Blog: One plan to rule them all...

One plan to rule them all...

This is it, the mother of all States debates. The Policy & Resources Plan. Today deputies nestle in for what will be at least four days (but probably more) covering every and any political topic that takes their fancy.

A few of those guaranteed to come up are: taxes & cost-cutting, an airport runway extension, pre-school education and how to sentence offenders of less serious crimes.

We know that because deputies have already lodged specific amendments to deal with those issues, so they'll get their own mini-debate within the wider debate.

But beyond that, deputies are free to raise and row over pretty much anything.

Every committee has submitted it's own list of priorities, both in terms of policy and capital projects (aka stuff it wants to build) meaning everything is fair game, and who knows where this debate will go.

Why do it in this way? Well, the idea is that they come away with a clear plan that ties their funds with the projects that most need doing.

Will it work? I'm still not convinced this will be any different from previous attempts to draft a coordinated government-wide plan. In the past, they've all just faded away as new political challenges arise and as deputies get focused back onto the specific issues they're dealing with day to day.

Furthermore, what we have before us in this debate is a bit incomplete. In terms of setting out government policies as a set of costed priorities, well, that hasn't happened. It's more of a wish-list from each committee, with nothing to separate the genuinely essential from the nice-to-haves.

The President of P&R has admitted this version of the P&R Plan isn't quite as complete as he had intended, and there will have to be a P&R Plan v.2 in the form of the next Budget, out later this year.

But perhaps there is at least a chance this week to direct committees to focus on some key areas, air some complaints, dish out some praise, and perhaps be a little nearer to a sense of direction for Guernsey's government.