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Jersey's Fiscal Policy Panel
Deputy Louise Doublet
Chair, Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel
14 October 2024
Dear Deputy Doublet
Thank you for inviting comments from the Fiscal Policy Panel. The Panel's role is to provide advice to Government and States Members on Jersey's fiscal position which includes the medium-term and long-term sustainability of the States' finances and its financial assets and liabilities.
It is not within the Panel's remit to comment on the detailed questions you have asked about specific expenditure proposals.
The Panel's overall judgement, as per our 2024 Annual Report September 2024 , is that greater emphasis should be given to the medium-term and on ensuring the resilience of the island's economy to cyclical and structural shocks. We do recognise there are pressures for higher current spending in Jersey and that Government faces difficult choices in balancing these current spending pressures against investment in the island's productive capacity as well as addressing the depletion of the island's reserves, nonetheless we are concerned with the prioritisation given to current (day-to-day) expenditure rather than to the rebuilding of the reserves.
In line with its remit the Panel has assessed the Stabilisation Find and the Strategic Reserve. It is not within the Panel's remit to assess the adequacy of the Social Security Fund. We have, however, recommended that a review of the Social Security Reserve Fund is undertaken to better understand the extent to which the fund is sufficient for meeting future pension liabilities, and would be happy to consider taking this remit on if asked to do so.
Best wishes,
Sir Jon Cunliffe, Chair Fiscal Policy Panel