Early signs of ‘listening culture’

However, the document that the council has produced is very much a provisional view of what it considers the priorities for action should be.

Although it is supported by a much fuller analysis of the key issues, the concise outline of goals is very much a work in progress. Indeed, it is also an invitation to the general public to offer comments on the broad plan for the future.

This consultation exercise could well be evidence of the ‘listening culture’ that the new executive has promised – though it is of course true that Islanders are often asked for their views on all manner of subjects. The proof of real change will come only if at least some of those views find their expression in new policy.

Meanwhile, some will say that the six priority areas for the next three years are such obvious areas of concern that they might almost have selected themselves. Some might also say that the areas are so general and so vague that they are next to meaningless. Someone, no doubt, will refer to ‘motherhood and apple pie’.

But such blanket dismissal would be unfair. At this early stage in the progression towards detailed policy generality is a necessity. Moreover, the six priorities which have been presented – jobs, population, health and social services, housing, reform of government and public services, and sustainable long-term planning – are manifestly matters which should occupy the minds of our elected representatives.

We shall, inevitably, have to wait for evidence of the new administration’s ability to make a real difference as it receives, deals with and acts on the results of the present consultation exercise, blending these with its own carefully considered formulae for progression into a more prosperous, equitable and satisfactory future.

For the moment, the broad aims will suffice, but as the flesh of policy is applied to the bare bones of strategy, Islanders will want to see more tangible goals emerging.

For example, they will want to know what can be done for hard-pressed ‘middle Jersey’, specific plans for making full sense of public sector economies, and detailed and practical plans for extracting revenue from those companies which make money in Jersey but escape their tax obligations because they are based elsewhere.