Chief Minister Lyndon Trott was in the hot seat at our most recent Chamber Lunch, sponsored by GR8 recruitment.

Answering questions from Chamber of Commerce board member James Ede Golightly and joined on the panel by Chamber of Commerce President, Stephen Rouxel, Deputy Trott delved into some of the biggest challenges faced by Guernsey’s government over the past four years.  

With just four months left before the 2025 election, one that Deputy Trott has said he will not be running in, the fireside chat was an opportunity to reflect on a governmental term defined by a housing crisis, minimal investment in infrastructure, and the age-old question: is it time for a comprehensive review of the machinery of government?  

Audience members and James pointed to the States’ action, or inaction, on managing the island’s housing stock, and indeed is the net migration of 300 people sufficient? Deputy Trott said the assembly had done everything it could to stimulate the construction of new homes, and that factors including the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, had caused construction material costs to increase sharply. He did add the caveat that ‘government is a facilitator and should not be expected to be a provider of housing but should make it as easy for businesses as possible to build new homes.’ 

For Deputy Trott, investment from the private sector is a key element in getting new homes built quickly, saying ‘the private sector does not have the same constraints that those in politics do, and they need to be playing a more dominant role.’ 

A lack of investment into infrastructure more generally was said to partially be a result of Guernsey’s approach to taxation, another preoccupation of this political term. Of the £500m needed to deliver on necessary repairs and construction of schools, the hospital and housing developments, the current administration only had £150m to spend. 

Deputy Trott was candid in saying the assembly had not contributed anywhere near enough to infrastructure, but that he was confident the next election would bring forward high-calibre candidates to commit the necessary effort to its development. However, to do that, the next administration will need to address significant fiscal imbalance through, you guessed it, tax. Less tax is taken from our economy than any other comparable jurisdiction, according to Deputy Trott, so ‘you either tax through income or through consumption, or you stop providing certain universal offerings [to make up for lost revenue].’  

In a series of yes/no questions put to the panel, Guernsey’s system of government was in focus. Deputy Trott and Stephen agreed that the time had come for a review of the island’s political system, given that all States members perform the function of the executive, making effective scrutiny difficult. Deputy Trott suggested a government consisting of a set of decision makers and a set of people whose job it is to scrutinise would be more suitable.  

For Stephen, Island Wide Voting has made it more challenging to choose the right candidates at election time. ‘From a business perspective, we have lacked decision making in this administration,’ he said. ‘There is difficulty analysing 120 different manifestos come election time, so perhaps we need some form of executive government to point toward policy and accountability for the democratically elected.’ 

  • On the topic of paid parking, it was a straight yes from Stephen and a strong no for Deputy Trott. The audience also voted in favour of paid parking 
  • When asked if the island needed to declare a housing emergency, Stephen said yes, while Deputy Trott said there was no need to declare a housing crisis, as it’s undoubtable that Guernsey has one.  

Even a casual observer will know that this government has faced significant challenges, and this event covered many topics, but the discussion kept circling back to one thing—housing. It’s directly tied to keeping young people in Guernsey, attracting the skilled workforce we need, and unlocking growth across sectors, particularly finance. 

All of the key issues the panel discussed are vital for Guernsey’s future success, and we agree that the business community has a key part to play. But it’s also imperative that politicians and government recognise the role they need to fulfil as, to use Deputy Trott’s phrase, ‘a facilitator’.