Tom Rylatt
2025 Guernsey election candidate

THE ECONOMY

I support the manifesto: 'Our Plan for Guernsey: 2025-29 And Beyond'.

A STRONG ECONOMY FOR ALL ISLANDERS

Sustained and sustainable economic growth enjoyed by the whole community is essential for our collective prosperity and wellbeing. Our vision is for a high-performing, resilient, and adaptable economy where every islander has a chance to reach their potential. Crucial to this, is ambition informed by a clear plan. We want Guernsey’s economy to grow faster than Jersey’s or the UK’s. We recognise the importance of Guernsey’s vibrant private sector and support improving government efficiency to enable the delivery of high-quality public services and investment in ambitious initiatives. We support efforts to improve our economy in four key ways: bolstering the productivity of our workforce, making the most of our land, accelerating investment, and supporting entrepreneurs. Key policies we support:

  1. Accelerating the completion of an offshore wind farm, that will generate new revenues, improve energy security, create high paying jobs and deliver cheaper energy.

  2. Investing to ensure reliable and affordable connectivity to Jersey and the UK.

  3. Allowing for private investment and expertise in public infrastructure projects, such as the Guernsey Development Agency for the east coast, to deliver these projects faster and more cost-effectively.

  4. Improving early-years assistance for parents and resources for other working carers.

STRENGTHENING OUR WORKFORCE

We support efforts to maintain full employment in Guernsey whilst improving the productivity of our workforce. To ensure every islander has the opportunity to earn a decent living in a way that suits them, there must be quality jobs in a range of sectors. We support:

  • Incentivising islanders returning to Guernsey to work in public services with a ‘Welcome Home’ relocation package equal to that for non-locals.

  • Prioritising those new residents who can contribute to Guernsey’s community and economy.

  • Improving early-years assistance for parents and resources for other working carers.

  • Helping over-50s who want to continue working by creating new opportunities for lifelong learning, and introducing incentives for companies to hire older workers.

  • Incentivising businesses to develop employees’ skills with additional tax deductions. • Unlocking under-utilised skills of some of those who move to the island.

ACCELERATING INVESTMENT

Investment in our island’s future is vital. Government must balance the demands of today with the needs of tomorrow, ensuring costs are shared fairly between the different generations of islanders who benefit from capital investment.

We support:

  • Generating new revenues, improving energy security, creating high-paying jobs and delivering cheaper energy by accelerating the completion of an offshore wind farm.

  • Allowing public infrastructure projects to be delivered faster and more cost-effectively via private investment and expertise, such as the Guernsey Development Agency’s work on the island’s east coast.

  • Creating a public infrastructure bond to lower the cost of capital and give islanders the chance to invest in our island’s future.

  • Increasing Guernsey’s ability to borrow to finance new infrastructure responsibly and fairly.

  • Investing to ensure reliable and affordable connectivity to Jersey and the UK.

  • Defining Aurigny’s role and the impacts of Jersey’s proposed tunnel to France.

MAKING THE MOST OF OUR LAND

As an island it is crucial Guernsey makes the most efficient use of our land for the benefit of our entire community. Alongside our plan for housing, we support:

  • Replacing the States Property Unit with a new publicly-owned company, similar to the Guernsey Housing Association or the Guernsey Development Agency.

  • Ensuring we receive fair value for properties the States no longer need.

  • Improving public spaces to restore pride in our island and foster deeper community ties with people living in those areas.

ENHANCING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Fostering our island’s ‘can do’ entrepreneurial spirit is key to growing our economy and central to our vision for a dynamic, agile island. We support:

  • Publishing a statement of Guernsey’s risk appetite, with growth at its core, by the end of the year.

  • •Ensuring regulators’ mandates are aligned with Guernsey’s risk appetite to support growth.

  • Partnering with business to identify areas where regulation can be streamlined, taking into account the previous work on ‘barriers to business’.