Gross national income figure reported in the Economic Digest 2005

1240/5(2740)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 14th FEBRUARY 2006 Question

Would the Chief Minister inform members –

1. whether heconsiders that indicators suchasGross National Income(GNI) is an appropriate indicator of economic trends in a small state and, if not, whetherhe intends to replace it with another type of indicator?
2. whether upuntil1995/6 there was,in existence in the office of the EconomicAdvisorto the States, a separate "basket ofgoods" designedtomeasuretheimpactofRPIonpensioners and, if so, can the Minister confirm whether this mechanism still exists, and if not, the reasons why?Does the Minister haveunder consideration any further methods to measure the effectsofRPIonpensioners?and,
3. whether he intends to take similar stepsunderthe ministerial system in Jersey tothose taken bytheU.K. governmentto further distancetheOfficefor National Statistics (ONS) from ministerialcontrol?

Answer

1. The key measure of the economic performance of the Island is Gross Value Added (GVA) which, since 2004, has been produced annually to international agreed standards by the States Statistics Unit. The benefit of GVA is that it is the only aggregate economic measure that allows us to understand the performance of each sector of the economy and the whole economy.

I n addition, the Statistics Unit publishes a range of supporting measures including GNI, GVA per employee

and GDP. All these measures are appropriate if they are used correctly.

2. I understand that a pensioners RPI was previously calculated but that this stopped in the mid 1990's. Information about the impact of price rises on all households, including pensioners, is currently being collected bythe Statistics Unitas part ofthehousehold expenditure survey. This survey,which has achieved a higher participation rate than previous roundsof the survey, will provide a wealthof information about the spending patterns and the impactofprice rises for all households, includingdetailed information about the impact onpensioners,who tend to be at the lowerendof the income distribution. This information and analysis will be extremely valuable in the development of social policy and will ensure we are better informed about the economiccircumstancesof the whole population than ever before.
3. D evelopments  in  the  U.K. will, of course,  continue  to be monitored. However, it  is  important to acknowledge that the people of Jersey and its government are well-served by a Statistics Unit that is operationally independentandisproviding a greater breadth of information than ever before.

I n addition, the Statistics User Group has been established by the States to review and comment on official

statistics, with a particular focus on the work of the Statistics Unit. The User Group is independent of both the States and its departments, and its members are drawn from a wide cross-section of organisations from the  Island  community,  including  organisations  representing  the  consumers,  the  finance  industry,  the voluntary sector, and pensioners.

T h e position of the Statistics Unit will, however, be reviewed by the Council of Ministers in order to establish

whether any changes are needed to the current arrangements.