Cuts: Le Sueur sticks to his guns
Saturday 24th April 2010, 9:59AM BST.
Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur
AS public sector workers march in protest through the streets of St Helier today, Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur has vowed to stick to his guns on plans for cuts.
He says that he is disappointed by allegations that ministers are planning massive cuts for schools, hospitals and emergency services and has reiterated that there is a pay deal on the table for teachers offering a 4% rise over two years. However, they would get no backdated pay rise for last year.
The pay offer hinges on unions agreeing to co-operate with a review of terms and conditions in the public sector, and has been accepted by manual workers and civil servants.
Hundreds are expected to join today’s march from Howard Davis Park to the Jersey Opera House led by teachers who are protesting over pay and conditions, ahead of a ballot on strike action on Monday by Jersey’s biggest teaching union, the NASUWT.
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For ‘review of terms and conditions’ read ‘redundancies’
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The Jersey people voted him in,now they have to pay the price quite literally!
Ignorance comes at a cost,and the aforementioned gentleman is not what i would call a person for the ordinary person in the street.
Next time give it a little more “thought” or the cost of it all will ruin you.
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When are you lot (states workers etc)going to realise that the party is over in Jersey – you/the government have NO option but to face reality. You may not like Terry Le Seur but he is taking the only option open to him/you. Of course you could always “take the boat in the morning”.
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The National Union of Teachers, with mnore than 200 members working in Jersey States schools will also be balloting its members in parallel with the NASUWT. The two unions combined represent the vast majority of the island’s teachers who have been treated very shabbily in respect of their legitimate demand to be able to negotiate a reasonable pay increase not to have a pay freeze imposed when money was in the budget to pay for it.
Andy Woolley
NUT Regional Secretary
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(3)SE
I Thought that this type of ignorance was dead,”TAKE THE BOAT IN THE MORNING” get a life you insular person.
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DDT *no flies on me* (2) did the real jersey people vote him in or was it those that just came over from the UK to work in the finance industry?
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If things get really bad with money, Jersey can always do like the Greeks: ask the European Union for a loan !
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I am sorry but the reason that Jersey is in its current predicament is due to poor leadership and accountability and the failure to control public spending.Frank Walker and Bill Ogleys ” Simple,Cheaper,Better ” was a bag of wind and fizzled out like a damp squib.Also what happened to Imagine Jersey and New Directions.!!! All whitewash.
It is clear that there is an inability in Jersey to process strategic objectives into practice and this needs addressing.
Bill Ogley needs to go and Le Sueur sadly is no more than a puppet for the Civil Service.Lets have some real government in place and a Chief Minister with ability to address issues ,in the interest of the Island.
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The private sector gets to reap profits in good and bad times. Our government chooses to cut vital public services as and when they please to keep the fats cats happy. Us locals just want our island back.
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I was wondering why the teachers had not started their march before midday but then it became obvious, after having worked a twenty five hour week and having just returned from a luxury holiday they needed a lay in. I wish you luck Ted, you were once a teacher so you should know the score. It is going to be a bitch to get these self centered lazy devils into the real world.
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I disagree, we may be in a bind, and Mr Le Seur may not have many options, granted. One option he always has open is talking, it is after all free. If he was really serious about this why does he not even turn up to negotiate with the teachers unions? If you’re going to tell people their kids classes will get bigger, that they will have to wait to see a doctor, or have an operation, it pays to do it nicely. I’d also point out that this isn’t the first time Jersey’s been up against it, you take the boat in the morning, I’m Staying ta.
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What else would we expect from a man, “gifted” his position from the former chief minister, he certainly does not have political acumen just the ability to ostracise the working man!!!
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This Mogit reminds me of a certain sleepy deputy we all know of……
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SE
‘When are you lot (states workers etc)going to realise that the party is over in Jersey’
Yet another one for the Jersey Handbook of Useful Emotive Phrases, “You lot”.
Which lot are you a member of, SE, the other lot who were doing very nicely – thankyou – and liking things that way, until the recession came along? Or another lot who don’t believe in Trade Unions and wonder why their lot is a miserable one.
