By Sir Mark Boleat
ON 17 October 2023 the government published its long-awaited Strategy for Sustainable Economic Development and a Delivery Framework for Sustainable Economic Development 2023-2026 as part of the Future Economy Programme. Both documents are attractively presented with pictures, pie charts and graphs.
The section on the economic context is good, noting inconsistent economic growth, declining productivity, falling living standards and the consequences of an ageing population. These trends have been well known for years – and well documented by Statistics Jersey – but it is useful to have them set out in straightforward language in the report.
The strategy sets out a vision:
To be a consistently high performing, environmentally sustainable and technologically advanced small island economy by 2040.
The vision is underpinned by five themes:
lInternational economy – protect our global reputation and diversify our export opportunities.
lFair economy – an economy with growth that benefits all Islanders. Equitably.
lSkilled economy – a culture of lifelong learning supporting the future needs of the island.
lInnovative economy – an economy with a culture of entrepreneurialism and innovation.
lResilient economy – an economy resilient to economic shocks and global trends and agile to change.
It is difficult to argue with the vision or the themes – because they are rather stating the obvious and apply to almost any jurisdiction. Presumably no one supports a poor performing, environmentally unsustainable and technologically backward economy, an unfair and unskilled economy and an economy that is susceptible to shocks.
One would then expect to see a strategy for achieving the vision, given that the document is called a “Strategy”. But there is no strategy.
The two-page executive summary gives no indication of a strategy. Indeed it says as much:
The purpose of this strategy is to present a robust, fact-driven case for change, and to outline a vision that inspires collective action. This Strategy is a long-term document, designed to live past individual political cycles. It presents the high-level economic analysis for this moment in time, to lay the context for change, and it sets the themes for the type of growth we need for the Island.
This accurately sets out what the document is – an analysis of Jersey’s current economic position together with a vision which does no more than state the obvious.
The Delivery Framework is a rather more useful document and at least sets out desired outcomes – but again these are stating the obvious. For example, under the “skilled” heading the desired outcomes are:
lThe education and skills system in Jersey fosters home-grown talent: Islanders have a range of education opportunities, setting them up with the skills needs of the Island labour market.
lAn economy that embraces lifelong learning: Islanders at all stages of their life and career are upskilling and reskilling, taking advantage of new employment opportunities.
lIndustries can attract and retain the talent they need: The labour market is agile to change and attracts the talent needed for new opportunities.
These are far preferable to the alternative – an education and skills system that does not foster home-grown talent, no need for lifelong learning and industries not being able to attract the talent they need. One would expect the strategy on education and skills to include:
lRaising educational standards to match the best-performing English counties, rather than being comparable with England as a whole.
lExpanding further and higher education on the island including building a fit-for-purpose facility to replace Highlands.
lReforming the secondary school structure, which currently has far too much selection at ages 14 and 16.
lIn the words of the excellent New Perspectives report produced by the independent members of the (now defunct?) Economic Council “Linking Jersey’s educational curriculum with its future economic strategy rather than just aligning to the UK education system. We also need to ensure that the way we educate our children is geared to the world of the future and that we now live and work in – recognising that this has changed more than our education system”.
The Delivery Framework is silent on educational standards – which are critical if the vision is to be achieved.
A strategy is typically defined as a general plan or set of plans intended to achieve something. The Strategy for Sustainable Economic Development sets out the objective but clearly is not a strategy. It provides essential information to inform a strategy and would have been better labelled as such. A real strategy is needed identifying the key obstacles to attaining the vision and how they are to be addressed.
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Sir Mark Boleat has held a number of leadership positions in companies, public bodies and charities in Jersey and in the UK. He is Senior Adviser to the Policy Centre Jersey.
