Rob C

The British Crown Dependency of Guernsey has just passed a law that allows the police to reject any complaint they wish without investigating it.

Despite the froth over @Govgg’s GST-lite shenanigans, might I ask all deputies and policy officers to ponder this from @oldfarmhorace? It gets to the heart of the underlying, unaddressed issue - what’s the right size of government we need and can afford?

Still waiting for a reponse from P&R on this. However, it now looks like I won’t receive one as a swathe of changes appear to be coming from the top Committee. Save for a select few, most of us (Deputies) found out about them from the media! So nice of P&R to keep us informed - and to give us a whole 6 weeks to go through its proposals before we’re supposed to vote on them come July.

@DavidPiesing63 @GuyPlummer34449 The problem is it’s by no means clear - from @drandy_sloan comment earlier - that the GST+ package will net that much

If so, this P&R which I shall now call GSP- …. deserves much credit for relooking at GST+

Ok since all my emails last weekend were leaked, I thought I’d cut out the middleman and post my email to Deputy Niles this afternoon explaining why I cannot support the plus of the GST+ package and that it needs to change.

Deputy Andrew Niles has been elected to Policy & Resources. P&R’s pick to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of Deputy Gavin St Pier, he polled 23 votes in the States today. Deputy St Pier received 11 votes and Deputy Haley Camp, 5. There was one spoilt paper.

@alasdair_milroy @GuyPlummer34449 I only asked because I (wrongly) thought Guy had asked elsewhere. It’s just another piece of the puzzle I wonder whether P&R has considered.

@RobCurg @GuyPlummer34449 It’s a good sound bite to target the foreign workers. In reality it’s small compared to benefits

🇬🇬 GUERNSEY moves to tax ALL income via social security contributions, upping the real rate of tax from a flat rate of 20% to 28.5%. This change, including many others, included in the ‘GST+ package’ will be laid before the States of Guernsey later this year. I will not be supporting any of the changes we’ve seen so far. mcusercontent.com/bf3776348fb4bf…

Now this is pretty incredible! Your mind Tricks you!

@jjh I have asked for further information and an easily understood explanation of ALL changes because, as things stand, everyone seems confused (including Deputies).

@RobCurg Social wasn’t included in the tax caps afaik so this would also demolish the tax cap?

@NigelStaples The SoG really does seem to like squeezing the self-employed.

@RobCurg Oh wow, a reduction from my self-employed rate of 31%, I’m supporting it 😆

@GuyPlummer34449 @alasdair_milroy What about the rent subsidies for off-island essential workers (paid for by the taxpayer)? I presume, if GST+ was to be successfully introduced, the cost of subsidising non-locals will increase too?

@RobCurg @alasdair_milroy The P&R line is essentially for private tenants to take one for the team

@GuyPlummer34449 @alasdair_milroy Guy, did I see somewhere else you asked whether P&R had considered the effect of GST+ on rental/relocation sub. costs?

@alasdair_milroy @RobCurg And landlords will get a further tickle with GST inflation

GST Plus is a comprehensive tax reform package which, in addition to GST, includes increases to social security contributions. As part of the changes, GST+ introduces Social Security contributions on savings interest for working age people, increasing the sensitivity of our tax base to fluctuations in interest rates.

@RobCurg What possible relevance is interest rates to GST? Where’s the correlation?