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I think Le Sueur is actually missing the point. “He says that he is disappointed by allegations that ministers are planning massive cuts…[and] has reiterated that there is a pay deal on the table for teachers offering a 4% rise over two years.” It’s the fact that this pay deal “hinges on unions agreeing to co-operate with a review of terms and conditions in the public sector” (i.e. that public sector workers will agree to the massive cuts) that is the problem! And you can guarantee the cuts won’t be in the “right” places – the cuts will be those that affect the poor and vulnerable the most. It will be cuts in education (bigger classes, less investment in learning material for students and less investment in higher education), health (replacing nurses with care assistants, doctors with nurses, equipment not being replaced when it is breaking down, longer waiting lists to see the consultants in the first instance as well as for operations, doctors and prescription charges increasing, cuts in the patient transport service), emergency services (personnel not being replaced on retirement leading to safety issues for other employees, not enough frontline police, firefighters and paramedics), as well as cuts in income support benefits (resulting in the elderly not being able to afford to adequately heat their homes for example). This is what the teachers and other public sector workers are griping about! Those of you on here that keep telling us public sector workers to wake up and join the real world etc, I’m sorry but what I’ve stated in this post is the real world but you will not care until such a time as you are personally affected. Next time you go to chastise the public sector workers for their ongoing dispute just think about the consequences of these cuts for your children, your elderly parents/grandparents, and possibly even yourselves at some point in the future before you do!
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@piston broke
‘The real world’?!?!? You mean a world where foreign companies and millionaires avoid taxation leaving local public services to foot the bill?
Already there, mate. Already here.
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Cuts would not be necessary if Terry & his gang would stick to their budgets!
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The COM have succeed only in dividing jersey like never before. The structural deficit would not be there if it was not for the ill conceived zero ten taxation which seeks to help the rich and foreign business. Now middle jersey is being asked to pay for government failure and to support the private sector which all taxer payers globally have had to bail out due to thier incompetence. Even after the bail out are the banks lending to small businesses ? No. With out public sector ay rise millions will leave the economy and these small business will go to the wall. Terry and the Wizard of Oz could not run a bath never mind an economy.
Remember them and the rest of the puppets of the COM come the next election. Except le Main and Pykre, they will blow like the wind in which every direction the next COM take.
The silent majority.
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Airport worker and le verdic – i did take the boat in the morning – thankfully i moved away a couple of years ago but enjoy ‘looking in’ to see what ‘you lot’ were doing to bring jersey to its knees – you seem to be doing well.
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SE, There are quite a few of us boat takers looking in from the other side, watching our homeland being ruined.
Lovely Island, shame about the population (read what you like into that word).
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The island cannot afford the public sector we have. The States have completely failed the people, through years of miss management. The people have failed themselves by electing these clowns year in year out – but what was the choice ?
We need to doulbe States pay and get some quality into the States ranks, and in my opinion ditch the Constables asap. All off the public sector is going to have to take some degree of pain due the the fact that they can’t manage their budgets and have failed to deliver cuts and most importantly effeciencies in process etc.
Areas wihin the states are still creating jobs, wasting our money on digging up the roads, hair brain schemes and then people like Crowcroft trying to hold us to ransom for their own pet projects.
We have a great island – much better placed than others of a similar size, but its run very poorly.
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The States system could do with a massive rethink. I really don’t get a system that replicates basic services/offices/jobs 12 times in an area 9 miles by 5 miles. Total waste of tax payers money.
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How just and fair can a society be that allows 23 millionaires to pay less than 20 thousands pounds in tax each (see States Question Time), offer zero taxation to foreign companies and then target schools, hospitals, firefighters, rubbish collectors to make up the lost revenue?
10% cuts in 3 years – let’s see how that impacts on working people and their families?
