live here.

Those values that my ancestor had still run through the veins of many Guernsey people, and were evidenced in abundant measure by the generation that had to endure the Occupation.

and three of the core principles that I wrote then apply just as much now so I repeat them.

1. We facilitate an environment where creativity, productivity and success are allowed and applauded.

2. We allow the elderly who have worked hard to retain their own home.

3. We facilitate equality of opportunity with the aim that we can do things, and whatever peoples’ talents we equalise up and not down. We encourage people to, wherever possible, create their own opportunities unhindered by States interference.

Moving Forward and Looking Back

When I became President of Policy & Resources in October 2020 we were all having to endure the greatest restrictions to our civil liberties since the Second World War. For sixteen months it was my duty to lead the small group of politicians who were on a daily basis making decisions that impacted greatly on the lives of all Islanders. We as a community survived that. It was a true honour to help in that process.

not produce any revenue for many years, and the second has not been quantified, and neither together are likely to meet the fiscal structural deficit we have. We need money now to pay the bills and repair our neglected infrastructure. As an example, our harbours need millions spent on them.

Anyone who tells you there are easy answers is misleading you.

So what do we do to change things?

Another great honour, probably the greatest of my life, was to attend at the Cenotaph in November 2021 as the first Guernseyman to lay the wreath on behalf of the whole Bailiwick in memory of all those who sacrificed their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have.

1. We need to provide people with hope and that starts with housing. There is no easy or quick solution, but we can do things now that will help. We can de-list the Heritage listing in respect of the Castel Hospital and release that for homes. We should purchase sites such as Leale’s Yard if available, put in the required infrastructure, and make it available for local residents to develop their own homes. During the lifetime of this Assembly we had to conclude the actions that were necessary as a result of Brexit. We also had to rebuild our economy and do things that bettered the lives of our citizens. We managed some initiatives but not enough. We managed to secure an Agreement with Sure which means that our internet capabilities will be much enhanced. We managed to enter into a Reciprocal Health Agreement with the UK.

We should come up with a structure to facilitate affordable loans to young prospective local home owners. We should relax and simplify yet further our planning laws.

2. We need to find a way of funding our long-term health and care needs. We may well need to consider certain types of compulsory insurance.

We also had to seek to repair our finances which had been in a poor state for years. That was neither an easy nor popular task. It was always easy but never realistic to say that the problem never existed or was not as bad as it is. That though, as sad as it is, does not accord with reality. Although I support the Wind Farm initiative and Corporate Tax Reform – the first will

3. We need to ensure that ‘middle Guernsey’, who seem always to have to shoulder any extra tax charges, are protected and the burden falls as far as possible elsewhere.

4. We live in a beautiful Island so the Environment needs to be protected. We can do that whilst building the houses we need.

5. We must invest more in our less than satisfactory infrastructure. I led politically the creation of the Guernsey Development Agency. Its path of acceptance was a rocky one, but now its value in the development of our infrastructure is recognised, and it must be given all the tools it needs whilst keeping it away from the heavy hand of the States.

6. We need to realise that procedures, rules, and regulations have no natural beauty, and should only be continued or enacted if absolutely necessary. I said this last time, and it still applies. Too many States Assemblies have little regard to the principle that you have to earn money before you can spend it.

7. We have to re-look at what the States can provide. We need to cut down on waste.

8. We need to encourage our main industries such as Finance, Tourism and Retail. When we were considering tax reform we wanted to put a tax on the imports via UK and other providers. We were advised we could not do that without a consumption tax of our own. So if one is introduced we could help retailers, if they are operating fully retail premises, by giving them some relief against T.R.P.

Space does not permit me to say more, so I end with two comments.

Firstly we will only be able to achieve even some of the necessary measures needed if we change our structure of Government. We need less Deputies and we need a more purposeful form of Government that can make decisions.

Secondly, this is Guernsey. We always have and always will overcome with effort our challenges. We must continue to reach for the stars and not for our bootlaces.

Vote for Peter Ferbrache.