Monday 30 March 2015
A joint review, that is being undertaken by the Policy Council in Guernsey and the Policy & Finance Committee in Alderney, will look at the effects of the 1948 Agreement between the islands.
The Agreement has been reviewed on several previous occasions most notably in 1995. It is hoped that the review will ascertain not only the overall income and expenditure involved in this relationship, but will also review current financial arrangements and procedures with a view to making recommendations to modernise the relationship to make it fit for purpose in the current socio-economic climate.
In December 2014 the States debated a report from the Policy Council titled "The Airport and Economic Development in Alderney" which sought to address the current inter-linked issues of economic decline and depopulation in Alderney. The States directed the Policy Council to publish an action plan defining the extent of the review no later than March 2015. The Policy Council, in cooperation with the Policy and Finance Committee is now in a position to fulfill this Resolution.
The Deputy Chief Minister, who chairs the Alderney Liaison Group, commented:
"I'm pleased that we've been able to comply with the States Resolution by publishing the broad action plan defining the extent of the current review. However, there is now a great deal of work to do in gathering the necessary primary financial data, much of which has not been available to date as a result of the 1995 States decision to consolidate the Guernsey and Alderney accounts.
The Policy Council and the Alderney Policy & Finance Committee are working jointly on this review, so that we can both report to our respective States within the timeframes set by the original report.
Given the significant challenges facing Alderney at this time, this review has never been more timely or more important."
Neil Harvey, the Chairman of the Policy & Finance Committee in Alderney, said:
"We are delighted that this review is now starting to take shape, so that we may fully explore the financial relationship between the two islands. It is reasonable to hope that the review will identify areas which can be improved upon, to our mutual benefit".
-ENDS-
Further information
The Terms of Reference for the joint review of the financial relations between Guernsey and Alderney is available to download below.