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Andy (4), just because there is money in the budget it doesnt mean it should be spent. It is exactly this attitude which has the states in this mess. A budget is usually forward-looking and doesnt (and can’t) take into account unforeseen matters in the future, of which there have been a few significant ones both globally and locally. The time has come where the public sector need to understand that this magical pot of cash can actually run out. If the tough choices are not taken now a real problem will be faced in the future, many private sector companies have made pay cuts and redundancies, unavoidable at times such as this but we can agree it is a good sensible measure. The principle can and should be applied to industries that are financed by taxpayer cash too. No agument here which is pro-strike / industrial action deals with the simple economics- where is this cash supposed to come from and how equitable is it that everyone else in the island should pay for a payrise for teachers when they are not getting a payrise themselves? This reflects a fundamental lack of uderstanding on union leaders part. It would indeed be nice to give teachers the cash and terms they (or the union demand) but the sad truth is that it would be a stupid thing to do. This discussion of the boat in the morning is a bit of a waste of time, anyone who is really thinks that, despite all of the last few years of bad news, Jersey isn’t a great place to live and that we are all extremely fortunate needs to travel more and read more.
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Most of you are missing the point especially when phrases such as you lot and us lot are used. Actually this affects all of us. We are all tax payers and what is being suggested is that we get better value for our money and yes sadly it will hurt as we cut out the fat that has been allowed to grow in the States by neglect and mis-management. If this is not sorted now we will all pay through increased taxes which will hit us all well off and not so well off.
Side swipes at the finance industry are not going to help as sadly without this industry in the island (which like or not generates most of the Islands wealth and prosperity)we would be in a much worse position than we are now. Nobody is suggesting social revolution just that our goverment is run on a cost effective and efficiant basis which in the long term will be better for everyone.
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The main problem with public sector employees is that they do not appear to appreciate where their money actually comes from. i.e. all of the rest of us who are not employed by the States. According to Jersey Government statistics, States employees are the second highest paid sector next to the finance industry, and there is not a lot in it! It is time that States employees accepted that we are still deep in recession. If the people who pay their wages (us) are facing pay freezes, redundancies and overtime bans, how can they realistically expect to continue to receive pay rises as if the rules governing the rest of the world magically don’t apply to them?
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tricky – it doesn’t affect me one bit – i am not from jersey and do not live in jersey (or the uk) – agree with your sentiments around side swipes at the finance industry though. this said, i feel very sad at what is happening in jersey – it seems to be imploding…
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God’s Mentor #22
Don’t knock the Parish system – it’s a darn sight more efficient and cost effecrive than the States administration – and quite separate to it, which you don’t seem to understand. When was the last time your parish had to raise a supplementary rate because it could not work within its budget? I’ll wager you can’t remember it happening. Far from being a drain on tax payers they actually raise more than £93 million a year to put into the Treasury. Much of the asdministration in the Parishes is dome on an hoorary basis – rate assessments, by-roads supervision etc. More importantly, in a society where there is precious little “human to human” contact I am reassured by the continued personal service from parish hall staff – they care about their parishioners and it shows in how they deal with them. Small organisations dealing with small sections of the community can, and in Jersey, do have advantages over a faceless bureaucracy dealing with the masses. Try living somewhere else for a while and you will appreciate what we have here.
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DDT *no flies on me* (2)
The public of jersey did not vote this man into this position. It was the corruption of the states that lead to his appoitment. we can appoint people to represent us but not our main leader. no no Terry got voted in by the states members in a closed door vote. how democratic.
If the public had their way Terry would not have had a chance and Mr Bracken would be the man in charge.
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danny, please. the fact is that TLS remains an elected senator and the members who voted for him to be CM are also elected. we trusted those people to make a sound choice for CM. it is indeed democratic. just like any other democracy: e.g. you don’t vote for PM in the UK, you vote for a party that you trust will chose a good leader.
in relation to cuts, its clear that we need to make savings by getting rid of the excesses. however, this review really ought to focus at states and management level. e.g. we could easily cut the membership in half – we do not need nearly 60 states members! in the uk, a constituency the size of jersey would one have one mp (if that!). it is a complete waste of money. there is also a management surplus within the civil service, where the big salaries are paid. cuts should be made at this level before looking to the workers and the services we take for granted.
i do think that the teachers should accept what is a pretty good pay deal in the current climate. however, the states also need to be more open about what cuts they are planning – at the moment no-one knows. we can’t expect the teachers to accept the deal when the states are not being open about the review of terms and conditions.
