Thursday 31 August 2023
General Update
Madam, Members of the States
The focus of my update to Members, the business community and to the people of Guernsey will be on retail banking and where we see the policy gap and how this Committee is attempting to address the fundamental requirement for business and citizens to access banking services.
Retail Banking
Members will be aware that there has been adeteriorating situation in relation to the provision of credit card servicesto local residents. The intention of the Committee's Banking Sector Review, which commenced in April, is to identify actions to increase the number of domestically licenced banks, to increase the range of new and innovative products for businesses and individuals provided by retail banks in Guernsey, including credit cards, and to address challenges such as:-
- The difficulty for Guernsey residents to obtain credit cards locally;
- Difficulties and/or delays in opening bank accounts for some local financial services businesses; and
- Some retail customers finding the account opening process being unnecessarily lengthy.
The Review will test various issues identified as problems within the sector and will provide recommendations and the Committee will receive the report by the end of the year.
Members, as you will also realise, there is no silver bullet capable of addressing the issue in respect of domestic credit card provision.
However, one of the issues which the Committee is aware of is the inability for Credit Reference Agencies to access Electronic Electoral Roll data as part of their credit scoring processes.
I met with the Registrar-General of Electors and Deputy Prow who, as the President of the Committee for Home Affairs, has political oversight of the Electoral Roll.
In that discussion with the Registrar General, I pressed the need for the credit reference agencies to be able to access electronic Electoral Roll data. Working with Home Affairs, the intention is to mirror the situation in the UK whereby the Credit Reference Agencies can access domestic electoral roll data within an agreed legislative framework.
I am extremely grateful to the Registrar General for engaging in that open dialogue with me and we are expecting the Committee for Home Affairs to bring forward a Policy Letter on the matter in 2024.
The Committee is also looking at how it might facilitate some of the automatic due diligence processes used by third party providers, in respect of domestic businesses, to enable third parties to access some of the data held by the Guernsey Registry.
The timeline for that must be post rollout of the main Registry IT upgrade project and, to manage your expectations, I can't see anyone looking at this until the middle of next year.
Limiting the ability of domestic businesses to open bank accounts and having Credit Reference Agencies unable to access electronic electoral roll data is a material economic risk. Consider this a risk to Guernsey's 'real economy'. It is our duty to address all these issues by the end of this term.
Members, I hope that this portion of the speech gives you confidence that the policy gap is being addressed and it is the Committee's top priority for the remainder of this term.
OPT
One of the thorns in the side of the Committee has been the funding of the Office of Public Trustee. Although extremely grateful for the work conducted by the Office and the Law Officers on the single 'great matter' that it has on its books and which will in due course be brought to a conclusion, this is all being funded by the taxpayer in the interim, which means that they are carrying the risk, and I consider that unacceptable.
This month the Committee will receive a paper on the matter that will set out a short consultation looking at alternative funding models. The Committee willexplore new funding options for the OPT by the end of this political term.
MoneyVal
Members will be aware that the Bailiwick will be subject to an evaluation by MoneyVal next year.
The Committee has agreed a significant investment to upgrade the Guernsey Registry's IT systems and, in July, brought forward a suite of legislative changes to the Company Laws which will ensure that the Island can continue to demonstrate it is meeting its obligations in relation to the forthcoming MoneyVal evaluation.
And for the purposes of Hansard, Sir, on behalf of my Committee I would like to thank officers across the States and the law officers for getting us through the legislative timeline. Outstanding work and my gratitude to all of you.
Guernsey Finance
Members will be aware of the importance of our finance sector in generating economic growth. The Committee is proposing that the States should continue to invest in the promotion of our finance sector by maintaining the increased level of funding for Guernsey Finance from 2024 to 2027. The Government Work Plan includes an additional £3 million in funding over that period, and I sincerely hope that Members will support this investment which will drive our future economic growth.
Enterprise and Digital
The Committee has also continued to support Guernsey's strong commitment to investing in entrepreneurship.
Proposals for a pilot project to trial a Guernsey Enterprise Investment Scheme are well advanced and a request for 2 years of funding for a pilot scheme are included in the Government Work Plan.
The Committee has also supported improvements in the island's digital connectivity and, along with the Policy and Resources Committee, supported the Fibre to the Premises project which will enable 30,000 premises to be connected to the fibre network by 2026. At the end of July, just under 13,000 properties were fibre-ready, with 5,000 connected and using fibre broadband.
Tourism
The tourism season has been going well - with this the first full year uninterrupted by Covid related travel restrictions since 2019. Passenger movements at Guernsey Airport for the year until June are at 82%, and at the harbour are 78%, of their 2019 pre-Covid levels.
June occupancy in visitor accommodation was 81%, compared to 76% in June 2019, although the June 2023 occupancy figures include 3% occupancy by long stay residents that would not have been able to occupy visitor accommodation in 2019. Nevertheless, 81% occupancy for June is a really positive sign for the recovery of our tourism sector.
Following the introduction of the French day tripper trial scheme earlier this year, we have welcomed over 1,000 day trip passengers from France.Overall car traffic from France is up 4% on 2019 levels. These are obviously longer staying visitors which is good for the island.
Air and Sea Connectivity
The Committee recognises the importance of air and sea connectivity in enabling both leisure and business visitors to travel to the island.
The Committee is actively engaged with the key carriers and is currently discussing a route development opportunity for a new air route to Paris. The funding to support this is identified within the Government Work Plan and I hope that members will support this new initiative that will enable us to market the island to French visitors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I hope that Members will support the Committee's ambitious agenda for the rest of this term in the forthcoming Government Work plan debate, including additional investment in skills, enterprise, and the promotion of the finance sector.
Members, that concludes my fifth update and I look forward to questions from members.