From Gerard Baudains
WHILE I wholeheartedly endorse Senator Shenton’s views (JEP, 10 February) on Jersey’s unsustainable public spending programme, I fear he and our Treasury Minister will have a superhuman struggle to achieve anything.

The unions have recently stated that they will resist any attempt at cutting costs or improving efficiency. Such arrogance and selfishness beggars belief – to the extent that one supposes that should they be successful (meaning GST will rise substantially), they will then have the cheek to ask for higher wages to offset that.

Are they really unable to understand today’s situation? Can’t they see that such a position actually jeopardises their members’ jobs?

Then, as Senator Shenton correctly observes, there are those of his fellow States Members who seem likewise unable to grasp the severity of the situation. The sort who, for decades, have found it convenient to let matters ride rather than do anything, thereby making it the next person’s problem.

To compound the issue, many Members appear simply not to be up to the job. I was particularly irritated by the Health Minister’s attitude following the Verita report, where she clearly demonstrated it’s business as usual. Unfortunately, she is not alone, insomuch as many ministers will be unable to identify savings in their own departments.

We’ve had spending reviews and other fancy cost-saving exercises, but what did they achieve? Nothing, because most departments cling to their budgets and, when asked to make cuts, put forward scenarios they know will be unacceptable.

Result? Budgets remain – or increase.
The problem will not be overcome without a comprehensive overhaul of the whole system – including ministerial government itself.

The change to ministers was foisted on the public with promises of quicker decisions and huge savings. Of course, neither happened. Worse, it enabled civil servants to rise to a level to where they, not elected politicians, run the Island. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

Consider this: under the old committee system, a president and six other members directed a department. While previously there were enough members present to keep a ‘handle’ on what was going on, now there’s only one.

Today, what a department wants, a department gets, and woe betide a minister who upsets his department, because that will incur the wrath of the States chief executive (a civil servant).
The system is broken, but the present Assembly – in my mind the worst ever – discusses sandwiches and the climate change hoax. Where are the statesmen needed to handle today’s problems?

We need accountability in the public sector and leadership from the States. At present, we have neither.