The Weekly Briefing from The Quarry

Dig Deeper

• The Fulham Boys School implemented a comprehensive smartphone ban in September 2024, prohibiting devices on site and during travel for all students under 16, with confiscation lasting six school weeks.
• Headmaster David Smith defended the strict policy citing moral duty, noting students dealt with eating disorders, self-harm, gang activity, and exposure to violent pornography through phone use.
• A pre-ban survey revealed 56% of students got smartphones at age 9-10, with 42% receiving nearly 50 daily notifications and over 15% receiving more than 200 notifications daily.
• The policy resulted in 80% of year seven students not having smartphones, with parents of younger children expressing the most gratitude for the decision removing pressure from family negotiations.
• Smith urged Guernsey schools to adopt similar policies regardless of context, arguing that smartphone harm affects all children equally and that schools should lead rather than wait for government action.

• Data protection expert Emma Martins warns that harmful online content actively targets children based on their profiles, with boys shown violent sexual content and girls exposed to material on dieting and self-harm.
• Martins highlights widespread problems including children's declining mental health, addiction to social media, AI-generated inappropriate content, and the use of children's voices and images without consent.
• Current approaches are fragmented, with broken messaging, legislation, business models and politics around digital safety, though no single solution will fix everything.
• Tech companies have shifted responsibility onto parents while designing products with algorithms—93% of Instagram content now comes from sources other than family and friends.
• The expert calls for collective action from government, media, parents and citizens to prioritize child safety, comparing it to aviation where safety is built into design rather than added as an afterthought.

In other news...

• Ross Le Brun won the 2026 Guernsey by-election spending just £35.68, the lowest among candidates
• The by-election cost £50,950.79 to run, well under the approved £75,000 budget and far below initial £200,000 estimates
• Julie-Anne Headington was the biggest spender at £2,488.48 but finished third with 634 votes compared to Le Brun's 953
• Turnout was just 17.3% with 4,643 ballots cast, a stark contrast to the 72% turnout in the June 2025 General Election
• The data reinforces a trend from the 2025 General Election showing high spending doesn't guarantee electoral success in Guernsey

• Deputy Jennifer Strachan has called for Guernsey to establish a sovereign wealth fund to better manage financial assets and support local economic development
• Policy changes in 2022 reduced allocation to local fund managers from up to 20% to a minimum of 10%, cutting annual fee income to the local industry by approximately £1.15 million
• The deputy argues a sovereign wealth fund would provide increased clarity, improve risk-adjusted returns and significantly boost Guernsey's international financial credibility
• Investment performance has underperformed benchmarks by 5-6% cumulatively between 2023-2025, representing losses exceeding £200 million
• Deputy Strachan has asked Policy and Resources to commit to reviewing the asset management structure within six months, including higher allocations to local fund managers

• Guernsey Recycling Group seeks planning permission for a five-metre steel fence at its Bulwer Avenue scrap metal facility
• The replacement fence is needed after damage to the existing 3.7-metre structure allowed metal to escape onto Guernsey Water land
• The new fence will comprise chequered steel plating to three metres, topped with two metres of steel mesh along a 32.5-metre boundary
• Both Guernsey Water and environmental regulators have confirmed their support for the proposed development
• The facility is one of six licensed waste processing sites operated by Guernsey Recycling Group across the island

• Committee for Health and Social Care refuses to publish options appraisal on providing dialysis services in Alderney
• Document described as high-level options appraisal rather than formal feasibility study, withheld under freedom of information exemption for internal policy advice
• Decision follows freedom of information request submitted in May 2026 seeking access to feasibility work
• Committee cites patient safety, clinical support and practical challenges of delivering specialist service in small, remote setting
• Position on dialysis provision in Alderney remains unchanged from responses given to parliamentary questions in October 2025

• Active travel at Guernsey and Alderney primary schools remained stable at 51%, with cycling increasing from 9% to 11% over the past year
• Secondary school active travel decreased slightly from 38% to 36%, though morning journeys rose from 34% to 35%
• Schools with walking buses and School Street schemes recorded notable increases, with Vale Primary up 12% and Castel Primary up 5%
• Car journeys to secondary schools dropped from 40% to 38%, suggesting fewer students are being driven directly to school gates
• E-bikes accounted for 24% of secondary school active travel journeys, nearly matching traditional bicycles at 26%

• Les Bourgs Hospice's 30 Bays in 30 Days fundraising challenge returns throughout July 2026
• Three flexible options available: 30 bays, 15 bays, or a family-friendly 9 bays route
• Participants complete 30 strokes at each bay in any order between 1-30 July
• Registration now open with prices from £5 for children to £35 for families
• Community launch swim at Vazon on 1 July at 6.30pm

• Scrutiny Management Committee finds States of Guernsey 2025 accounts technically compliant but insufficiently accessible to Deputies and public
• Committee questions treatment of unrealised investment gains, which are included in £106 million surplus but excluded when discussing £50 million funding gap
• Absence of independent Audit Committee criticised as risk to public confidence in governance framework
• Members found it difficult to identify capital expenditure and reconcile operating surplus with structural funding gap warnings
• Committee recommends plain-English public-facing financial summary including 'Where Your Tax Goes' statement for future accounts

• Repairs have begun on the La Piette combined sewer overflow outfall after it was damaged by severe winter storms
• Granite stones were dislodged, steel covers torn off, and debris caused partial blockages in the pipe
• Contractor Geomarine will remove debris, repair granite protection and reinstall steel covers over several weeks
• Work has been timed to coincide with low tides to give engineers maximum access to the structure
• The outfall acts as a safety valve during heavy rainfall to prevent wastewater backing up into homes and roads

• The second Guernsey Street Art Festival, titled Immersion, will run from 25 June to 5 September with a marine theme curated by artist Daniel Hosego
• Nine artists will create large-scale outdoor murals in St Peter Port's Old Quarter, with the public able to watch the creative process in real time
• A gallery exhibition at Art for Guernsey will showcase works by 15 artists whose practice is rooted in street culture
• Hundreds of children from Art for Guernsey's Summer Holiday Art Club are expected to contribute to the festival alongside local community artists
• The initiative has support from the Tourism Management Board, Social Investment Fund Guernsey and several local businesses, building on last year's successful Diversion festival

This week's audio briefing

The Weekly Briefing from The Quarry

0:00

/0

1×

Guernsey Gazette

An abandoned blue Hyundai at Grandes Rocques carpark will be removed and disposed of if not claimed by early July.

GFSC notices

New AI-generated podcast explores Commission's Annual Report

Commission welcomes Guernsey’s sustainable finance award