States to consider economic impacts of proposals

Every proposition brought before the States Assembly will have to include a statement outlining its potential economic impact, under government plans.

During a scrutiny hearing, Economic Development Minister Gerald Voisin said his fellow ministers were "aligned" with the idea.

Voisin stressed the "importance of good economic advice" before taking decisions, and told the hearing's panel that work was already under way to formally propose the change.

He said the proposition had already gone to the Policy and Procedures Committee "for them to consider".

Voisin was appearing in front of a quarterly meeting of the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel.

He was asked by Deputy Samantha Gleave about how much persuading he had to do when consulting senior colleagues on economic issues.

A number of ministers sit on the Economic Growth Group, including the chief minister.

Answering, Voisin revealed there were plans to make it a requirement that any proposition brought before the States contained an economic impact assessment.

He said: "We have all supported the idea of having every States proposition be accompanied by a statement of the impact that that decision will have on the economy.

"That has already gone to the Policy and Procedures Committee for them to consider and, hopefully, we will be launching that proposition.

"That was discussed at the economic growth group and everybody was aligned with that".

While Voisin insisted that ministers were in agreement on the policy change, he conceded that they do not always agree on the best way to achieve economic growth.

He said: "It's all very well to agree to a principle of, for example: 'Lets grow the economy,' but very often it's how you're going to achieve it.

"That's where people start to disagree".

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