Sark's top committee survives no-confidence vote

Sark's Policy and Finance committee has survived a vote of no confidence.

Seven conseillers brought the motion that failed after a two-hour debate in Chief Pleas on Wednesday - 10 voted against the motion, five in favour and two abstained.

Policy and Finance Chairman John Guille said the vote "no where near" reflected the depth of support for the committee in the wider community.

He said: "We are looking forward to getting on now with the work that Sark residents want us to do."

Among those who flagged concerns about the direction Policy and Finance was taking the island was Conseiller Chris Kennedy-Barnard, who raised concerns about "fairness, openness and transparency" in the decision-making process.

The island's future taxation plans came under scrutiny by Conseiller Scott Sullivan.

While Conseiller Ben Harris raised concerns about the management of the islands "economy, governance and electricity problem".

He also claimed Sark was "sleeping walking into constitutional changes" with the loan agreement with Guernsey States.

Sark's senior politicians are seeking to secure a £1.5m loan from Guernsey to acquire Sark Electricity and bring it into public ownership.

Guille said it was a priority of islanders to sort out the "safety of electricity" on the island and the committee was looking forward to hear the result of the loan debate in Guernsey to bring that forward.

Guernsey States is set to discuss the loan agreement on Thursday 1 May.

Included in the proposal is a move to approve work to agree terms of reference and the constitution of a commission on the future of the constitutional and working relationships between the two islands.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].