Monday 11 March 2019
A forum of senior politicians and officials from Jersey and Guernsey, which was formed last year, met in Jersey on Thursday.
The Channel Island Political Oversight Board was established in June 2018 under the joint chairmanship of both islands' Chief Ministers, to support cooperation between the two islands' public administrations, and to find new partnership opportunities to improve public services and reduce costs to taxpayers.
Jersey's Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, and Guernsey's Chief Minister, Deputy Gavin St Pier, met last week, alongside Chief Executives, Paul Whitfield and Charlie Parker, and senior politicians and officials from both islands.
The meeting considered the islands' preparations for Brexit, cross-Channel Island working on provision of 5G technology, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on criminal justice and policing, and opportunities for joint working on the marine environment.
Jersey's Department of Health and Community Services and Guernsey's Committee for Health & Social Care have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which formalises the islands' agreement to work together on health issues. A Channel Islands Strategic Partnership Board for Health and Care is being established to maximise opportunities to support common aims and ambitions.
The two health authorities are already working together on procurement & resource management, regulation and professional liaison & mutual support. This has involved visits from the Chief Nurses, Medical Directors, safeguarding teams, digital teams, procurement teams, hospital modernisation teams, and public health teams.
Jersey's Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, said:
"We made a commitment last year to work more closely together for the benefit of islanders in both Jersey and Guernsey. Our respective health departments have made excellent progress and are sharing information and building strong working relationships. We have agreed that this approach should be replicated in other areas of public service."
Guernsey's Chief Minister, Deputy Gavin St Pier, said:
"I am pleased we now have a discipline and process around developing our joint working across the whole of government. This will help shift culture and expectations; as will the tracking of the benefits of working together and the adoption of clear targets and objectives. The governments of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man also came together earlier last week to make a robust joint challenge to the proposed amendments to the UK Financial Services Bill This move attempting to legislate for the governments of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man without our consent further demonstrates the value of us working together to engage with the UK government and parliamentarians to defend our constitutional position."
