Select a region
Politicians have this week been debating and voting on the Government's £1.3bn budget – with amendments covering a wide range of topics including alcohol duty, Fort Regent, a youth centre, Stamp Duty, charity funding, and even a 'Play Strategy'.
Express has been keeping track of how the debate panned out...
A draft version of the money plan was first published in August, with Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham hailing the '2025 Budget' – rebranded from the ‘Government Plan’ – as a “commitment to building a secure future for Jersey”.
Yesterday’s States sitting began with a proposal from the Council of Ministers that the States Assembly approve their Government Budget 2025-2028, as amended.
In her opening speech, Treasury Minister Elaine Millar described the Budget as a "funded and balanced plan".
Pictured: Treasury Minister Elaine Millar said that the Budget "balances investment with prudence, growth with sustainability and action".
She outlined key priorities, such as tackling the cost-of-living crisis by increasing tax thresholds, supporting local businesses through duty freezes, curbing growth within the public sector, and funding health services.
Deputy Millar concluded: "The 2025 Budget is a robust, forward-looking financial plan that places islanders at the heart of our decision-making.
"It balances investment with prudence, growth with sustainability and action.
"By investing in our island, supporting our community, and preserving our resources, this budget lays the foundation for a resilient and prosperous Jersey.
"Together, we are shaping a future where Jersey remains fair, thriving and responsive to the needs of its people."
There were 29 amendments lodged, ten of which were accepted or partially accepted by the Council of Ministers, and two were withdrawn.
Those that have been accepted by the Council of Ministers are:
Amendment 4: Public Services Ombudsman – The Corporate Services Panel lodged an amendment that asks the Council of Ministers to fully consider consultation results when considering the appropriate way forward in the establishment of a Public Services Ombudsman; and to bring forward proposals for States approval in 2025.
Amendment 5: Apprenticeship funding and support – The Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel lodged an amendment to review the scheme available for apprenticeships and increase the funding and support available.
Amendment 7: Connect Me project funding – Deputy Louise Doublet lodged an amendment to the Government Budget to reduce Cabinet Office funding by £86,215 and to use this to fund the Connect Me project through Customer and Local Services.
Amendment 10: Funding for the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law – The Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel lodged an amendment to allow for funding for the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law to ensure both policy and law drafting resource for this
Those that have been partially accepted by the Council of Ministers are:
Amendment to Amendment 3. Statistics Jersey Funding – The Corporate Services Panel lodged an amendment to the Government Budget, that Statistics Jersey Funding should be increased by £157,000 through the reallocation of other Cabinet Office expenditure. The Council of Ministers then lodged an amendment to the Corporate Services Panel amendment, which would reduce the increase in funding to Statistics Jersey to £78,000.
Amendment to Amendment 9: Pillar 2 allocations – Deputy Hilary Jeune lodged an amendment to the Government Budget that the £15m annual revenue projected to be received as a result of the new Pillar Two Corporate tax changes, which the Government is allocating towards the ‘competitiveness of the Island’, should be focused on funding the delivery of a Sustainable Finance Action Plan and supporting the transition to a net-zero economy. The Council of Ministers then lodged an amendment to amendment 9 which takes out the words ‘funding for’ from Deputy Jeune’s amendment, leaving it to read ‘focused on’ but not ‘funding the' Sustainable Action Plan and supporting the transition to a net-zero economy.
Amendment to Amendment 11: Vehicle emissions duty – The Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel lodged an amendment to increase Vehicle Emissions Duty for non-commercial vehicles with the top three highest CO2 emissions – those above 151 grams - by 10%, 15% and 25%; and increase the transfer of monies from the Consolidated Fund to the Climate Emergency Fund in line with this higher revenue. The Council of Ministers then lodged an amendment to the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel’s amendment, which would see Vehicle Emissions Duty for non-commercial vehicles increasing above those proposed in the Budget, only for those with CO2 emissions above 176 grams, keeping the third highest band at 5%.
Amendments to Amendment 18: Play Strategy – Deputy Inna Gardiner lodged an amendment to make an allocation of £66,000 within the Funding for Public Realm budget to take forward the work to deliver a Play Strategy for Jersey. The Council of Ministers lodged an amendment to this which replaces the allocation of £66,000 from the Public Realm budget to instead utilise existing resources, and agree with Deputy Louise Doublet's amendment wanted to include the work of the Jersey Youth Parliament, ‘Right to Play’ Group and of the previous Play Strategy Steering Group in the Play Strategy.
Amendment to Amendment 23: St Helier’s Neighbourhood Improvement Area programme – Deputy Inna Gardiner lodged an amendment to the Government Budget to request additional funding from the States of Jersey Development Company of up to £500,000 to support St Helier’s Neighbourhood Improvement Area programmes, recognising that a matching allocation will also be made by ratepayers of the Parish of St Helier. The Council of Ministers then lodged an amendment to Amendment 23 which would see funding for the Neighbourhood Improvement Are come from existing Rolling Vote Public Realm budget.