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Steve – think you’ve hit the nail on the head mate. I’ve never met a nurse, teacher, or prison warder who’s rolling in it. So where is the money going? Further to that – I’m not sure you’d meet many of them who argue for a pay rise in 2009, most of them are simply cross at the way none of this was negotiated, the states are not interested in improving conditions, (and hence the services). If you ask me this is the way naive government negotiates and makes policy. They announce cuts, we go nuts, they announce more reasonable cuts, and some improvement in terms, we accept. Why don’t we just skip to the being reasonable part? One last thing – for those of you who don’t see what improvements I’m talking about – how about maternity benefits? If a woman who comes back to work after having a baby takes so much as a day sick in the first 3 months after coming back to work she looses 3 months maternity pay. Who drafts policy like that!? I mean yeah stop people taking the mickey, but this is just medieval, changing this would cost next to nothing and generate a lot of goodwill, take with one hand sure – but give with the other….
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No4.
Andy Woolley
NUT Regional Secretary
Nothing scares me more than someone negotiating to get increased pay and conditions with seemingly no understanding of a cash-flow forecast.
Perhaps Jack (24) woud have time to offer his services on a consultancy basis?
(6) Annie Du Feu
did the real jersey people vote him in or was it those that just came over from the UK to work in the finance industry?
Whilst I’m on a role – I often find your comments quite amusing Annie, but not today. Of course “real Jersey” people voted each and every serving States member (even those who scraped in with 200-500 deputy votes) I class anyone who pays taxes, social security and doesn’t claim benefits as a “real” Jersey person!
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Ooops – look like I should be rolling
Very dangerous to make a spelling or grammatical error on a site so full of teachers!
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Jonty @30 – you might vote for the party who then chooses the leader in the uk but with the upcoming elections the voting public know who the parties have chosen as said leaders and potential PMs. Same can not be said in Jersey. Ok the individual members may have been voted in but I’m sure that if the public had been given an opportunity to vote separately for the Chief Minister Terry le Sueur would NOT have been elected! Agree with you on the rest of your post though.
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Jonty “we trusted those people to make a sound choice for CM. it is indeed democratic”
You need to look up what democratic means.
We also have nearly 10% unelected in the states. The Jersey states is a shambles IMHO. It is time for a complete overhaul to bring it into the 21st century.
cathy “I class anyone who pays taxes, social security and doesn’t claim benefits as a “real” Jersey person!”
What happens if someone isn’t earning enough to pay tax but isn’t getting benefits? Are they blackballed as well?
A review of terms and conditions. What does this mean? This is very concerning as it will rebound into other areas if it means what I think it means. All this smoke and mirrors stuff needs to stop.
If things are made too bad for teachers and other professions Jersey will end up with a shortage as people go elsewhere for a better package. The world is much more accessible than ever before. If Jersey doesn’t value the likes of teachers you will probably find places like Australia and Cananda will. I think this is a very silly path to be going down, and all to save a few pounds in comparision to what is being wasted elsewhere.
Jersey appears to be entering a downward spiral which it is going to be very hard to recover from, due to lack a of vision and foresight by the government, and also due to outside intervention coming much more to the fore than previously. Gone are the days of free wheeling and getting by without a care in the world. The times they are a changing for Jersey.
If the government thinks it can beat the demographic time bomb by supersizing the population level over the coming decades I think it is sadly mistaken.
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The unarguable fact is that we need to reduce public spending or increase taxation. I don’t know whether the changes to the teachers pay and conditions will assist in this or whether it is the best way forward. However, I do think it is clear that the stance of the unions generally – no pay freezes for anyone, no changes in any terms and conditions, no surrender etc – means that it is very difficult for the States to do anything productive to address the structural deficit.
Look at the figures for States expenditure. We need to cut either health, education or social security spending if we are to hae a sustainable future. Those who waffle about zero/ten do not understand that it was not designed to protect the rich and foreign businesses but to safeguard the finance industry, without which Jersey would have no money for anything. And while it would be good if millionaires paid more, it will not make a material difference to our public finances.
