Thursday 10 November 2022
The Alderney Liaison Group met yesterday (9th November 2022) to discuss the cooperative working that is already taking place and continuing to grow between Guernsey and Alderney.
The Liaison Group was attended by Deputy Mark Helyar representing the States of Guernsey and Ian Carter from the States of Alderney as well as Steve Roberts and Alex Snowdon as the Alderney Representatives, who are members of both the States of Alderney and the States of Deliberation.
The Alderney Liaison Group (ALG) was established to help manage the relationship between the States of Guernsey and the States of Alderney. It provides a forum to raise issues and concerns and to establish new areas of closer working both within and outside those areas already provided for by the 1948 Agreement. The ALG has evolved further recently, following the establishment of the Public Service Obligation lifeline airlink between Guernsey and Alderney and as part of the Guernsey Government Work Plan under the auspices of a project called "Guernsey and Alderney Working Together".
The ALG yesterday discussed a number of areas of growing cooperation between Guernsey and Alderney, including on human resources, the administrations of pensions, civil service support in key areas, the reciprocal health arrangement between the Bailiwick and the UK, and the implementation of the new model of primary healthcare in Alderney. The ALG concluded that there should be even greater emphasis on cooperation between Guernsey and Alderney, and ideally across the Bailiwick, in core deliverable areas. This would strengthen the Bailiwick's resilience to endure any difficult domestic circumstances and the threats posed by the current geopolitical environment.
Deputy Helyar said:
"It is clear from the discussions we have been having over the past two years that the challenges that the islands face are shared - and that these shared challenges need shared solutions. There are fiscal and economic challenges as well as the growing demand for the delivery of increasingly complex services. The work which has been progressing to find new areas of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of services, not just those covered by the 1948 Agreement, is highlighting the greater benefits that can be delivered by embracing a close working relationship between our two jurisdictions. Resilience can only be achieved by protecting the interest of the Bailiwick as a whole."
Mr Carter said:
"There has been very close working that has evolved ever since the Bailiwick response to the Covid pandemic and the joint working to review and stabilise primary healthcare provision in Alderney. The States of Alderney is grateful for the large amount of time that politicians and senior officials from the States of Guernsey have provided. That has given unprecedented access to a high quality of support and specialist advice. The discussion at the ALG today has highlighted the need to expand the efforts to work closely together to take a more strategic and long-term view of how Alderney retains its autonomy whilst also benefitting from the resilience that a closer relationship with Guernsey will provide."
