Getting the fiscal balance right is a 'priority'

Chief Minister Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez plans to look at services

Guernsey's new chief minister has said one of her key priorities is getting the fiscal balance right as "demographic pressure" changes the economy.

Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez said: "It's really important that we do get that balance right to see us through into the future on strong foundations."

She said a failing in the past had been "not being able to take the community with the States on that particular journey and that's something we are determined to change".

De Sausmarez said the States needed to "involve the people these policies are affecting" and pledged to talk to people to understand their concerns.

She said: "We're really keen to establish meaningful two-way dialogue."

De Sausmarez spoke with business leaders at an Institute of Directors' breakfast event on Thursday.

She said it was important to hear about their worries, hopes, and where they see opportunities and risks as they were "the front line of Guernsey's economy".

De Sausmarez said she has had "intensive discussions" with the States' committees ahead of the budget "to understand their budget submissions" and look at "how we can do things differently".

"Everyone is really realistic about the fact we are not going to be able to magic that money out of nowhere, and there is going need to be a degree of compromise," she added.

She told the BBC "some of the drivers for some of these increases are really fundamental and unavoidable" with an aging population which posed a "wonderful problem" but also demand for long-term care.

De Sausmarez said the States would not be able to give committees what they ask for "on a silver platter" in the 2026 budget and urged them to think about how services could be delivered in a "more effective and more efficient way".

She warned that the budget could see a "big mismatch between what committees have asked for and what we think is likely to be available".