What worries you the most about Guernsey?

A question that delves into your feelings about Guernsey

What worries you most about Guernsey and its future?

The poor choice of people standing for deputies at the forthcoming election.

How much more the UK government (HMC&E) will affect the way of life in the Bailiwick!!

unemployment,,,,too many jobs being given to foreign workers
cost of electricity,gas etc
cost of rents,housing and food way too expensive
travel to and from the island too expensive
no island wide voting
in my case not enough respite care for adults

Disconnection between government and the people of Guernsey. The current system of government we have is flawed, it is not effective, it is frustrating for politicians, civil servants, media and we in the community. Meaningful engagement with and communication to the community is paramount for me over the next four years, whoever is elected. Voter apathy speaks for itself, the facts are;- there are 63,000 people in Guernsey : with 47,000 eligible to join the electoral roll : only 30,000 have done so (-10% vs 2008 and -15% vs the target for 2012) : and 17,000 who decided not to : and if only a 55% turn-out on Wednesday as expected then only 16,500 people will use their voice to vote, so only 35% of those eligible and only 26% of total island residents! This is a sad reflection of the level of disconnection and disaffection the people of Guernsey feel towrds their government - somehow we/they have to remedy this problem. Government must restore the confidence and respect the electorate and wider community have for their elected representatives and system of government. If we don't get this right I believe we will continue to be distracted by insular structural issues rather than driving economic success, reviewing our tax system fit fir purpose, eradicating waste in our £330pa public expenditure budget and dealing with the critical issue of inequality in terms of our lower income earners (retired, dependants, benefit recipients, low earners) being further marginalised in terms of a reasonable basic level of affordability.

Thistle wrote:unemployment,,,,too many jobs being given to foreign workers
cost of electricity,gas etc
cost of rents,housing and food way too expensive
travel to and from the island too expensive
no island wide voting
in my case not enough respite care for adults

I often wonder why you stay in Guernsey. If you hate the place so much I suggest you go back to your beloved Scotland.

Come on guys - not wishing to sound to pink and fluffy - Guernsey is a fabulous place to live!!

What has gone wrong is too much comfort, complacency and affluence for not all but many of our poplulation.

When things do go wrong across our public sector, Guernsey has a bad habit of throwing money at problems. Consultants and more and more staff - not the real world.

We have a great health care system envied by many countries around the world - I would however like to see greater financial support for the lower paid.

We live in a safe haven, except the few bringe drinking louts who spoil our otherwise pleasant town centre on Friday and Saturday nights. Otherwise its a delight to walk down the High Street without the threat of pickpockets and theives roaming in places like Oxford Street and other big cities areas around the UK.

Our education system was also the envy of many but our eye has been taken off the ball - lack of accountability being the reason - lack of robust annual performance reviews with clearly defind objectives for service improvement.

During some of the hustings the Civil Servants have taken a hammering - we have an unacceptable lack of appraisals in this sector of our public employees.

Despite much criticism of our politicians - fewer than ever have registered on the electoral to use their right to vote. One can be forgiven for assuming most people are indeed content with their lot.

I have travelled the world and would not wish to live anywhere else - despie our few shortcomings - all of which can be addressed with the appropriate politicians and civil servants in the right places.

So can we have a postive day before tomorrows outcome (OK just for 1 day only) !

One can be forgiven for assuming most people are indeed content with their lot.

The ones that I have spoken to say the opposite, they believe that voting is a waste of time because the Island is run by the civil servants, with the Deputies merely there to rubber stamp their ideologies.

Here Here!!!!

Respectfully Spirit & Karma - what evidence to support that statement, and even if it were true, how does that explain people deciding to not register or vote! If its as bad as you both say it is, why not have all 47,000 possible voters register, vote and throw out whoever it is you feel is not managing the civil service correctly? How can ignoring it be the answer, the logic genuinely escapes me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally agree with Sandra's comments. I have been visiting Guernsey for nearly 60 years and of all the places in the World I've been this is the place I would most like to be.

I would have loved to retire here, but the 'Open Market' rules make that impossible for me. ( Even so I still agree with the objective of this policy )

I get so annoyed at the handful of people on this forum who constantly run the place down. Nowhere is perfect, but Guernsey is closer than most.

May I paraphrase President Kennedy famous inauguration quote,

" Ask not what Guernsey can do for you, but what you can do for Guernsey "

kingcolemk wrote:

Thistle wrote:unemployment,,,,too many jobs being given to foreign workers
cost of electricity,gas etc
cost of rents,housing and food way too expensive
travel to and from the island too expensive
no island wide voting
in my case not enough respite care for adults

I often wonder why you stay in Guernsey. If you hate the place so much I suggest you go back to your beloved Scotland.

i stay in guernsey because i have been here for 40 years and it is my home...have never ever said i hated guernsey kingcole. this coming from a man who only comes on holiday to the island and has never ever lived here...maybe u should consider our cost of living is much more than urs is..u can get special deals on condor not available to islanders...rents and utilities are much more expensive than urs but even with all that i choose to live here because i love it and i can .

