Any future decision on whether Alderney reduces the size of its government by a fifth could be put to a public vote.
The island’s States are due to vote this afternoon on amending the current Government Law which sets the size of the government at 10 elected members.
It’s suggested that is reduced to eight.
States Members Alex Snowdon and Kevin Gentle don’t think the government should make the decision though and they will propose an amendment during this afternoon’s meeting which would instead instruct the States to “agree to a full public consultation on the constitutional and procedural reforms proposed”.
The public consultation would include reducing the size of the States of Alderney from 10 to eight members, and it would gauge the public’s opinion on changing the island’s election cycles.
Currently, half of the 10 States Members are elected every two years.
Mr Snowdon and Mr Gentle want the States to agree that the public consultation is carried out before any changes are made, and that a written report is submitted before it is debated in the future.
“Following the various views expressed by the public, we strongly believe that, as elected members of the States of Alderney, we have a responsibility to consult on these items being brought before the States prior to any final approval. This ensures that the public are part of the governance journey,” the pair have said.
Alderney’s Policy and Finance Committee has recommended the changes, which could have wider implications for the States of Guernsey.
Two Alderney States Members sit in the States of Deliberation.
P&F plans to consult the public on how the two Alderney Representatives in Guernsey are elected.
The current plebiscite system was introduced as a trial in 2006 and has continued every two years since then but has never been officially legally implemented.
Alex Snowdon was elected to the States of Alderney in November 2016, and has been one of the island’s representatives in the States of Guernsey since 2020.
He previously told Express that the overall reform proposals for the States of Alderney are “an interesting proposal” but he thinks it could set the island up for some problems in the future if they rush into the changes.
“I think we’ve actually forgotten to look at the way we do governance,” he said.
“Are we sticking with the committee system? Are we restructuring the committees? The proposals feels a bit half baked at the moment, and to be honest, I’m not quite sure that these proposals should have really been checked with the Law Officers and the Privy Council.”
Mr Snowdon currently sits on P&F, the Building and Development Control Committee, and the Economic Development Committee in Alderney, as well as the Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure and the Committee for Home Affairs in Guernsey.
“We recently had a big debate about how the States Members are paid in Alderney and obviously everyone says they work hard and it’s a full time job, so will there be more work for everyone else?
“I think there’s also another knock on effect, because if the Members are working a lot more, and in my personal view, which may not be shared with other Members of the States of Alderney, we are a ‘village’ of an island with 2000 people, and we’ve got to remember that and the States already ‘steps up’, but my concern is that if we keep growing the States Members’ work and there are more committee meetings and more policy meetings and more consultancy, that we’re actually going to need a lot more civil servants, and that’s going to be very expensive.
“We’ve got a very good civil service,” he added, “but I’m concerned that Alderney is becoming ‘big government’, and in my personal opinion, it could and will cost a lot more money that we simply can’t afford.”
Regarding the Alderney Representatives work in Guernsey, Mr Snowdon said he would have concerns if the plebiscite was dropped and the representatives are picked by the States instead of the public.
“I think if it gets picked by the States Members, that becomes more of a popularity contest, which I don’t think is good. I think it’s very important that you have a mandate from the public, and what you feel that you can achieve and put into the States of Guernsey, and get that mandate, which I think is respected down here, when you get actually a vote from the Alderney public to actually take things forward, then you’ve got a mandate to be in this assembly here.”
Mr Snowdon thinks any work to reform government should also be in tandem with the work of the Bailiwick Commission which is progressing.
That is intended to ensure all of the islands of the Bailiwick work together on shared issues more closely than they currently to.