Two Guernsey deputies are demanding the States completely scraps its upcoming tax proposals, and instead have proposed a spending committee to aggressively audit public services and axe failing departments.
In a high-stakes political gamble, Deputy Garry Collins resigned from Employment and Social Security (ESS) earlier this week to spearhead the move, which he and seconder Deputy Haley Camp claim is vital to ensure “every stone is actually turned over before increasing any taxes”.
The duo have submitted an explosive amendment to delete all existing tax propositions and substitute them with a mandate to establish a powerful, independent ‘Appropriations Committee’ by September this year.
Armed with a lean £100,000 budget, the hardline spending watchdog would be ordered to review all public expenditure, identify services to be stopped or outsourced, and review radical tax alternatives – including Deputy Collins’ own ‘Plan G’ blueprint to completely eliminate personal income tax forms.
Political firestorm
Because the strict rules proposed for the committee explicitly forbid its members from sitting on ESS, Deputy Collins chose to walk out on his committee immediately to prove his absolute commitment to the budget-slashing cause.
However, the resignation has already ignited a political firestorm, with Deputy Collins expressing “surprise” that the Bailiff’s office leaked his departure before he even had a chance to notify his ESS colleagues or brief the public on his master plan.
The Deputy also fired a direct warning shot at the P&R, blasting them for banking “aspirational” savings without doing the hard work.
“It’s disappointing to see over the last year the Policy and Resources committee hasn’t done much work on the £20 million in savings, yet banking that in their proposals,” Deputy Collins said.
“If we have no handle on the States expenditure, taxing more is the wrong answer to the wrong question.”
Bureaucrat-free meeting
The move follows a private “meeting of minds” on June 26th where 32 Deputies met away from the civil service to confront the “elephant in the room” – that the States is in danger of trying to do too much as costs spiral.
Under Deputy Collins’ radical ‘Plan G’ alternative, the island would completely discontinue personal tax forms and individual coding notices to wipe out the current 20,000-form backlog and save tens of millions in administration.
The plan would instead implement a universal £400 tax-free weekly allowance, merge income tax and social security into a single employment tax, charge a flat £500 quarterly fee on landlords, and double Tax on Real Property (TRP) over five years to make high-net-worth individuals and large businesses foot the bill.
The amendment faces a critical test in the assembly, with Deputy Collins promising that his spending committee could deliver a fully overhauled, fiscally sustainable model by January 2029.
