Treasury minister calls plan transitional amid Fiscal Policy Panel deficit warning

Jersey’s government has published its 2027-2030 budget, proposing a series of family-targeted cost-of-living measures alongside a £25 million increase in health spending and a pledge to direct revenues from a global minimum corporate tax toward the territory’s planned acute hospital. Treasury Minister Alan Maclean told the BBC the proposals aimed to “target the resources we had available to those most in need.”

The package includes several family-focused changes. Free nursery care for two- and three-year-olds increases from 15 hours a week to 20 hours. The parental grant, paid to families with newborns or those adopting a child, rises from £887.25 to £1,800, more than doubling the existing payment. A £250 family support payment will be available for each school-aged child in low- to middle-income households in 2027, and free school meals will be extended to secondary school pupils covered by the Jersey Premium funding scheme.

In his foreword to the budget, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham wrote that “for many households, the cost of living remains the most immediate concern.” He said housing, childcare and everyday living costs “continue to put pressure on family budgets,” and described the proposals as “practical support to help put more money back into islanders’ pockets, particularly for families facing the greatest pressures.”

When asked whether the measures would help islanders meaningfully, Maclean said: “I hope so. It’s a step in the right direction. Obviously a lot more needs to be done, but what we’ve sought to do is target the resources we had available to those most in need.” He also pointed to a 4.7 percent uprating of the state pension and the continuation of the community cost bonus, which assists individuals and households typically just above income-threshold levels.

The Health Department’s budget grows from £381 million in 2026 to £406 million, a £25 million increase that follows a larger £60 million increase in the previous budget. Former Treasury Minister Elaine Millar described the prior year’s health spending rise as “concerning.” Maclean acknowledged the size of the department but defended the trajectory. “We need to do some proper forensic analysis and make certain that the right money is invested to deliver the correct result for islanders,” he said, adding that health remained “the largest spending department by a significant way.”

Revenues from Pillar Two — a global minimum rate of corporation tax applied to multinational companies with revenues of €750 million (£631 million) or more — will be directed toward construction of the new acute hospital at Overdale. “We’re very fortunate to have that and we will be targeting that money at the cost of building the hospital at Overdale,” Maclean said. He added that the approach “will reduce our need to borrow more money and it will reduce our need to use reserves.”

The budget comes against the backdrop of concerns flagged by the Fiscal Policy Panel, an independent body that last year warned Jersey was spending more than it was earning. Maclean described the planned budget as a “small step in the right direction” toward correcting that imbalance. “In recent years, the government has been at an operating level of spending more than it’s been receiving in income in terms of taxes and charges,” he said. “That’s not sustainable and we do need to address that.”

Maclean characterised the 2027-2030 plan as transitional. “We’ve started with this budget, but the key is I describe this as a transitional budget,” he said. “The 2028-2030 budgetary period is where we’re going to need to make structural changes to make certain that as we move forward public finances are sustainable for the long term.”

States members are scheduled to debate and vote on the budget in December.