Amendment to Amendment 24: Agricultural Loan restriction – Deputy Philip Ozouf lodged an amendment to restrict the provision of Agricultural Loans from being used for the purposes relating to the cultivation of cannabis. Deputy Hilary Jeune lodged an amendment to Deputy Philip Ozouf’s amendment, which would clarify that Agricultural Loans are not used for the cultivation of cannabis that will be used in cannabis-based products for medicinal use. Then, the Council of Ministers lodged an amendment to Deputy Philip Ozouf’s amendment, which would reduce the amount available through Agricultural Loans for the cultivation of cannabis; ensuring the loans represent no more than 10% of the total funding allocated to the Fund, and that no individual loan is greater than £250,000.
The amendments that were withdrawn were:
Amendment 13: Fuel duties – Deputy Jonathan Renouf had lodged an amendment to the Government Budget that asks Ministers to return to the policy of indexing Fuel duty to RPI from 2026, with an additional increase of 2 pence per litre above RPI to increase the allocation of fuel duty receipts into the Climate Emergency Fund. This has now been withdrawn.
Amendment 15: Highlands College repairs – The Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel has lodged an amendment to remove £1.04million from the Broad Street public realm project and to provide that funding for refurbishment and repairs of Highlands College. This has now been withdrawn.
The amendments or parts of amendments which have not been accepted are debated in the order in which they effect the proposed Budget, not necessarily in the order in which they were lodged.
Deputy Philip Ozouf lodged an amendment to the Budget asking for a Stamp Duty holiday in 2025 that would allow properties up to a value of £700,000 to pay no Stamp Duty, with Stamp Duty levied at 2.5% on properties valued between £700,000 and £1million, and a taper for properties valued between £1million and £1.2million.
Under his proposals, properties over £1.2million would remain subject to Stamp Duty at the full rate.
A further amendment from the Deputy asked to exclude buy-to-let properties, reducing the income from Stamp Duty by £10.5million.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the amendment with seven votes for, 36 votes against, and one abstention.
Deputy Philip Ozouf lodged an amendment to the Government Plan asking that Stamp Duty in 2025 is reduced by £2million to reflect the removal of the current higher rate surcharge on the sale of second homes for one year, in order to promote a positive increase in the sale of residential properties.
The Council of Ministers lodged an amendment to the amendment which would see the higher rate surcharge reduced to 2% instead of the Deputy’s request of 3%, therefore reducing the income to £665,000 rather than £2million.
The States Assembly voted to ACCEPT the Council of Ministers’ amendment to the amendment with 30 votes for, 14 votes against, and no abstentions.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT Deputy Ozouf’s amendment, as amended, with 23 votes for, 24 votes against, and no abstentions.
Deputy Philip Ozouf lodged an amendment to the Government Budget to restrict the provision of Agricultural Loans from being used for the purposes related to the cultivation of cannabis.
Deputy Hiliary Jeune lodged an amendment to the amendment which would clarify that Agricultural Loans are not to be used for the cultivation of cannabis that will be used in cannabis-based products for medical use.
The States Assembly voted to ACCEPT Deputy Jeune’s amendment with 27 votes for, 18 votes against, and no abstentions.
The Council of Ministers lodged a second amendment to the amendment which would reduce the amount available through Agricultural Loans for the cultivation of cannabis; ensuring the loans represent no more than 10% of the total funding allocated to the Fund, and that no individual loan is greater than £250,000.
However, the Deputy Bailiff ruled that following the States Assembly’s adoption of the first amendment to Amendment 24, the second amendment from the Council of Ministers should fall away
The States Assembly voted to REJECT Deputy Ozouf’s amendment, as amended with 18 votes for, 25 votes against, and three abstentions.
The Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel lodged an amendment to the Government Budget seeking to lessen the proposed cut to Jersey Business and Digital Jersey’s funding by £286,000 each year, by transferring it from the Central Reserve.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Panel’s amendment with 18 votes for, 27 votes against, and no abstentions.
Sir Philip Bailhache lodged an amendment to the Government Budget to increase the grant to the Social Security Fund which secures pensions, by £10million, which is back to its full formula value; and to decrease the grant to the Consolidated Fund by £10million.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 21 votes for, 25 votes against, and no abstentions.
After an urgent oral question from Deputy Monty Tadier about
Deputy Karen Wilson lodged an amendment which seeks to increase the Head of Expenditure to ‘Le Squez’ by £2.5million and to decrease the Head of Expenditure for ‘Infrastructure Rolling Vote and Public Realm’ by the same amount.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 15 votes for, 31 votes against, and no abstentions.
The Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel lodged an amendment to transparently identify funding provided by Government to its chosen development partner for the programme of works on Fort Regent; and to identify a sustainable funding model.
The Council of Ministers said during the debate it would accept the amendment.
The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Panel’s amendment with 44 votes for, no votes against, and no abstentions.
Deputy Alex Curtis lodged an amendment to the Government Budget seeking to ensure the Digital Services Platform shall be built and designed following open design principals. The Deputy removed the elements that related to funding.
The Council of Ministers said during the debate it would accept the amendment.
The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Deputy’s amendment with 44 votes for, no votes against, and no abstentions.
