The culture within Guernsey’s government often protects institutions instead of the public, according to the President of the island’s Scrutiny Management Committee.
Speaking in the States earlier this week, Deputy Andy Sloan said there was a “political reflex” to “close ranks” in some departments – such as the States Property Unit – which he described as a “cultural issue”.
Deputy Sloan said too often what was “best for an organisation is assumed to be what is best for Guernsey”, rather than what was in the public interest.
The was a “default tendency to restrict information rather than to publish it”, he said.
‘FOI can’t rely just on goodwill’
Deputy Sloan said Scrutiny Management planned to bring in tougher Freedom of Information (FOI) rules, to force civil servants to comply with rulings by the FOI appeals panel.
He said the panel’s rulings had been ignored on “a small but significant number” of occasions, because it lacked the legal power to force people to comply.
Genuine transparency could not “rely on goodwill” alone, he added.
However, Deputy Sloan rejected the idea of bringing in a full FOI law – like the UK and Jersey have – because of costs.
Guernsey has had FOI guidelines since 2013 and introduced the FOI appeals panel at the start of 2022, as part of a series of reforms.
Unlike its larger neighbours, Jersey and the UK, the Guernsey code is voluntary and non‑statutory – meaning that currently public bodies can refuse or ignore FOI requests if they choose to.