The Final Curtain

The Chief Minister has been elected who in turn is now the manager of a team which is not entirely of his choosing. His Ministers of Health, Home Affairs, Treasury and Transport and Technical Services were not his first choice and the appointment of his two Assistant Ministers gives the appearance of done deals.

The composition of the Council of Ministers is another blow for the supporters of the Island mandate because 4 Ministerial positions are held by Deputies. If one counted the combined votes the four Deputies received when they were elected in their Parish or District they only received half the votes that Stuart Syvret received when finishing in 7^th place.

No blame can be apportioned to the Deputies but their appointment illustrates the anomaly in the current system and further weakens the argument put forward by supporters of the Island mandate.

The election for Chairmen of the Scrutiny panels turned out to be the predicted farce whereby any one wanting to be a Chairman only had to say so. It must be obvious to all but the blind that the current format is not working. One of the first tasks to be undertaken by the Ian Gorst and Simon Crowcroft is to establish why the current Scrutiny system has fallen into disarray and to rectify the problem.

The election for the two posts on the States Employment Board (SEB) sadly had another predicable outcome. Until the States approved my proposition a couple of years ago, the SEB comprised of the Chief Minister and three other Ministers. I was of the view that the SEB’s composition should reflect the Membership of the States as a whole and not just the Executive.

The proposed change came about because I had been concerned about the unacceptable level of suspensions and lodged a proposition seeking to establish a transparent and accountable suspension policy. Despite opposition from the SEB my proposition was narrowly approved. During the debate it became apparent that the SEB was insensitive towards suspended States employees.

It was obvious that changes had to be made to the Board so I lodged a proposition suggesting that it should comprise of two executive and two non executive States Members. The Chief Minister who was also Chairman of the SEB sensed that he might lose control particularly if the new Members’ sympathy rested with employees rather than the employer. He therefore lodged an amendment stating that whilst in principle he favoured a broad church he wanted the SEB to comprise of three Ministers and two non members whom he could nominate.

Unfortunately the Chief Minister’s amendment succeeded resulting in another toothless Board. This is evident because since the adoption of the proposition the Chief Minister’s nominees have always been elected. Given the new Chief Minister’s call for more inclusiveness it is a pity that he did not call for candidates for the position and chosen members who had something to offer other than obedience.

Due to a prior engagement Simon Crowcroft was unable to propose the membership of PPC this will done next Tuesday. He has no say in the appointment of members from the Executive and Scrutiny who are foisted on him. Therefore it is vital that he nominates Members who are prepared to challenge and propose alternative views, particularly as concerns are already being expressed that the Committee of Inquiry concerning the Historical Child Abuse and the Electoral Commission will be hijacked and headed by a States Member.

The States has probably the largest new intake since 1948, it will take some time to bed in but given the state of the economy and the large number of matters before it procrastination must not be the order of the day.

Readers will be aware that I established my Blog to compliment my election. I am no longer a States Member so have no right for my Blog to be called the Deputy Bob Hill Election Blog. Therefore this will be my last contribution to it in its present form.

Since I first went on line in August there have been several thousand visits from readers world wide. I would like to thank all who have read and/or contributed to my Blog.