So those of you who are supporting the teachers should suggest how you would save £65m a year. Presumably by upping GST to 6% and imposing swinging cuts on pensioners. Or introducing hefty prescription charges. Maybe by scrapping income support. Or privatising the port and airport. Or radically reducing police numbers and health workers. But lets hear your ideas. Because if the teachers get more, someone else gets less.
And it won’t be two dozen rich people who you have never met but who you think would be happy to spend £3m a year funding a profligate public service, because such people don’t exist.
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Lets hear it for Donald Ponds ideas and contribute to his views… he may even get these policies implemented for Jersey folk. Well done DP, great name.
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An example of the Tax/spend machine that is crippling us…the Govt will not cut back,has been warned..nothing done in two years…in the private sector heads would have rolled long since and the Dyke plugged. Rent rebate…who was that for,who was helped?, the landlords and developers, not the poor guy struggling to pay his rent naturally held his hand out for that help…it kept rents and house prices soaring artificially high, for if all they could charge was what the renters could find..then that’s all they could have charged and prices would have stabilized in line with what was earned,it unleashed a Tsunami of price jacking..as noses went in troughs…we have now 64 Mill short fall,public spending is still wildly out of control, and yet we give 90+ something million out in income support rent rebate etc, I am no mathematician…..but Hello…?
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Why can’t we all pay more tax, we have one of the cheapest tax rates or we could raise G.S.T to 10%. Then we can keep the inefficent job worth trade union states worker employed.But there are some that do work hard and they could be singled out but they are not in the private sector yet!
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donald pond 36 well said.
I have worked for two states departments in my time.
For the brain dead but labour intensive second job, I could truly not believe how much I was paid. Should I do overtime on my second day off, I was actually paid treble time. I took as much overtime as I could get. Plus all my working clothes were paid for.
As Donald Pond says if the teachers are given more than two percent someone will have to pay.
Will they leave and go back to the UK ? Not a chance on Gods earth. In the UK the Judges have just had their remuneration frozen the doctors and consultants in the NHS have just been warned their pay is to be frozen. More painfull the NHS is having to make savings of £20 billion
This is not at all fun to write, but if you read the broad sheets, the Government are to make 500,000 public sector workers redundant.
I have been made redundant and you feel you are no longer as worthy when all your friends are working, and then there is the problem of keeping your head above water financially.
The point is people on here have said the States have messed up the economy, you are right, people on here say that living standards are dropping without a wage increase are right.
Public sector, and in the spotlight are teachers, who moan and march, but “are” earning good money and have a gold plated pension. I feel just a little sorry for you why not get away, go and work on an exchange programme in Liverpool or London.
This would offer further training and experience ( to broaden your horizons ) Suffering UK tax on your earnings and actually being in a run down establishment,where the kids can speak up to twenty seven different languages ( English not so good ) lacking equipment and resources be it schools, hospitals or police stations and its going to get a lot worse.
Then come back here to your brand new school and you fifteen-minute drive home, and hope enough people in the private sector keep their jobs managing (without an increase)to pay taxes, to keep you in yours.
Davey.
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Does the Sen. Accept there would be no structural deficit if the COM had not foolishly imposed zero 10 taxation which has lead to the loss of £80Million in tax from overseas companies.
Why then should the Public sector wages be cut to accommodate the super rich of this Island and foreign companies.
What part has mass immigration into the island played in unemployment, does he agree that foreign nationals are taking local jobs and the vast majority of the unemployed are locals ,esp. the young, what hope for my children and theirs.
Middle Jersey cannot afford to get on the housing ladder, what steps ere be taken to help Nurses etc.
Would he agree too much power is now concentrated in too few hands and the government does not reflect the views of middle Jersey.
Does he accept that Jersey has never been so divided in modern times.
When was there a recession in Jersey. there has never been two consecutive dips in GDP. (The definition of a recession).
Regards
The silent majority
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Donald Pond – well said! you are a realist and a breath of fresh air.
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“Does the Sen. Accept there would be no structural deficit if the COM had not foolishly imposed zero 10 taxation which has lead to the loss of £80Million in tax from overseas companies.”
Anon, you can only calculate the loss if you compare it to the alternative.
