Proposed Budget (Government Plan) 2026-2029 A SUMMARY OF THE WORK UNDERTAKEN BY SCRUTINY PANELS

We are the:

It’s our role to scrutinise Jersey’s government on matters of public importance, policy and legislation that fall within the remits of each Panel.

What is the Budget (Government Plan)?

The Budget (Government Plan) and the Annex to the Budget seeks to bring together public income and spending against the context of the stated strategic priorities of Government. It is a rolling four-year plan but is brought back and updated each year to take account of changes in the Island’s economic outlook.

The Budget includes:

  • Estimated income and expenditure of the Consolidated Fund.
  • Amounts to be internally transferred between States Funds.
  • Any other proposed financing.
  • Revenue Expenditure Growth and Projects and their proposed costs.
  • Estimated income and expenditure from States Trading Operations to be paid into the States Trading Operations Fund.
  • Amounts to be appropriated from the Consolidated and States Trading Operations Funds for the next financial year.
  • Estimated amounts in States Funds at the start and finish of each financial year.
  • Borrowing and Debt Management Framework.

The Proposed Budget (Government Plan) 2026-2029 Review

Each Scrutiny Panel launched individual reviews of the Proposed Budget (Government Plan) 2026-2029 in September and October 2025.

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 next section provides further information about the overarching themes from the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel.

Overarching Recommendations

Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel

The review of the Proposed Budget 2026-2029 resulted in 12 overarching recommendations, some of these include: That the Council of Ministers 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 Council of Ministers 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 Council of Ministers 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.

The next section provides a list of the Amendments to the Budget from Scrutiny Panels.

Amendments

Amendments to the Budget from Scrutiny Panels:

• Amendment 3: Corporate Services Panel. Jersey Public Services Ombudsperson: Read more

• Amendment 9: Environment, Housing and Infrastructure 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 - 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 Panel. Empty Residential Properties. Read more

Amendment 32: Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel. Environment Departmental Funding. Read more

Please note: Amendment 3 lodged by the CSSP has been accepted by the Council of Ministers and will therefore not be separately debated.

The next section provides a list of the Comments from other Scrutiny Panels in relation to the Budget.

Panel Comments and Reports

To read the Scrutiny Panel Comments and Reports in relation to the Budget:

Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel: Read here

The Economic and International Affairs Panel: Read here

Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel: Read here

Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel: Read here

Health and Social Security Panel: Read here

What happens next?

The debate on the Proposed Budget 2026-2029 is taking place in the States Assembly from Monday 8th December at 9.30am. It is expected to last several days.

You can read about the Proposed Budget (Government Plan) 2026-2029 and the review work undertaken by each Panel in more detail by clicking on the following links:

Panel Chairs

Top left to bottom right: Deputy Helen Miles, Chair, Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Montfort Tadier, Chair, Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Catherine Curtis, Chair, Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Hilary Jeune, Chair, Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Louise Doublet, Chair, Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel