THERE is a common – and, in the view of some, rather cynical – adage that the best way to bury a problem is to commission a review… or appoint a new committee.
With the ‘working group’ so often viewed as the natural habitat of the procrastinating politician, it is completely understandable why the Chief Minister appeared reluctant to endorse the idea of a ‘cost of living taskforce’ at last week’s Question Time event.
Yet, as the success of the ‘Time to Win’ strategy and Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce – both rooted in cross-sector and community collaboration – show, the government cannot be the sole architect of the Island’s solutions, nor should it be.
To create meaningful policies that survive their first contact with reality, wisdom from the front line – whether the charity shop floor, care home corridor, or warehouse – must form a central part of the problem-solving process.
Much of that wisdom is to be found in the Island’s charitable sector, which is woven through the fabric of public life.
Recent analysis from the Jersey Community Foundation estimated the economic and social value of health and wellbeing charities alone at £137m in a single year… That’s one way of counting it; another is through the interventions that prevent problems from escalating, the steady support keeping families on track; in essence, the knowledge that comes from actually “doing the do” rather than discussing it.
It is a resource that has, perhaps until more recently, been under-appreciated.
The Chief Minister acknowledged as much last week, admitting that he had realised that government does not consult enough with charities and that there is more to be drawn from that relationship, both in terms of service delivery and expertise.
But making those connections happen can be challenging, as the Health Minister noted this week when he expressed his “great disappointment” at the “poor” response to plans to give professionals a stronger voice in Jersey’s healthcare system through a Health Partnership Board.
At the same time, it is not difficult to see why engagement can be tricky.
Many of Jersey’s most capable and compassionate are already fully occupied, out in the community “doing the do” – running services, supporting families, managing teams, dealing with problems that have a habit arriving all at once.
Then there is the matter of trust – which may have, for some, been broken through past experiences. If experts are to be drawn from their clinics, community halls or offices, they will want guarantees that their contributions carry weight, helping to shape decisions rather than simply being ‘noted’ and set aside.
That puts responsibility on both sides.
To help the Island navigate the choppy waters it is facing now, those with experience should be ready to offer themselves up to row the boat, but they will need to know they have the trust to occasionally help steer it too.
