Spending scrutineer seeks "fair deal" for St. Helier

Friday 06 May 2022

The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee has announced her bid for re-election as a St. Helier representative.

Deputy Inna Gardiner has served St. Helier 3/4 for the past three years, having successfully gained a seat in a by-election.

She is now hoping to take a seat in the newly created St. Helier North District, which expands her former constituency.

Since being elected, she highlights her key constituency achievements as:

• representing parishioners in matters relating to the new hospital;
• ensuring that primary schools in St. Helier are considered as part of Infrastructure planning;
• being involved in the ‘Thrive’ wellbeing project and volunteering at the associated ‘Grow’ community field; 
• working in cooperation with the residential association of the First Tower Community hub development;
• and established play area standards for the benefit of children and their parents.

She says her key ambition for St. Helier has been to ensure that the parish gets a “fair deal”, with “balanced” urban development, and that town remains a “great place to live, work and relax”.

If elected, she would like to see the introduction of neighbourhood enhancement schemes. 

As a States Member, she has also taken on the role of Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which is responsible for scrutinising the Government’s use of taxpayer funds, and successfully secured a 50% open allocation of affordable housing built in country parishes regardless of parish connections.

Deputy Gardiner describes her politics as being based around “community engagement” and “being inclusive of everyone in our community” in order to face challenges such as covid, Brexit and other global events, with an overall focus on “building a fairer society.”

If elected, she said her island-wide priorities would include:

• making home ownership affordable and tackling the high cost of living;
• working to reduce waste and inefficiency in the public sector;
• ensuring health, education and pensions are properly funded; 
• working on the island’s food security by supporting the agricultural community and creating a greater connection between town and country; and
• demanding a population strategy.

She commented: “I believe that a successful and flourishing Jersey depends on collective efforts: from a thoughtful and caring government, from the financial contributions and the goodwill of the business sector, from the great work of charities and above all from islanders themselves.”