The Hospital Review Panel lodged an amendment to the Government Budget asking Ministers to provide a breakdown of expenditure for the new Healthcare Facilities, showing separate budgets for the Overdale Acute Facility, Kensington Place Ambulatory Facility, and St. Saviour’s Health Village.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Panel's amendment with 17 votes for, 28 votes against, and 1 abstention.
Deputy Philip Ozouf proposed an amendment to the Government Budget which opposed the proposed acquisition of the new Government Headquarters using the Social Security (Reserve) Fund; and to delay the acquisition.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 7 votes for, 38 votes against, and 0 abstentions.
Deputy Hilary Jeune lodged an amendment to the Government Budget that would see sustainable wellbeing embedded within all business-as-usual activities in conjunction with Ministerial plans and portfolios, including how funding to third parties actively contributes to wellbeing, is aligned with the Future Jersey vision and is monitored in line with the Jersey Performance Framework.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 14 votes for, 31 votes against, and 1 abstention.
Deputy Helen Miles lodged an amendment to the Government Budget asking the Government to commit to the reinstatement of the indexation of alcohol duty in line with RPI from 2026. Alcohol duty has been frozen for the past five years due to the economic climate.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 14 votes for, 31 votes against, and 0 abstentions.
The Council of Ministers lodged an amendment to its own Budget to reduce the production ceiling for distillers eligible for duty relief, from 40,000 litres a year to 20,000 litres, in order to focus on genuinely small producers.
This amendment was accepted by the Council of Ministers, but it was still debated.
The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Council of Ministers’ amendment with 34 votes for, 8 votes against, and 2 abstentions.
Deputy Hilary Jeune lodged an amendment to the Government Budget that the £15m annual revenue projected to be received as a result of the new Pillar Two Corporate tax changes, should be focused on funding the delivery of a Sustainable Finance Action Plan and supporting the transition to a net-zero economy.
The Council of Ministers lodged an amendment to the amendment to take out the words ‘funding for’ leaving it to read ‘focused on’ but not ‘funding the’ Sustainable Action Plan and supporting the transition to a net-zero economy.
The Council of Minister lodged a second amendment to the amendment to clarify that the work identified is suitably linked to the actions specified within the Sustainable Finance Action Plan.
Deputy Hilary Jeune accepted the Council of Ministers amendment, and their amendment to the amendment.
The States Assembly voted to APPROVE Deputy Jeune’s amendment, as amended by the Council of Ministers, with 44 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions.
The Corporate Services Panel lodged an amendment to the Government Budget, that Statistics Jersey Funding should be increased by £157,000 through the reallocation of other Cabinet Office expenditure.
The Council of Ministers lodged an amendment to the Corporate Services Panel amendment, which would reduce the increase in funding to Statistics Jersey to £78,000.
The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Council of Ministers’ amendment with 22 votes for, 21 votes against, and one abstention.
The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel’s amendment, as amended by the Council of Ministers, with 42 votes for, no votes against, and one abstention.
Deputy Alex Curtis lodged an amendment to the Government Budget that reduces the project total for the Customer and Local Services programme 'Transform' by £10million over the next three years to ensure value for money and increase the Social Security Fund.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 12 votes for, 29 votes against, and one abstention.
The last day of the budget date began with the news that Ministers had changed their mind overnight, and decided to accept an amendment put forward by Deputy Helen Miles calling for funding to allow a planning framework to be developed for the west of the island.
Her amendment asked the Government to allocate £100,000 from within the Public Realm budget to prioritise work on the West of Island Planning Framework, as referenced in the Bridging Island Plan.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan explained that Ministers had changed their minds on the amendment after finding a solution “to delay some of our programmes so we can do this important work”.
Having been accepted, Deputy Miles’s amendment was supported unanimously by Members.
The final amendment due to be debated today was Deputy Inna Gardiner's amendment to provide an additional £200,000 of funding from the Health and Community Services budget to Jersey Cheshire Homes to provide for one year of bridging funding to ensure provision of services in 2025 for adults with disabilities.
However this was withdrawn after the Health Minister yesterday pledged to provide the funding.
The States Assembly therefore voted to APPROVE the Council of Ministers’ Government Budget 2025-2028, with 31 votes for, 13 votes against, and 0 abstentions.
The 'contre' camp included several members of the previous government led by Kristina Moore. Those who did not vote in favour were: Deputies Steve Ahier, Max Andrews, Alex Curtis, Inna Gardiner, Hilary Jeune, Helen Miles, Kristina Moore, Philip Ozouf, Jonathan Renouf, David Warr, and Constables Deirdre Mezbourian and Marcus Troy.
Following the result, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham said: “I am pleased States members have approved this budget, which will curb growth in expenditure and reprioritise spending to focus on essential services, healthcare, housing and assisting Islanders with cost-of-living pressures. It also begins to replenish the Island’s strategic reserve.”
Deputy Millar added: “I am grateful to States members for approving the budget, which will allow us to deliver on the Government’s ambitions over the next two years.
“It also lays the groundwork for additional measures to strengthen our long-term financial stability and curtail the growth in day-to-day spending.”
More analysis on the Budget fall-out to come next week...
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.