A LACK of control over funds to progress a project on Jersey’s identity is “frustrating”, the International Development Minister has admitted.
Deputy Carolyn Labey said that while she had been instrumental in undertaking a consultation on Island identity three years ago, it was other departments that held the budgets to implement any of its recommendations.
“I have had meetings post the new government forming with the new ministers, so I keep on speaking to [them] and setting out the recommendations, but it’s down to them to allocate the budget, and the resources and manpower to pursue them,” she told the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel, agreeing with panel member Deputy Geoff Southern that the situation was “frustrating”.
In May 2021 the government published the results of its consultation on “what makes Jersey special and why it matters”, culminating in the publication of what Deputy Labey described as “50 streamlined recommendations”. A dedicated website, islandidentity.je, sets out the results of the Island Identity Policy Development Board’s work, publishing both a summary and the full text of its report with a selection of resources.
Deputy Labey said that her work with Jersey Overseas Aid gave scope for exchanges of artists-in-residence between Jersey and countries benefiting from aid. “There were,” she said, “lots of things I’d like to see [ministers] pursue,” adding that she had recently met Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel to discuss the board’s recommendations.
Panel chair Deputy Montfort Tadier – who in 2019 secured States’ agreement to link cultural funding with 1% of the overall government budget – declared his own interest in the subject, and said it was one to which his panel could return, since the economy also came under its purview.
“I’m sure that Members want to make sure that all ministers are pulling in the same direction and maximising the synergies that could be available,” he said.
