FOCUS: Have politicians lost their appetite for a debate?

Tuesday 05 November 2024

Four years ago, politicians were so worried that they were spending too much time talking in the States Assembly that they had to impose time limits on speeches – but last year, it seems, we had the opposite issue.

The latest review of the Assembly’s activity has revealed that the amount of time spent in States sittings and the number of propositions debated both hit five-year lows last year.

States Members – whose annual salaries total around £2.8 million of taxpayer money – lodged 105 propositions during 2023, according to the States Assembly Annual Report 2023.

There were also around 168 hours of States sittings in 2023, compared to 250 hours the previous year and 240 hours the year before.

And the total number of meeting days during the year was 33, of which only one was held for ceremonial reasons (Liberation Day).

Pictured: Constable of St Martin, Karen Shenton-Stone, is chair of the Privileges and Procedures Committee.

Constable Karen Shenton-Stone, who chairs the Privileges and Procedures Committee, admitted in the report that there were "fewer matters" debated in the Chamber, but "the amount of time dedicated to oral questions with and without notice was comparable to previous years, demonstrating that Members remained alert to holding Ministers to account".

In his foreword, the Bailiff Sir Timothy Le Cocq said the content of the report reflected the "enormous amount of hard work undertaken by all States Members during 2023 and also those who support them in that work".

Despite these decreases, islanders' engagement with the law-making body increased following an injection of funding throughout 2022 and 2023.

Making change from the backbenches

The annual report found that Scrutiny produced four Review reports across the year, as well as a number of comments on propositions and amendments to various propositions.

It said this work carried out by Members not in the then-Chief Minister Kristina Moore's Council of Ministers "ensured that Government decisions across a range of policy areas were robustly examined and colleagues held accountable for their decisions".

The Reviews covered Income Support Benefit repayments, the new Healthcare Facilities Programme, Work Permit Holder Welfare, and a major review of the Government Plan 2024-2027.

Pictured: The table shows the participation of each States Member.

The list of Members' participation in sittings was revealing, and showed that some deputies contributed less than others.

Throughout 2023, Deputy Rose Binet for example asked zero questions, proposed zero projects for debate, made zero statements, and made zero speeches during debates.

Deputy Sam Mézec – who is now the Housing Minister – was the most active, with 154 questions asked, 10 projects proposed for debate, and 48 speeches made during debates. He also did not miss a single meeting.

Public business

Within the year, the Assembly spent 67% of its meeting time debating propositions as part of 'public business'.

A total of 105 propositions were lodged during the year, and the number of propositions explicitly debated was 91.

Pictured: The number propositions debated under Kristina Moore's government was the lowest in five years.

Among the propositions debated, 10 were draft Laws and 23 were draft Regulations; six related to Government or Ministerial policy; and 35 came from Members acting independently (they had been lodged by an elected Member in their own name).

The time spent on propositions was also at a five-year low with 111 hours in 2023, compared to 190 in 2022 and 345 in 2021.

Engagement

In 2023, engagement increased across all of the States Assembly channels in comparison with 2022.

The number of Facebook engagements increased by 189% from 2022 to 2023, and the number of people visiting the website from social media doubled.

Pictured: Social media engagement increased in 2023 and was higher than years during the pandemic.

A new podcast series on the States Assembly has also seen hundreds of episode downloads.

That rise is mostly due to the huge increases of funding in this area, from £85,000 in 2021 to £297,000 in 2022 and £198,000 in 2023.

Pictured: The total budget for the States Greffe from 2021 to 2023.

The report outlined that a rise in new video content contributed to the increase in engagement, and paid promotion was used to increase the visibility and reach of these videos (the number of people viewing them) which lends the opportunity for new people to see and interact with the content.