Rob Curgenven

Manifesto

About Me

Growing up, I attended Elizabeth College, before winning a bursary to Millfield School as a top ten Great Britain ranked squash player. An accountant by trade, I’ve run my own business for a number of years. Before this, I worked for Aurigny (as the Financial Controller) and the States of Guernsey. I have seen the problems facing both entities first hand. Dealing with tax and social returns, too, I habitually see how local business owners, sole traders and individuals struggle with the current system.

I co-founded ‘Man Club’, a charity providing men with a safe, supportive environment to talk openly about their feelings and break down the walls of isolation. More recently, I founded a community organisation dedicated to transparency and accountable government.

I love travelling and spent part of my early twenties living abroad. This gave me much needed perspective. After a while, the best bit of any trip was coming home. There is no better place to live than Guernsey—which is why I am so passionate about looking after what we have.

A Stronger Financial Future Without GST

If plans to deal with the fiscal deficit look only at raising taxes, they are bound to fail. GST, for example, doesn’t fix the problem. It won’t provide enough funds to fill the ever-growing financial void. It will have to be upped ever year. And so on. Instead, we will close the fiscal gap through growth, fairness and efficiency:

• Continue on with the wind farm project. Leasing just 6 % of our territorial waters for an offshore‐wind concession returns around £40 million a year (equivalent to a 5 % ‘GST Plus’). This is also set to create up to 200 new jobs.
• Position Guernsey as the premier location for responsible Artificial Intelligence and fintech by leveraging our world‐first recognition of AI agency (Guernsey is one of the only jurisdictions in the world which allows for this); fast-track licences and capture the professional-services spill-over.
• Clamp down on benefit fraud and tax-cap avoidance.
• Unlock a regulated cannabis and hemp industry worth at least £20 million annually, with proceeds ring-fenced for health and housing.
• Cut costs by up to 2% a year: phase in zero-based budgeting one department at a time; establish an Independent Spending & Performance Board to audit departments; end overspend and publish all contracts worth over £25,000.

Homes For Islanders

Everyone who works or retires here should be able to live here.

• Convert idle glasshouse sites and other brownfield land into mixed‐tenure developments, protecting open countryside.
• Abolish Document Duty for first time buyers and those looking to down-size.
• Fast track plans to build upwards in select areas. With smart design we can build thousands of new homes, and free up green space, by building upwards in small pockets of St Peter Port.
• Introduce an ‘Essential Worker’ housing market with capped rents and secure tenure for key workers in health, education and emergency services.
• Offer a grant covering costs, and practical assistance, for pensioners and ‘empty- nesters’ who choose to downsize—never forcing anyone from their home.
• Apply an escalating surcharge on properties left empty for more than 12 months to bring housing back into use.

Government You Can Trust

I’m perhaps best known for my push for openness and transparency. This is essential for good governance, and for rebuilding trust with the electorate.

• Introduce a freedom of information law with teeth. This is vital for allowing the public to keep the States in check. The current mechanism is not law but rather “guidance” only. Even when appeals are upheld, Committees can and do refuse to release requested data.
• Pass a Whistleblower Protection Ordinance. Too often hard-working public servants witness serious wrongdoing but are scared to speak out. If we are to reform the civil service, it is vital that staff are free to talk about what is going wrong.
• Introduce a Citizens’ Budget; an interactive online dashboard showing how public money is spent, updated regularly.
• Hold twice‐yearly ‘Open States’ forums, so government comes to you.
• Establish an independent watchdog for complaints about the public sector. The existing mishmash of complaints processes simply don’t work. Wrongdoers or their allies mark their own homework, leading to a culture of hiding and denying even the most trivial of mistakes. Consequently, any hope of learning from them is quashed.

Your Voice. Your Vote

On 18 June, we choose what kind of island we want to be. If you share this vision of a fairer, more prosperous Guernsey, lend me your vote—and bring a neighbour with you!