Head of Home Affairs Deputy Mary Lowe urged to step down

Deputy Mary Lowe is president of the Home Affairs Committee

Guernsey's Policy and Resources Committee (P&R) has called on the head of Home Affairs to resign, following allegations she bullied staff.

Deputy Mary Lowe has so far resisted pressure to step down as a result of a damning report on her committee's governance released on Monday.

Two of Deputy Lowe's fellow committee members resigned last Friday in anticipation of the report's issue.

The only means of removing a head of committee is a vote of no confidence.

In an letter to Deputy Lowe, the members of P&R argued that it was in the "best interests" of the government that she resign and seek a "fresh mandate".

They described her position of accepting the findings of the report, while also dismissing its contents as "unsustainable and incoherent".

In reply, Deputy Lowe declined to step down at the request of P&R, noting that it was the States that was responsible for appointing her.

She also noted that remaining members of Home Affairs rejected many of the criticisms levelled in the report, suggesting that there was a "woeful lack of evidence" to support them.