A new education sub-committee is to be set up to oversee delegation of management responsibilities to Guernsey’s schools.
The President of Education, Sport, and Culture, Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen presented the proposals for a significant overhaul of the island’s education governance system, and their plans in distancing government and education during this week’s States meeting.
Some of the key changes from the previously rejected plans include new governance boards, a new committee to research and recommend further devolution of powers, and increased autonomy and accountability for schools.
Some things will stay the same though, with the role of the Catholic Church in relation to the diocesan schools remaining unchanged.
The proposals sought the creation of the Education Devolution & Delegation Investigation & Advisory Committee (EDIAC) which would be made up of experienced States Deputies (but not those currently on the ESC or P&R Committees), the Head of the Education Committee, a senior civil servant from the Policy & Resources Committee, and potentially some non-voting experts.
While the proposals emphasised affordability, there is a £100,000 price tag which ESC was hoping to secure for potential for future costs associated with implementing the new governance model.
In short, it aimed to move Guernsey towards a more decentralised system of school governance. With the new committee investigating how this system should work, particularly regarding how much control individual schools should have.
After a long debate in the chamber, Guernsey’s existing laws will be updated to reflect these changes, and the changes should be in place by the start of the next school year this September.
How it happened
Whilst addressing the Sates assembly, Deputy Dudley-Owen said: “Good governance is not a ‘nice to have’,” adding that “governance is such an important feature of many parts of our working lives and the lives of islanders at all levels. Good governance is essential.”
She ended her presentation by pledging that these proposals would “improve education delivery for every single one of our children, young people and adult learners”.
Much of Thursday’s debate on the topic revolved around an amendment laid by Deputy Peter Roffey and seconded by Deputy Yvonne Burford, which sought to “direct the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture to return to the States as soon as practicable with proposals for far greater devolution of powers”.
Deputy Roffey began by stressing the crucial difference between delegating powers (allowing others to act on behalf of the center), and devolving powers (actually transferring legal authority).
He advocated for genuine devolution to governing bodies, and criticised the levels of separation proposed, arguing that any legal devolution must be substantial (“full-blooded”) to attract qualified governors, and be able to fairly hold boards accountable for school performance.
Deputy Roffey said it’s illogical to establish governing bodies legally, before deciding what powers to give them, and likened it to “putting the cart before the horse”, as well as questioning the need for a costly special investigation committee to determine devolved powers, arguing the task falls squarely within the existing mandate of the Education, Sport, and Culture (ESC) committee.
“It’s now crystal clear that they have not made progress with that promise in relation to the Soulsby-Roffey amendment, they simply haven’t done the work that was requested, and what’s more, they have no intention of doing it,” he said. “Instead, they want to set up a new committee at considerable expense to do the work for them. So this amendment simply asks them once again to do what we’ve already asked them to do once.”
This debate seemed to grow incredibly personal for Deputies. Potentially a telling sign that this political cast is at the tail end of its tenure.
There were arguments with Madame Procurer, mudslinging towards STSB, three guillotine motions and even some mentions of mythology.
The second amendment, laid by Deputy Heidi Soulsby, and seconded by Education President, Deputy Dudley-Owen, added a mandate to the newly formed EDIAC.
Specifically, it ensures that the committee doesn’t just look at the overall governance structure, but also specifically considers the important question of who is responsible for hiring the school leaders.
This flew through with 37 votes in favour.
ESC Vice-President, Deputy Sam Haskins was the only member to vote against, whilst Deputies Andrew Taylor and Lyndon Trott were absent.
As it came down to the votes for the seven propositions, all achieved at least 30 votes of approval. You can find the full voting record on the States website HERE.
