Rob Moore: Four years that's changed the face of our island

Tomorrow at 8am the polls open and while most eyes will be on who gets into the next States, it's a good time to reflect on the last four years.

We've heard it plenty of times before: 'The worst States ever.'

But has it been?

Well let's be fair, what's obvious even on the face of it, is that the issues facing Guernsey's government today are very different and much more challenging than they were 20 or 30 years ago.

When this government overspends on budgets, loses millions to fraudsters or seemingly wastes it on ill-judged legal disputes, we forget the States of old had their fair share of unnecessary spending and poor decision-making too. The difference is money was rolling into the States coffers much more readily, so there was less of a sting.

Now we have a less favourable tax set-up and an ageing demographic putting much more pressure on the public purse. We've seen a real need for cut-backs.

And that's where things get tricky. Nobody likes cuts, but in times of restraint nobody likes to see too much spending either, be it on individual projects or on the recurring budgets.

Similarly, we've seen this States get caught up in another type of catch-22: public consultations. How frustrating is it to see money spent on off-island consultants for issues that seem perfectly resolvable with cheaper, in-house expertise. At the same time, how annoying is it when bizarre decisions are made with what seems like no consultation at all.

But that sounds like I'm making excuses for this States. I'm not. I'll readily admit, there's plenty they haven't got right.

On the issue of consultations, it clearly isn't a binary choice and shouldn't be treated as though it is. It's not unreasonable for the public to expect sensibly costed, in-house consultations that are genuinely aimed getting our opinions and less focused on covering someone's back.

Admittedly the public don't always engage in that consultation process until the 11th hour, when the decision is all but made. We like to leave it until the last minute before we kick up a stink. But try to engage us more proactively, more creatively, and don't just stick a survey on the government website. That may help get us involved from the outset, and avoid the last minute uprising.

But even that doesn't get to the heart of the public's discontent.

For me there are two things that really stand out. The first are the plain-old mistakes: the £2.6M fraud, the PFOS case, the ward closures, the maternity ward problems. These are all instances where reviews carried out afterwards have highlighted clear failings. It really feels like they just shouldn't have happened.

Secondly, there's the flip-flopping. Some decisions seemed to be revisited and revised in perpetuity. How many different versions of the transport strategy have we seen. When will Island-wide voting finally be resolved. And let's not even get into the future of La Mare De Carteret.

That is a feature we saw in previous States, and I expect will be one we see very early on with the next States when someone decides to revisit 11 plus selection.

But it is frustrating, and it gets us exactly nowhere.

These are undoubtedly difficult decisions. They are divisive, meaning whatever the final outcome, some of the public will be unhappy. But surely it is better to have a strong States that can stick to an unpopular, but rational decision, than a weak States that simply can't make up it's mind.

It's partly the result of the system they work in, consensus government doesn't lend itself to firm, fast decision-making. And for all the changes we will see to the system of government in the next term, the core 'consensus' element remains.

With that in mind, and given the economic and demographic challenges facing the States will only become more severe in the next four years, we may soon be hearing the outgoing assembly described as the 'second worst States ever.'