Dear Deputy de Sausmarez, OPEN LETTER I recently read the following quote, which was attributed to you: "GST at 5% including food, with a tax and benefits cushion for the less well off, is the biggest revenue earner, at £50M, far more than any corporate tax options, which would raise around £3M." I write to ask whether you would be willing to confirm, for the benefit of both Members and the public, something we touched on in our previous email correspondence — namely that the £50m figure cited represents the net revenue from all tax changes (including already-planned increases in social security contributions) when compared to a baseline, and does not represent the net fiscal effect of the GST+ package alone. I previously shared workings which suggested that the actual net position from introducing GST — once second-order costs were taken into account, and tax increases capable of being implemented independently of GST were set aside — was somewhere between £0m and £11m, rather than £50m. It also became apparent through our subsequent correspondence that the States of Guernsey holds data showing the true revenue and cost impacts of GST with considerably greater clarity than the figures which have so far been made publicly available. In the interests of transparency, I would therefore be grateful if Policy & Resources could provide a clear breakdown including: 1. Projected income, broken down by head of revenue — for example, GST receipts, ISE, social security contribution reform, and already-planned social security increases; 2. Projected direct costs — for example, the cost of mitigation measures and the staffing required to administer and collect GST; 3. Projected indirect costs — for example, corresponding uplifts in civil servant pay, pensions, and likely increases in States of Guernsey pay awards following introduction; 4. Interest rate sensitivity — indicating the impact on the above at 3%, 5%, and 7% interest rates respectively; 5. Median earnings sensitivity — indicating the impact at a 10% decline, stable, and 10% increase in median earnings respectively; 6. Labour market sensitivity — indicating the impact at a 10% decline in participation from unemployment, stable, and a 10% increase respectively; and 7. Provision for doubtful accounts — for example, bad debt arising from GST+ where local small and medium-sized businesses are unable to meet liabilities. I raise this because I am concerned that the £50m figure, as currently presented, may lead readers to conclude that GST+ will bring in or net £50m in new revenue. If the more detailed workings suggest the true net contribution of a goods and services tax may be £10m or less, it would seem important - and only fair to the public - for that to be clearly understood. Making the full figures and workings available in a complete, accessible format would better support the public discourse and enable islanders to assess the impacts of the various elements of the package on the basis of accurate and up-to-date information. Thank you for your consideration. With kind regards. Sincerely, Rob Curgenven People’s Deputy - States of Guernsey Member, Committee for Education, Sport & Culture Vice Chair, Legislative Review Panel *Sent 14 May 2026

@richarddigard @CherlyGsy @pvbsc1 @flick2leg @GuyPlummer34449 I’m on it!

@CherlyGsy @pvbsc1 @flick2leg @GuyPlummer34449 Yes indeed. This was the state of play when they were forced (2022 I think) to disclose their "lean, mean" organisation structure. Will any deputy ask for a fresh disclosure in 2026 now we're allegedly trying to save money?

A good synopsis @richarddigard @flick2leg @GuyPlummer34449

So whilst the #GST+ document remains unverified in its full particularity.. I will call it Schrödinger’s document. On inspection, it is both Not a serious piece of work… and (with its lack of protection for tenants ) a right piece of work

@aindrereeceshee Just so you and readers are aware, civil servants under home affairs appear to be collecting personal data from X from their personal devices (see attached, which was disclosed to me via a subject access request from the committee’s civil servants).

@RobCurg Sent my request in, to receive a response like an A4 letter in length and I have to prove who I am. It will be interesting to see how a non states member of the public gets on with this Rob

🇬🇬 President of Home Affairs reponse to the processing, sharing and retention of your data (no, it’s not a parody).

This is new. It seems that the committee for home affairs is suddenly requesting copies of passports, which as far as I’m aware was not required before the committee was found to have been collecting and processing social media activity (personal data) of elected members and members of the public.

The President of Home Affairs claims, and I’m not making this up, that members of the public spent hundreds of hours of their own time collating information about… members of the public and me… and sent them to Home Affairs civil servants… and members of the public also took the time to process these hundreds of pages of social media activity, record them, date and file them, and even give their thoughts on the activity, and also sent that into home affairs (one of the hundreds of pages attached). And members of the public have kindly been sending these into home affairs civil servants, who for no reason at all have retained all this data… but never processed it or shared it with third parties or elected members who sit on the committee… and President and his committee had no idea, at all, that this was going on. Despite, erm, the evidence which proves this to be false. And we wonder why nothing changes and why the public don’t trust us?

So many Q’s What has been the growth/FTE/cost in the last 5 years in this activity How many dossiers on local residents created? What is the basis and control of such dossier creation? Is any of this surveillance done on a WFH basis? #Guernsey