Scrutiny recommends 12 Amendments to Government’s proposed Budget 2026-2029
Comprehensive work by Scrutiny of the proposed Government Budget 2026-29(Government Plan)has been undertaken and resulted in twelve Amendments from Panels.
All five Scrutiny Panels conducted their own reviews into the Government’s revenue and spending proposals for 2026, relevant to their Ministerial remits, with the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel(CSSP) taking the lead in reviewing the overarching elements, particularly in relation to the Chief Minister and Minister for Treasury and Resources.In addition, the CSSP asked the Jersey Youth Assembly for their views on a number of the key issues and these have informed the work of Scrutiny, and prompted an Amendment from the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel (Amendment 31).
The CSSP Report has 56 Key Findings and 21 Recommendations, 12 of which are overarching:
The CSSP recommends:
The Government must strengthen its commitment to prioritise transfers to the Strategic Reserve and the Stabilisation Fund to establish them at the appropriate levels as advised by the Fiscal Policy Panel. This should include returning to the position of the preceding Budget to allocate a portion of the base case Pillar Two revenues to increase the balance in the Stabilisation Fund.
The Council of Ministers (CoM) must strengthen its commitment to address known health system pressures in 2026 to ensure that immediate issues are mitigated while longer-term sustainable solutions are developed. The details to be included in the subsequent Budget.
Should the States approve the establishment of the Jersey Capital Investment Fund in principle, the Proposition brought for States’ debate must include explicit details on its structure and function which include the governance and operational framework.
The main,overarching recommendations from the CSSP, summarised, include:
That the CoM undertake a gap analysis of the Future Jersey Vision ahead of establishing the new Common Strategic Policy, with particular focus given to gaps for Cost of Living, inclusion and environment.
That the CoM should re-establish a central performance management function with responsibility for setting performance standards, coordinating data collection and providing whole-of-government performance analysis.
That a Government-wide performance oversight framework that systematically monitors cross-departmental outcomes should be established.
That the CoM must action the outstanding recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s review of the Jersey Performance Framework from October 2024 and update Scrutiny by Q3 of 2026.
Deputy Helen Miles, Chair of CSSP commented, ‘This Budget has been presented against a backdrop of what is undoubtedly a fragile global economic outlook, and while it is the last of this Government term, it lacks the ambition to face these challenges;exposing the limits of the Council of Minister’s financial strategy with short-term fixes for what are deep-rooted fiscal problems.
‘Reserves remain below the levels advised by the Fiscal Policy Panel and borrowing costs are rising. The proposals to reduce the Social Security Fund grant by £50m to balance the Budget, along with increasing borrowing, shows that the Government is not spending within its means and raises concerns about ongoing expenditure and support for both new and existing services.This is clearly not a sustainable situation and is a risk for Jersey. Perhaps most concerning is the Budget’s failure to tackle the pressures within our health system. Deferring action to future Budgets is not leadership – it is abdication of responsibility.
‘We must strengthen our Strategic Reserve and Stabilisation Fund; and tackle the health system pressures, along with implementing consistent performance management within our Public Sector.As a Panel we hope that our 21 recommendations and 56 key findings will inform this work.’
You can read the full report by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel on our website
Amendments to the Budget from Scrutiny Panels:
Amendment 3: Corporate Services Panel:Public Services Ombudsman – Head of Expenditure.Read more
Amendment 9: Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel: Climate emergency. Read more
Amendment 10: Health and Social Security Panel: Preventative Health. Read more
Amendment 11:Health and Social Security Panel: Overpayments of Social Security Contributions. Read more
Amendment 12:Health and Social Security Panel: Women’s Health Strategy. Read more
Amendment 16: Health and Social Security Panel: Emergency Department fee changes. Read more
Amendment 17: Corporate Services Panel: Office of the Children’s Commissioner for Jersey – 2026 Savings Allocation. Read more
Amendment 18: Corporate Services Panel: Statistics Jersey – Administrative Support Funding. Read more
Amendment 20: Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel: Teaching Jèrriais. Read more
Amendment 23: Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel: Increased Police funding. Read more
Amendment 31: Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel: Empty residential properties. Read more
Amendment 32: Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel:Environment Departmental Funding. Read more
To read the Comments from other Scrutiny Panels in relation to the Budget:
The Economic and International Affairs Panel: Comments
Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel: Comments
Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel:Comments
Health and Social Security Panel: Comments
The debate on the Proposed Budget 2026-2029 is taking place in the States Assembly from Monday 8 December, beginning with Question time at 9.30 am. It is expected to last several days.
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