IT’S hard to see how a proposal which has been at least twenty-five years in the gestation, couldn’t be described as “in the long grass”. Could the grass be any longer? But, that is where moves to set up a public services ombudsperson now appear to lie, until at least after the elections in June.
Ministers reject claims that the grass is that long, pointing to the work done by Deputy Moz Scott, amongst others, to get a budget agreed and bring forward the position which everyone seems to agree with in principle, but disagree with in practice.
The next Assembly will be in a position to build on that body of work, they say, which is undeniably the case. They have little choice, unless of course those elected in June decide to plot a completely different path through the ever-lengthening grass, altogether.
Ironically, to really prove their point, one might also note that has been a similar position after each one of the seven general elections which have been held in Jersey since the Clothier Panel first called for an official ombudsperson, a quarter of a century ago.
Each new administration has been in a position to bring this proposal to reality, building on work done previously – and not one has done it. The obvious – perhaps the only – reason for that is where it falls in their list of ministerial priorities. Important to say, but never important enough to do; one of those proposals which seems to lose its urgency as the voting slip nestles into the ballot box.
Throughout those years, questions over the remit, cost, and value-for-money of that office remain unresolved. As noted before in these pages, no one said this was a simple issue; but in an island which regularly champions the ability of its professional services sector, it is patently not an unreasonable request to find some workable solutions to a difficult question in such a lengthy period of time.
It’s not as if the issue isn’t regularly in the headlines – the current States Complaints Panel, the islanders who bring cases to it, and the Ministers who appear before it all accept that the current system needs to be significantly improved, despite the admirable efforts of all involved. Yet it doesn’t happen.
If the true measure of a community is the way it treats those who have little power, then this really doesn’t augur well.
Ministers may be sensitive to claims the proposal is “in the long grass” – but the actual evidence is hard to deny.
