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2018.06.26
Deputy G.P. Southern of the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding the
Minister's policy in respect of public expenditure: [OQ.81/2018]
Is it the Minister's policy that public expenditure should be used to enable residents to have a good quality of life at all stages, supported by high-quality public services; and, if so, will she inform Members what she will do to ensure this is achieved in a fair and equitable way, given the ageing demographic of the population?
Deputy S.J. Pinel (The Minister for Treasury and Resources):
My predecessor put to the Assembly a Medium Term Financial Plan which recognised these pressures by funding the P.82/2012 transformation of health and social care as a strategic priority. P.82 successfully argued the case to promote safe, sustainable, and affordable person-centred care in the best location to deliver the best outcomes in the context of an ageing demographic. I can assure the Deputy that affordability, balance, and common sense are values that I hold close, and which I applied during my term as Minister for Social Security, and which I will apply equally to my role as Minister for Treasury and Resources. I will ensure that there is affordability and balance by considering fairness between generations and the ageing of our society in the next Strategic and Medium Term Financial Plans. Indeed, the living longer theme is particularly important to me, given that I have represented Jersey in the demographic and/or ageing population British-Irish Council workstream. With the other B.I.C. (British-Irish Council) Ministers I committed to carry on the work and improving public services in the context of an ageing population. Thank you.
- Deputy G.P. Southern :
The Minister uses the 2 words "affordability" and "balance" in her answer. Does she accept that the changing society we have today can no longer sustain a low-tax/low-spend approach because the spend is inevitably going up? Will she find the balance in increasing tax in order to enable our residents to have a proper quality of life?
Deputy S.J. Pinel:
The Deputy refers in his question to the ageing demographics and he will know very well that the Long-Term Care Scheme was introduced in 2014 in order to provide the care for an ageing demographic. I do believe at the moment that the Assistant Minister for Social Security is reviewing his own Scrutiny Panel's recommendations on the long-term Scrutiny review. This is why we are continuing to commit to this and we have also said with the Long-Term Care Scheme, which does not apply just to the elderly of course but it does consider that, that we will review this with a possible increase in the charge to the public to cater for the ageing demographic.
- Deputy G.P. Southern :
The possibility of the long-term care charge being increased is obviously on the agenda. Will she also, in order to achieve the correct balance with a greater ageing society, consider raising taxes other than L.T.C. (Long-Term Care) alongside that rise?
Deputy S.J. Pinel:
Again, as the Deputy is probably aware, we are conducting a personal tax review, the results of which will be had at the end of the year. By that time it will have gone out to consultation to the public, so we will know more about personal tax and society's wishes by the end of the year.