Monday 9 April 2018

Alan Maclean: The Schizoid Man











A Sound Economy

Back in January, when he was still thinking on whether to stand, we were told the economy was in fairly good shape despite the economic downgrade of Jersey and Brexit. And behold, lots more funding would be available – at any rate in the short term of a few years – for improving the grants to students going to University on a massive scale.

It looked very much to outsiders like a pre-election gambit to secure votes. Why suddenly wait until this point? But then at that point, elections were starting to loom, and he would not be the first or last Treasury Minister in Jersey or elsewhere to use his powers in this way. There is nothing illegal about it, even if the timing suggests what is effectively a means of bribing the electorate by putting extra money into the hands of voting parents (or reducing costs, which is the same thing).

As I say, Treasury Ministers have done that in the past, and the timing is usually the clue. It is a means of persuading the electorate by economic incentives, and the electorate usually come out of it well.

Mixed News

Early March came, and the story was changing somewhat. The JEP said:

“THE States are still on target to balance the books by 2019 but extra income will be needed to pay for ‘recurring’ spending recently approved by the States, the Treasury Minister has warned”

March also saw this news about proposals regarding extra funds for University grants:

“HIGHER-education funding proposals put forward by the Treasury Minister should be considered an ‘interim measure’ until long-term funding is in place, a Scrutiny panel has said.”

There was a note of caution but that was all.

“He added that he was concerned that recent votes in the States had generated extra costs, which would require additional revenue to eventually be generated.”

Doomed, Captain Mainwaring! We are all Doomed!

That was of course before he decided not to stand later in March.  But once he has decided, we suddenly get dire warnings not apparent before:

“THE next Treasury Minister will need to find more than £25 million of funding and raise taxes to cover additional costs during the next States term, the current minister has warned”

“Senator Alan Maclean said that £11 million of extra spending approved by the Assembly this term, such as the States paying rates and reinstating additional income support for single parents, would leave his successor needing to raise taxes following May’s general election”

And in April:

“Treasury Minister Alan Maclean, having decided to stand down at the forthcoming election, told the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel that whoever followed him would have to find £11 million in a hurry and £25 million in all to cover additional committed expenditure during the next States term. So, we’ve eaten the lunch, but can’t pay the bill.”

Maclean's Legacy

And yet he still wishes to go ahead with the proposals for the students, even if these can only be funded in the short term.

“The States are due to debate whether to back Senator Alan Maclean’s scheme on Monday 9 April in what will be the final sitting before the election. However, while funding has been found to cover the scheme until 2020, no mechanism has been identified beyond that to pay for the proposals.”

It makes no sense whatsoever. Whatever the merits of the scheme, if the States are so strapped for cash that they need to raise extra taxes, either income tax or by stealth mechanisms, why add to the problem?

Now it can no longer be seen as an attempt to induce the electorate to vote for him, why do it?

Perhaps the answer can be seen in a JEP columnist who commented about the Senator:

“He has overseen or been involved with various spending reviews and is also known as the minister who authorised the controversial £200,000 grant for the ‘Knights of Impossingworth’ film that has never been made and was involved in the set up of the failed Jersey Innovation Fund – both of which he maintains were good ideas that were poorly executed.”

If there is one word which sums up how politicians in the modern era like to leave office, it is the word “legacy”. This proposed change to student grants is only short term, no mechanism has been found for extra funding, and it will only add to the long term tax burden that the Minister has himself identified. But I suspect he wants to leave politics with a more positive legacy than that described in the JEP article above.

The Quango Hunter

Interesting, the statement to the JEP also says:

“I also intend to develop and manage my investment and business interests, will seek some varied non-executive [advisory] director roles.”

Does that mean he will turn up on a States Quango sometime soon?

States members had a rather bad habit of ending political careers by taking a stint as non-executive (and paid) Chairman of the States of Jersey Development Fund.

After Pierre Horsfall and Gerard Voisin had both had a stint, the States persuaded Terry Le Sueur that this “jobs for mates” approach was no longer a good thing.

But it has not stopped other Quangos having ex-politicians on their board as paid non-executives, and former Chief Minister Frank Walker is currently on two. Is it perhaps time to revisit this again?

References


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