Paul Luxon wrote:Respectfully Spirit & Karma - what evidence to support that statement, and even if it were true, how does that explain people deciding to not register or vote! If its as bad as you both say it is, why not have all 47,000 possible voters register, vote and throw out whoever it is you feel is not managing the civil service correctly? How can ignoring it be the answer, the logic genuinely escapes me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I no longer live in Guernsey even though I am a Guern through and through - because it became impossible for me to afford to live there - but when I did (until last year) I always used my vote.....I am 70 and have seen things change to an extent that has become intolerable.....the civil servants still enjoy retirement at 60 years of age when the rest of the population has to work until 67 and when they retire they have an index linked pension (paid for out of taxes paid by the people struggling for survival ), unlike the rest of the working population who have to to watch their £sd diminish as inflation makes things like bread and milk become increasingly out of reach! They makes decisions that are not even put to the electorate for consideration....the Law Lords reign and it is impossible to get around that .... this is just for starters Paul! Had I stayed I said I would never vote again, because Island wide voting has not been sanctioned which means you have people in your parish you do not wish to vote for, but people in other parishes you do (but cannot|)....so it makes no difference, your vote does not count!!!! the Civil Service is now and always has been too powerful and overstaffed and IMO the elected States members are only puppets doing their bidding!!!!

Well that is all very sad indeed. And of course we should respect your opinions even if we do not argee with all of them or any of them. Just one thought on IWV, can you name one 'good' candidate that did not get elected over the last three elections who would have done if IWV was in place?

No, but I can name quite a few who would not have got in if IWV had been in place....but we will never know will we......also who are the 'we' that should respect my opinions? even if 'we' do not agree with them...just a thought....and another thought......you are not by any chance a Civil Servant.....are you?????
because it sounds like my comments have been taken personally!!!!

Having worked in the public sector for 36 years, as a nurse, I would agree there is great scope for trimming the fat. One fact I can impart is the number of nurses running wards have not doubled or tripled unlike many of the support services which have exploded in numbers during that period.

I have always been at a loss to understand why we need at least 3 HR departments across the public service, Policy Council HR, HSSD HR, Education HR (and who knows how many others), all with highly paid Civil Servants at the helm.

We have a Public Sector workforce of around 4500 WTE's, which is considerably smaller than many large hospitals in the UK. In these times of austerity and cost savings - not sure how we can continue to justify the continued existence of these departments functioning as stand alone entitites.

Belinda Crowe recently submitted a report last week recommending we consolidate 3 current States Committees i.e. Scrutiny, Legislature and Public Accounts. Why do we need outside consutants to come in to make these sensible recommendations.

Having said all that I still stand by my earlier posting - would not wish to live anywhere else because these shortcomings can and must be addressed.

I am fully supportive of IWV but can someone tell me how we can effectivlely introduce it without it becoming a pigs ear

I am not taking out a subscription for the 'Throat Slitting Academy' yet! I'm too content for that

Did you ever stand for election to the States Karma ?

No KC cant say I did - but I was a Civil Servant - until I realised the error of my ways

Thistle wrote:

kingcolemk wrote:

Thistle wrote:unemployment,,,,too many jobs being given to foreign workers
cost of electricity,gas etc
cost of rents,housing and food way too expensive
travel to and from the island too expensive
no island wide voting
in my case not enough respite care for adults

I often wonder why you stay in Guernsey. If you hate the place so much I suggest you go back to your beloved Scotland.

i stay in guernsey because i have been here for 40 years and it is my home...have never ever said i hated guernsey kingcole. this coming from a man who only comes on holiday to the island and has never ever lived here...maybe u should consider our cost of living is much more than urs is..u can get special deals on condor not available to islanders...rents and utilities are much more expensive than urs but even with all that i choose to live here because i love it and i can .

Firstly I do not agree that your cost of living is higher that our's, bearing in mind that your wages and saleries are more than our's and you various tax liabilties total less than our's.

Secondly, can you not understand that State subsidy of boat and air fares for incoming passengers is benificial to the Island economy.

Thirdly if you choose to live there and say you love the place why do you always moan about every little thing that does not suit you personally.

You say you have never said you hate the place, but you are giving a very good impression of someone who does.

Paul Luxon wrote:Respectfully Spirit & Karma - what evidence to support that statement, and even if it were true, how does that explain people deciding to not register or vote! If its as bad as you both say it is, why not have all 47,000 possible voters register, vote and throw out whoever it is you feel is not managing the civil service correctly? How can ignoring it be the answer, the logic genuinely escapes me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My evidence comes from talking to people who have not registered to vote, what better evidence could I have?

Throw out the Civil Service managers! Pull the other one. The Pope is more likely to lose his job. If you want evidence of that statement, look at Derek Neale.

Hi Karma - bit confused, I am one of the Candidates standing in the elections and was asked by your Administrator to contribute to questions raised by Vue des Isles users, which I was and am happy to do. So, no I am not a civil servant and haven't taken anything personally - when I said 'we' I meant 'one', apologies for confusing you. Back to your core point, who are the 'quite a few' who would not have got in if IWV had been in place?