15th November 2023 Dear Colleagues, The States debate on the 2024 Budget is yet to conclude and we take this opportunity to write to you jointly following the adjournment last Thursday. We are in the unusual situation of being partway through debate on two specific and critical Amendments being discussed and debated concurrently which seek…
I am delighted to have been part of a group of deputies who have developed an alternative set of proposals for the Tax Review. Holistic Approach The proposals, under the banner of “A Fairer Alternative”, embrace a holistic approach to the structural deficit by concentrating both on constraining and reviewing public spending as well as…
Kickstarting the 2022 Guernsey Press political podcast series with Andre Austin, director of Swoffers, hosted by Simon de la Rue. We discussed housing, fibre rollout, public amenity, attracting young people, upcoming tax review and an array of other topics. Thank you for the invite. Listen here or directly on the page. Housing, development, and the…
Photo credits to John Fernandez at BBC Guernsey. I recently wrote about the successful approval of the new Exemptions policy that was brought to the States of Deliberation by the Development and Planning Authority (D&PA), one of the two committees I sit on. This policy extends the range and extent of development works by households,…
The Rules of Procedure allow deputies to ask written questions to Committees of the States of Guernsey under Rule 14. Committees have 14 days to respond to the questions unless they have asked for an extension from the Presiding Officer. I have recently asked a number of questions to the Committee of Home Affairs on…
This week the States of Guernsey has approved a policy letter to update the Planning Ordinance that enhances and extends the number of exemptions under which islanders and businesses will not require planning permission to carry out development on their property and land. There is now a longer and more extensive list of exemptions that…
Under Rule 29 of the Rules of Procedure, States’ Members are required to submit an annual Declaration of Interests to the States’ Greffier. Declaration of Interest is a standard practice in the corporate world, with many businesses going to extensive lengths to ensure they have open and transparent procedures in how potential conflicts of interest…
The St Peter Port Regeneration Areas Development Framework has just been published by the Development and Planning Authority, one of the Committee I sit on. This has involved two rounds of consultations with the community, with much of the feedback taken on board. The overarching vision of the regeneration framework is: “To enhance the St…
Earlier this year Deputy Burford and I championed the need to launch a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Guernsey as soon as possible. Our amendment to the Government Work Plan was successful and achieved unanimous support from the Assembly. While we knew that Committee for Home Affairs was considering different avenues to support victims…
The Committee for Education, Sport and Culture provided an update on work progressing the Education Strategy. This is a key action area under the Government Work Plan and has been referenced many times in debate. The update provided a high-level overview of the strategic objectives going forward developed with Education professionals: Achieving Equity, Safety and…