Committee budget request 'completely unaffordable'

Deputy Gavin St Pier will present the budget in October when it is published

Guernsey's States committees have requested a "totally unaffordable" amount of money for their 2026 budget, according to the vice-president of the Policy and Resources Committee.

In an email to States members seen by the BBC, Deputy Gavin St Pier said "committees are asking for approximately £29m more than had been allowed".

He added that meant some "challenging decisions" for the States when the budget is debated.

P&R is due to publish its budget for next year on 6 October for debate on 4 November.

Some deputies have said they will vote against any budget that looks to increase spending by committees, while others have said they are already considering amendments to reduce government spending.

Political movement Future Guernsey's manifesto, which St Pier signed up to, said it wanted "a 1% reduction in baseline spending for each year from 2026, saving more than £25m a year by 2029".

'Everyone is realistic'

On the budget, committee President Lindsay de Sausmarez said politicians have had a "series of quite intensive discussions with committees to understand their budget submissions".

She stressed the need to "understand what's driving those requests".

"I think everyone is really realistic about the fact that we're not going to be able to magic up that money out of nowhere," she said.

"There is going to need to be a degree of compromise and really it is about having those conversations to make sure we can do that in the most effective way possible."

The 2025 budget saw cash limits set at £650m, with committees asking for an extra £32m, but only being granted half of that.

Deputy Charles Parkinson is leading the tax review sub-committee

The 2026 budget is unlikely to touch upon the question of GST or corporate tax reform, whilst a special tax review sub-committee looks at the issue.

A debate on tax reform is expected before the end of June 2026, while a vote on whether GST should include food is expected before the end of March.

Deputy Charles Parkinson is leading the sub-committee alongside St Pier.

Ahead of the budget, De Sausmarez sympathised with committees: "If you go to any given sector within government, they would always have reasons why they could do with more money and in delivering important public services.

"I think it is important to recognise some of the drivers for some of these increases are really fundamental and unavoidable.

"So we do have a change in demographics, we have got an ageing population and it does also mean that we have got more demand on some of our public services particularly when it comes to things like health and long-term care so there are some really basic drivers that are inescapable."

In her pitch to become P&R President, De Sausmarez said she was keen to look at the long-term drivers of increased budgets.

"We are not going to be able to give what committees have asked for on a silver platter, what has been really positive that's come out of those conversations is an enthusiasm to really get under the bonnet and to start looking at some of those fundamentals," she said.

"We need to really start thinking whether we can provide services in a different and more effective and more efficient way.

"So I am actually quite hopeful this year, you know, because of the timing of the election, the way that we have to put the budget together has been quite constrained."