Islanders paying 60% more to keep the States running than they do in Guernsey

Wednesday 25 November 2015

It costs every Islander here £3,419 more to keep the government going than it does just a few miles across the water in Guernsey.

Figures in a report disclosed under the Freedom of Information Law show that the cost of keeping the States going per Islander in Jersey is £9,307, compared to £5,907 in Guernsey.

The difference – around £340 million per year in terms of public spending – is part of the executive summary of former States cost-cutting consultant Kevin Keen’s report.

His report puts the key difference as the cost of Social Security, which is twice as expensive to run in Jersey as it is in Guernsey.

The differences in spending, adjusted for Jersey’s higher population, are £93 million on Social Security, £26 million on health and £19 million on Transport and Technical Services.