Guernsey States accounting system to improve

A £1.3m accounts system has been backed by the States of Guernsey to enable it to determine the true cost of services.

Government-owned land, buildings and equipment, valued at more than £2m, have not been factored in when fiscal decisions were taken previously.

However, the four-year project will see new systems introduced to take account of assets and international public sector accounting standards.

Similar systems have been introduced in Jersey, Canada, New Zealand and the UK.

The States' decision to approve a new system came in the wake of findings by the Financial Transformation Programme that there was "an absence of robust and systematic monitoring of financial performance".

The programme, launched in 2010 with the aim of saving £31m over five years, said that this had resulted in a "lack of transparency of the true financial position of the States".

Guernsey's Treasury minister, Deputy Charles Parkinson, claimed the new accounting system would ensure future financial decisions were "meaningful and reliable".

Deputy Parkinson, who is standing down from the States in April, added that it was "the final piece of the jigsaw" to changes that had been made since 2008.

"Solid foundations have been put in place which should enable future assemblies to continue building and improving our overall governance and financial discipline," he said.