Spending cuts surveys get 1,800 suggestions

Surveys asking for ideas to reduce public spending in Guernsey and Alderney have had more than 1,800 suggestions, officials have said.

The Reducing the Cost of Public Services Sub-Committee was working to identify and recommend steps to cut government costs by at least £10m to £16m a year within five years, the States said.

The bailiwick is forecast to be facing public services funding shortfalls of about £100m a year by 2040.

The three-week public survey saw 637 respondents putting forward 1,416 suggestions, while a similar poll for public sector staff saw 196 respondents submit 394 suggestions, the States said.

Changes in the make-up of Guernsey’s population are believed to be driving the forecasted shortfall.

The States said more people were living longer and having fewer children.

That meant "demand for services, particularly health services and pensions is rapidly rising but the number of people in work - who are currently the main contributors to the funding for public finances - is getting smaller", it said.

Officials said Guernsey needed to take "extraordinary action to counter the impact of these changes on the cost and funding for essential services".

The States said the sub-committee would review the surveys' responses.

It would then work with States committees and individual deputies to "identify ways of reducing costs is one piece of a wider effort to ensure public finances are sustainable for future decades".