
Trust in the States Assembly and Jersey’s Government
The Policy Centre Jersey is delighted to announce its next breakfast discussion meeting, taking place on Tuesday 11 February at 0800. We are particularly pleased that Lord (Gus) O’Donnell, former head of the UK Civil Service will be contributing by video link.
Trust in the States Assembly and Jersey’s Government is low. The lack of trust is not a new phenomenon; it has been consistently recorded since 2013. However, the position in Jersey is little different from that in other jurisdictions. Politicians throughout the world are not trusted, unlike for example nurses and scientists.
There are some special factors in Jersey, reflected in the very low turnout in elections.
The Centre’s Senior Adviser Mark Boleat has published a Think Piece on increasing trust in Jersey’s political system. Applying principles developed by the OECD, he suggests trust in the political system can be increased by –
- Improving the consultation process.
- Requiring policy proposals to have impact assessments.
- Reducing the piecemeal approach to policy formulation.
- Publishing Government reports on the Government website in an easily accessible way.
- Publishing comprehensive data, particularly in respect of social security, housing, health and education.