Jobs to go as part of budget cuts in Jersey

Treasury Minister, Senator Philip Ozouf, said savings must be made

Plans to save the States of Jersey millions of pounds will result in job losses, cuts in services and benefits being slashed, proposals have revealed.

Earlier this year the Council of Ministers agreed to £50m worth of public spending cuts as part of a Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).

The cuts are part of a three year scheme to deal with projected deficits.

Cuts totalling £12m have been proposed for the first phase of the scheme, which starts next year.

'Difficult process'

However, although there will be a large number of cuts in some government departments, ministers have also proposed £3m worth of investment in a number of areas - including funding to combat financial crime, to support Jersey Heritage Trust and for hospital services.

The States' Treasury and Resources department claimed that although the cuts would result in "some reduction in posts", these should be managed through retirement, redeployment, retraining, and voluntary redundancy.

Restructuring of services proposed by the Council of Ministers would see savings of £3.7m within health and social services, £2.2m in education, sport and culture and a further £1.9m recouped from social security.

Senator Philip Ozouf, Treasury Minister, said: "This has been a difficult process but I am pleased that we have succeeded in achieving proposals for the first phase.

"The CSR is an opportunity to re-assess the public sector's priorities, to reorganise the way departments work and to make sure we provide the services islanders need in the most efficient way possible.

"The review is analysing all areas of States spending to find ways to save money, to understand the effects of any proposed savings and to target improvements."

Once the CSR is complete, another review will look at increasing taxes if necessary.