ON the first day of Christmas, my Chief Minister said to me: ‘How about a charge, or three?’
On the second day of Christmas, my Chief Minister said to me: ‘Can we please agree the funding model of the hospital; accelerate the process of shifting citizen services online; agree a joined-up population, housing, planning and social security policy; maintain a taxation model that is simple, low and broad; support the key principles of education and training, jobs, economic growth, affordable homes, good health and a secure retirement…
Already on day two, my wish list has got a bit out of hand. And actually, it’s got me reflecting on what I wished for last year – some of it seems a bit familiar. Back then, I predicted that health, education and immigration would all be big issues for the Council of Ministers to focus on.
On health, I may have been so bold as to accuse the States of suffering with analysis paralysis regarding where a new hospital should go. I stated that the greater issue is not where it goes but how it is to be paid for – it was as if I had the gift of foresight! I also raised concerns about who would staff the new hospital, with figures indicating that 72% of all clinical staff were due to retire within five years.
One year on, and, well, at least we know where our new hospital is going to be – all we need now is planning permission…
On education, I actually believe there has been some progress, especially around university fees.
Personally, I would like to see discussions around our new migration policy take into consideration a very sensible comment regarding Highlands made at our debate in September:
‘If policy were to permit Highlands to expand as a ‘South Coast’ University, paired with a permit or migration policy for students with accommodation (a halls of residence), we can make strides to address the ageing population by rebalancing the population, fuelling both businesses and the hospitality sector with bright young talent.’
Continuing on the point of migration, last year I made clear that I was an advocate for ‘relaxation’ rather than ‘constraint’ regarding the free movement of intelligent people. One year on, I see the economy thriving, yet diverse sectors are still struggling to find suitable skilled staff.
At our debate, the Treasury Minister declared ‘we will not pull up the drawbridge’ – I truly hope this is the case. We must remember that to remain prosperous today’s ratio of 60/40 (workers to dependants) must be maintained if public services are to be protected.
With a new ‘crack team’ in place championing transformation within Government and with elections on the horizon, 2018 looks set to be another year of change. Let’s not let this change distract from the real tasks at hand – through our IoD programme of activity, we’ll be holding our authorities to account.
Hopefully, my wish list next year might look a little different. We may have even started the hospital build – wouldn’t that be a great Christmas present for 2018?
