IT’S about this time in the four-year electoral cycle that a distinctly ‘twin-track’ States Assembly begins to emerge. Not in the sense of the conventional left/right political dichotomy which is never as clearcut in Jersey as it is in the UK, or elsewhere. But in terms of time.
Specifically, now is the time for a whole raft of new proposals to be put forward – 33 have been lodged in the last two weeks alone – some of those very thinly veiled attempts to gain exposure before the June elections. If there is no reason at all why one of those proposals couldn’t have been published before – and nearly all politicians have had four years to do it – then readers might come to their own conclusions about their true purpose.
So, on the one hand, an unseemly rush for political airtime, in the few sittings which now remain of this administration.
What of the other track? That belongs to the major decisions which we all know are coming, and which really need to be made – but they will have to wait, at least until the successful candidates have slipped for the first time into their red leather seats in the summer, and probably some months more.
They should be under no illusion what lies in store, reminders have been plentiful, and cynics might suggest that the ‘to do tomorrow’ list has received rather more additions than the ‘to do today’ list, for some time now.
We were reminded of one more this week, with the publication of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s critical report on the rapidly dwindling state of the Health Insurance Fund, which supports GP visits and prescriptions. The Government’s response was to acknowledge the issue, and to add they are already working on it, accepting that, “…action is needed to address long‑term pressures on health funding caused by increased treatments and enhanced support with health care costs…This includes consideration of reform of the Health Insurance Fund as part of a whole health care system approach…”
The fact that taxpayers’ money has quite obviously been spent, and a lot of it, with no clear idea where its going to come from in the long-term, is one obvious point. Both the action, and the attitude, are unsustainable.
The other point is that, in case we were in any doubt, wide-reaching reforms on how we pay for our healthcare are quite clearly on the way – the current Health Minister has made no secret at all of the need for change.
But in the short-term, the apparently urgent has replaced the important.
