“Thank you for doing this homework for the last year… unfortunately, it’s a D minus.”
That’s the message to Policy and Resources (P&R) from backbencher Deputy Garry Collins, in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with Express.
And he went further, claiming it was a “fundamental mistake” to set up Guernsey’s top committee in the first place.
Deputy Collins – a States member at the time – said sweeping changes to Guernsey’s government enacted in 2016 had completely backfired, arguing they put “far too much power within the hands of too few”.
He argued that P&R had been overstretched trying to investigate tax reforms while also doing its “day job” of running the island – which he blames for what he sees as an “overcomplicated” set of tax reform proposals.
Deputy Collins said: “We changed the structure in this island, and we made a fundamental mistake.
“What we’ve done now is we’ve made fewer committees… but we’ve put this finance treasury function in there too.”
He said P&R had “five people probably doing what ten people should be doing”.
Unfinished homework
Deputy Collins, a former Treasury Services Manager for Specsavers, argued that bundling the treasury and policy functions together has created an unmanageable bottleneck at the very top of the island’s government.
He said this explained why senior politicians seemed flummoxed by some of the questions they’ve been asked by their colleagues, journalists and the public.
“I totally understand they have probably not had time to do all their homework, not had time to ask the questions some of my colleagues and I are asking about the modelling, about the data.”
Like Judge Judy
P&R got a grilling this week from Deputy Andy Sloan, during a Scrutiny committee hearing, with the former economist accusing P&R President Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez of “arguing black is white”.
However, several deputies said his questioning crossed a line into adversarial politics.
Deputy Marc Leadbeater said the hearing was “too Judge Judy-like for me and nothing like any scrutiny hearing I’ve ever been involved with or seen”.
He added: “The aggressive questioning without giving the panel a chance to answer was frustrating because I wanted to hear the answers – not the questioner constantly butting in and cutting them off.
“I think P&R, especially Lindsay [de Sausmarez], handled it extremely well.”
Stones still unturned
A major flashpoint in the ongoing row is whether the P&R has looked hard enough for savings before pushing to raise more money through tax – including GST with an introductory rate of 3%.
Deputy Collins launched a blistering critique against claims made by senior figures, including the P&R President.
He said P&R had publicly maintained the civil service was completely lean and had “nothing left to squeeze” – a version of reality Deputy Collins strongly refutes.
Deputy Collins said: “I disagree with the Chief Minister, they have not turned over every stone.”
He claimed that alternative ideas were being “dismissed straight away” by senior politicians who were viewing the financial crisis through a narrow lens.
Chief Minister questions
He targeted the P&R President directly, questioning how she could have spent months at the top of government without asking the fundamental questions required to understand the numbers.
Deputy Collins said: “You think, okay, Lindsay, you’ve been in government for the year… why haven’t you asked the questions about this split of this or that or this – and why don’t you have the answers?”
£2m on postage
To demonstrate his point that massive efficiencies are being ignored, he cited basic bureaucratic waste within the States.
When he rejoined the States he asked how much it spent on postage, but civil servants were unable to give him an answer without “going away to work it out”.
He was then told the States spent £1m to £2m on postage.
“Why are we spending 2 million quid on postage? We live in an age of technology where a button can be pressed and my payslip can arrive to my inbox,” Deputy Collins said.
As a Deputy, he receives a paper copy of his pay slip every month, which he said wasted time and money.
“Surely payroll systems can talk to email systems… press a button and people get their pay slips – job done.”
Time for P&R to step aside
With a critical tax debate looming, Deputy Collins slammed the “overcomplicated” tax proposals being presented by P&R.
He highlighted that the assumptions underpinning it were based on severely out-of-date data – from as far back as 2019 – and the staggering backlog of 20,000 unprocessed income tax forms.
He concluded with a stinging assessment of the current package, suggesting P&R members were no longer the right people to lead the island through reform.
Deputy Collins said: “My message to P&R is pretty simple – Thank you for doing this homework for the last year… unfortunately, it’s a D minus.
“I’d ask you to go away and do it again, but actually I’m not going to ask you because I don’t think you’re the right people to do it now.”
Alongside Deputy Heidi Camp, he has proposed establishing an independent Appropriations Committee to find ways the States can spend less money.
The proposed body would strip P&R of its monopoly over the tax review and allow it to return to its “day job” of running the island.
