The Chair of Governors for four of Guernsey’s primary schools has warned politicians that imposing GST could inadvertently drive young families away from the island.
Stuart Jehan heads the Governance Boards for the South & West Schools Cluster – made up of Castel, Forest, La Houguette, and St Martin’s Primary Schools – and says his position gives him a “unique” view of the real-world financial pressures currently hitting local households.
He acknowledged Guernsey’s looming structural financial deficit, ageing population, and the rising cost of public services, but urged deputies to look beyond the “figures on a spreadsheet” before making a decision that could have a lasting social and demographic impact.
“Through our schools, we not only see the educational challenges facing our children, but also the wider pressures affecting their families,” Mr. Jehan said.
“Financial strain can become visible in the smallest of ways: anxiety about the cost of school uniforms, hesitation over school trips and activities, or families increasingly relying on community support to meet everyday needs.”
Households feeling squeeze
With Guernsey’s inflation rate reaching 4.3% in the year to June 2026, he highlighted that many young households are already feeling a squeeze on their budgets.
Mr Jehan said he’d purposely avoided commenting on GST until now, but the timing of the debate made it vital to advocate for the families whose children attend the island’s primary schools.
“My argument is not that we should ignore Guernsey’s structural financial problems,” he explained.
“It is that, before introducing a broad-based consumption tax, we should be absolutely certain that we understand its real-world impact on families – particularly those we are trying to retain in Guernsey.”
Devastating long-term effect
He warned that taking the wrong approach to securing the island’s long-term public finances could have severe unintended consequences for Guernsey’s workforce and the makeup of its population.
“If we want young families to build their futures here, we must ensure that the decisions we take to secure Guernsey’s financial future do not inadvertently push our younger people away from our island. Otherwise, the long-term effect will be devastating.”
Mr Jehan also sits on the board of Citizens Advice Guernsey and has an “extensive” career in corporate governance across the private sector, according to Education, Sport and Culture (ESC).
He also stood as a Forward Guernsey candidate in the 2025 general election, coming 44th with 5,178 votes.
