Members of the Economic Development have hit back at a scathing resignation letter published by one of their team.
Deputy Haley Camp today announced she is standing down from ED, saying she doesn’t want to “blindly follow a President’s agenda” and waste taxpayers’ money.
In a wide-ranging tear-down of the Committee, she specifically criticised the President Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller’s leadership.
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller has acknowledged their committee meetings are “robust” but said she doesn’t intend to engage in a public debate or reply to individual assertions.
ED Member, Deputy Rhona Humphreys has said she is “disappointed” that Deputy Camp has chosen to resign from the committee, but made clear she supports her President.
In her resignation letter, which can be read in full HERE, Deputy Camp said “independent thought” was “too often treated as an inconvenience rather than an asset”, labelling the committee’s leadership as “autocratic rather than collaborative”.
She also made clear that her concerns about how the States’ works runs wider than Economic Development.
She called on Deputies to “reflect on the fact” that two Deputies have resigned from principal committees in as many months, after the resignation of Deputy David Dorrity from Employment and Social Security at the end of April.
Deputy Dorrity said at the time his resignation was caused by “frustrations” over a lack of focus on savings. Deputy Camp has now laid into the States’ focus on spin over substance as well as what she sees as reckless spending.
“I did not join Economic Development to curate headlines – I joined to help build a stronger economy,” she wrote in her resignation letter.
In response, Deputy Kazantseva-Miller has thanked Deputy Camp for her contribution to ED’s work over the past year, and said she will continue to devote her energy to the island’s “short, medium, and long-term success”.
While ED is open to and welcomes scrutiny she said her priority remains building a “stronger, more resilient and more prosperous economy for the people of Guernsey”.
In her response, ED Committee Member, Deputy Humphreys, has also made clear that the focus remains on the island’s economy, but she also disclosed that she has previously felt “conflict” during meetings.
She defended the ED President though, saying the picture painted by Deputy Camp is not one she recognised.
Fellow ED member, Deputy Lee Van Katwyk has also said he is disappointed that she has left the committee.
He revealed that ED is “in the midst of a Committee tussle over what is fundamentally best for the island’s future and finances”.
“I can categorically state that I have the utmost confidence in all of my CfED colleagues,” he wrote on Facebook. “They are only ever concerned with two juxtaposed tensions: how to save money, how to grow the economy.
“I do not always agree with my colleagues, I do not always vote with my colleagues, but I have faith they are all working hard and working to make their own choices for a better Guernsey.”
The Committee for Economic Development is tasked with “promoting and developing business, commerce and industry in all sectors of the economy”.
With a £13 million budget it oversees Guernsey Finance, Visit Guernsey, Locate Guernsey, Sea Fisheries, the Digital Greenhouse, and other bodies with an economic and regulatory role. ED is also responsible for connectivity including air, sea, and digital links and it oversees the island’s framework for innovation, market competition, and business regulation.
Deputy Marc Laine was recently appointed to the Committee, joining Deputies Kazantseva-Miller, Humphreys, Lee Van Katwyk, and Camp, following the departure of Deputy Andrew Niles who has joined Policy and Resources.
An election will be held at an upcoming States meeting to replace Deputy Camp.
Full response
Deputy Camp’s resignation statement can be read in full HERE.
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller’s response in full.
I would like to thank Deputy Haley Camp for her contribution to the Committee for Economic Development over the past year and respect her decision to step down.
Committee discussions are necessarily robust and members do not always share the same view of how the Committee’s work is best progressed. That is a normal feature of consensus government and I do not intend to engage in a public debate about personalities or respond to individual assertions. I believe the public rightly expects us to focus our time and energy on serving the island and delivering results, rather than on personality politics.
The Committee has a clear work programme underway to strengthen Guernsey’s economy, agreed and supported unanimously by its members. Economic development is about delivering tangible outcomes for the community. It requires constructive partnership with industry, collaboration across government and a clear focus on the island’s short, medium and long-term success. That is where I will continue to devote my energy.
We remain open to, and welcome, scrutiny of our work, including from the Scrutiny Management Committee and from individual members of the States. That scrutiny makes for better decisions and better outcomes for Guernsey and we will continue to engage with it constructively.
My priority remains exactly the same as it was on the day I was elected President: working with my Committee colleagues, our officers and our stakeholders to build a stronger, more resilient and more prosperous economy for the people of Guernsey.
I wish Deputy Camp well in her continuing roles on Scrutiny, the Legislation Review Panel, and EDDIAC.
Deputy Humphrey’s response in full:
I am disappointed to read Deputy Camp’s statement today. I will miss her and the robust challenge that she brings to the Economic Development Committee, where I have felt we have worked proactively to work to grow the Islands economy in as many ways as we have been able to over the past year.
I am also sorry that Deputy Camp has felt that that she has been slowly marginalised. I do not think that is the case whatsoever, and am genuinely sad to see her go. If I am to be 100 percent honest there have been occasions where I have felt conflict and struggled with it ( I have expressed that to some of you (my colleagues) – but that is as much my issue as it was hers) – but genuinely believed that this had settled down and we were working together as a Committee for the benefit of the Guernsey Economy. We welcomed Deputy Laine – our new member this morning – and I had great hopes for the future of the Committee moving forward.
My experience of the president is that she is hard working and fair with her time and energy. I do not recognise the picture painted of her in Deputy Camp’s email.
I look forward to the rest of the term serving on the Economic Development Committee – and encourage any of you amongst our number to throw your hat into the ring to join our busy little team.