Do you believe the finance industry would be viable if any entity administered from Jersey was required to pay Jersey income tax? Assuming that you do not (as is the universally held view), what would your estimate of the black hole be if Jersey lost its corporate admin, funds and trust sectors overnight, and do you believe the remaining parts of the finance industry would be viable without the “mass” provided by those sectors that would leave?
And to finish…without the finance industry, what level of cuts do you think the public sector would face: 50%? 75%?
“Does he accept that Jersey has never been so divided in modern times.”
I think we all do. There is the majority, who thinks we live in difficult times and all need to pull together, and the minority, who believe that any tax they have to pay is unfair and any attempt to curtail public spending is unfair.
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A modest inheritence tax regime, say 10% on estates with no exemptions, would sort out the structural deficit and widen the tax base (which we need to do). It would also have some beneficial social aspects in reducing the leaden hand of inherited wealth passing down the generations and enhancing privilege for Jersey’s rentier class.
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However, 43. If we’d known that the IOM were getting such a substantial relief on vat, then couldn’t the CIs have questioned this before pressing ahead with a doomed venture?
Anyway the industry wouldn’t have left, they were able to set their own tax anyway, practically.
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43~~ I take you want big business to run Jersey and not politicians. Why should the finance sector dictate fiscal policy, are we now open to blackmail ? Do you really think they would all go ? You do not train 13000 people over night. How come Dublin and the city of London manage. Wake up and stop listening to Oz, even he doesn’t believe that.
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Diversify before its too late. Pandering to finance and the rich isn’t the way to a successful future IMHO.
An independent renewable energy generation scheme and associated infrastructure would be much more beneficial for Jersey long term, as far as I am concerned. Jersey needs to insulate itself from outside factors as much as possible.
As per the 0-10 debate. What happens if the EU deem it against their rules? What then? More panicking in the ranks?
Sarah I would place CGT on all property not someone’s main residence, owned either by themselves or via their company. This would tap those most able to afford it.
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Adrian – If renewable energy is so profitable why do the UK and EU Governments have to subsidise this industry to the tune of many billions every year to encourage investment. It is not as if other small Islands how found any alternative, just look at the Scilly Isles. OK so we can no longer fleece foreigners for taxation and the likes of you and me have to pay for the services we consume but at least finance offers many the chance of a decent job.
If your comments on this site were to be translated into government policy we would have spent the entire rainy day fund on wind turbines, closed down our finance industry and would all be employed as Civil servants on massive and ever increasing salaries with only the rich 1.1k residents (who have by this time left for Guernsey) subject to any form of taxation. Or have I missed something in your logic?
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So I take it you prefer to pander to the rich and finance then Sanity?
At some point you have to decide what is the best way forward. It is past this point already as far as I am concerned and yet still the government dithers.
Are you saying that paying up to 20% of your income is getting fleeced?
What is it about finance jobs that makes them decent in your opinion? Are other jobs by default no good then?
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Adrian – In the absence of any credible alternatives finance is still the best way forward and whilst it is not the same gravy pot as we enjoyed in the past, it still provides many with well paid employment. I certain don’t discount other jobs as implied in your final paragraph and indeed I think you seriously underestimate just how many people depend on the finance industry for employment, both directly and indirectly. For example many of the garden contractors, cleaning firms, car mechanics, builders, not to mention the whole of our public services that rely on taxation from this sector. Indeed I would argue that our second industry tourism relies on financial services business for survival especially out of season.
Whilst I take your point about “pampering” to the rich, is this not simply a fact of life. Employees pamper to their bosses and they pamper to their customers who in turn are employees somewhere in the chain.
My reference to taxation was that we could no longer charge foreign Companies but this is down to competitive pressure from Guernsey and the Isle of Man, not government choice as many seem to imply. Indeed if the financial services industry was the white elephant as suggested do you really think we would be facing such competition to keep it?
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Adrian,
Nobody is saying that jobs in the finance industry are better than other jobs. But, and this is the crucial point: JERSEY IS AN ISLAND. The only way it can generate a high standard of living is through exporting: by brining in money from people who do not live in Jersey. Tourism did this, hence the boom in wealth that happened in the 1950s and 60s.
But tourism has had it: in the 60s, Spain was seen as exotic – now my inlaws winter in Thailand. The whoel world is cheap and accessible now. Tourism will never pay for the Island’s needs.
Agriculture brings in a small amount of money, but almost entirely to a few very lucky farmers who are also highly subsidised by the States.
The finance industry is the only thing that brings in money from outside. The teachers, the hospitals, the pensions of this Island are paid for by the Middle Eastern family with a trust in Jersey, the collective investment fund with a portfolio of European shopping centre, the UK company with a Jersey based pension scheme.
All this talk of alternatives: Jersey is full of rich entrepreneurs. if there was easy money to be made elsewhere, they would be doing it. The last attempt of the States to diversify was, if I recall, half a million on making potato vodka. And I never saw a bottle.
The finance industry is the only game in town, the only thing between Jersey being the flawed but prosperous place it is today and grinding poverty that could only be alleviated through massive depopulation and becoming a part of the UK and the EU. That’s the real choice.
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Regarding Zero Ten,
GUERNSEY and Jersey are committed to coming up with comparable regimes to replace zero-10.
But there are further signs that the Isle of Man will go it alone, despite an indication when the States debated the issue late last year that all three jurisdictions would work together.
Chief Minister Lyndon Trott gave an update on work towards replacing zero-10 during yesterday’s States meeting and said Guernsey and Jersey are working together to replace their corporate tax regimes. He made no mention of the Isle of Man.
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2010/04/29/growing-signs-that-iom-is-going-it-alone-on-new-zero-10/
They kept that quiet !
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Davey West – It is easy to assume that teachers in Jersey have never taught anywhere else, but it just isnt true. When working in Essex I did the hours journey to work each day (if I wasnt on the M1 by 630 I didnt get to work on time). When working in the East End of London I taught in a multicultural school with a population of 1500 students. Both jobs were superb experiences. I have to say though, there is something about the youth of Jersey that makes them different than those students I taught in the UK. I can’t quite put my finger on it…….for some it is that they are SO spoilt they are all “me, me, me”, for others they have so little and are very “needy”. My working life was easier in the UK – more focus on teaching and less focus on counseling etc. Also there was less pressure on taking on extra responsibilities in the UK – here the expectations are SO high. Maybe it is due to the private v public sector competition that Jersey appears to have imposed on us all, but I dont think so. As with many jobs, the more you do, the more you are expected to do. I have found that this is taken to the limit here.
I know that you have to be careful with the written word as it is so easily misinterpreted…..I did not like reading that you have been made redundant and hope that it is not long before you are once again employed. I am grateful for the job that I have, believe me. I have written re this on other posts on other pages.
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Sanity “not government choice as many seem to imply”
Well who decided to do it then? Nothing at all to do with government? Sorry but this was down to the government as far as I am concerned. Nothing gets passed without government approval does it?
donald what exactly is finance? What does it produce? Isn’t it about shuffling money from A to B to avoid tax?
Worldwide forces are now looking at their tax structures and where the money is going. Every person who avoids tax in their own country is placing an extra tax burden on the rest of that country.
Throughout history Jersey has had to adapt from one business to another, nothing is immune from history and Jersey will have to find something else to make its money from at some stage. Why wait until the **** hits the fan? A bit silly isn’t it?
Rest assured there are always alternatives however the will has to be there to enable them to come to the fore. Things can actively be suppressed if they affect the status quo.
Davey West an interesting post so both Jersey and Guernsey are looking to move away from 0-10? Well, well, says it all if it is the truth.
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You just had to read the list of the various loacations where teachers were stranded during the recent volcanic ash shutdown to get an idea of their lifestyles. -and that was only their easter break!
Some taxpayers, who pay their wages, cannot afford holidays.
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dave…..your last post should read “some teachers”, rather than “teachers”. Like in all walks of life and in any job you will find that there are people who are more well off than others, some are more able to save than others, some have inherited money or are born into money etc. Dont assume that because some teachers were stranded in exotic places that ALL have the capabilities to do so. I think we reached St Ouen, and even then the petrol tank was looking low
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