Proposed Budget (Government Plan) 2026-2029 (P.70/2025): eighteenth amendment. Statistics Jersey – Administrative Support Funding

STATES OF JERSEY

PROPOSED BUDGET (GOVERNMENT PLAN) 2026-2029 (P.70/2025): EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT

STATISTICS JERSEY – ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT FUNDING

Lodged au Greffe on 21st November 2025 by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel Earliest date for debate: 8th December 2025

STATES GREFFE

2025  P.70 Amd.(18)

PROPOSED BUDGET (GOVERNMENT PLAN) 2026-2029 (P.70/2025): EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT

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1   PAGE 3, PARAGRAPH (b) (xii) –

After the words "as set in the Appendix to the accompanying report", insert the words –

", except that, on page 42, after Table 9, there should be inserted the words "Within the Revenue Head of Expenditure for the Cabinet Office, funding for Statistics and Analytics' should be increased by £80,000 in 2026 and 2027 and £130,000  in  2028  and  2029,  through  reallocation  of  other  departmental expenditure within the Cabinet Office. This should be reflected in the Cabinet Office Service Level Analysis tables contained within the Annex accompanying the Report (R.139/2025), entitled Part 2 – Heads of expenditure financial information' for the Cabinet Office.""

 CORPORATE SERVICES SCRUTINY PANEL

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

1. In accordance with Article 16 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 (the Law) to approve an amendment to the Government Plan 2025 – 2028 (entitled "Budget 2025 – 2028") to a reduction in the 2025 head of expenditure "Grants to States Funds" as included in Table 5(i) Revenue Heads of Expenditure of that Government Plan from £119,821,000 to £69,821,000.
2. To receive the Government Plan 2026 – 2029 (entitled "Budget 2026-2029") specified in Article 9(1) of the Law and specifically –

1. to approve the estimate of total States income to be paid into the Consolidated Fund in 2026 as set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 1 to the Report, which is inclusive of the proposed taxation and impôts duties changes outlined in the Government Plan, in line with Article 9(2)(a) of the Law.
2. to refer to their Act dated 24th June 2003 in which they approved that no new user pays' charges be introduced without any such charge receiving prior in principle approval by the States Assembly and accordingly to approve the introduction of two new charges, to be levied by Health and Care Jersey to promote appropriate use of the  Emergency  Department  and  for  repeated  non-attendance  of outpatient  appointments,  detailed  in  the  section  entitled "Departmental Income Sources" as set out in the Appendix to the accompanying Report.

3. to  approve  the  proposed  Changes  to  Approval  for financing/borrowing for 2026, as shown in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 2 to the Report, which may be obtained by the Minister for Treasury and Resources, as and when required, in line with Article 9 (2)(c) of the Law, of up to those revised approval amounts.
4. to approve the transfers from one States fund to another for 2026 of up to and including the amounts set in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 3 in line with Article 9(2)(b) of the Law.
5. to approve a transfer from the Consolidated Fund to the Stabilisation Fund in 2026 of up to £50 million, subject to a decision of the Minister for Treasury and Resources based on the availability of funds in the Consolidated Fund as at 31st December 2025 in excess of the estimates provided in this plan, or from budgeted underspends identified before 31st December 2026.
6. to approve a transfer from the Consolidated Fund to the Agricultural Loans Fund in 2026 of up to £5 million, subject to a decision of the Minister for Treasury and Resources based on availability of funds in the Consolidated Fund as at 31st December 2025 in excess of estimates  provided  in  this  plan,  or  from  budgeted  underspends identified before 31st December 2026;
7. to approve each major project that is to be started or continued in 2026 and the total cost of each such project and any amendments to the  proposed  total  cost  of  a  major  project  under  a  previously approved Government Plan, in line with Article 9(2)(d), (e) and (f) of the Law and as set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 4 to the Report.

viii.  to  approve  the  proposed  amount  to  be  appropriated  from  the

Consolidated Fund for 2026, for each head of expenditure, being gross  expenditure  less  estimated  income  (if  any),  in  line  with Articles 9(2)(g), 10(1) and 10(2) of the Law, and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Tables 5(i) and (ii) of the Report.

9. to approve the estimated income, being estimated gross income less expenditure, that each States trading operation will pay into its trading fund in 2026 in line with Article 9(2)(h) of the Law and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 6 to the Report.
10. to approve the proposed amount to be appropriated from each States trading  operation's  trading  fund  for  2026  for  each  head  of expenditure in line with Article 9(2)(i) of the Law and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 7 to the Report.
11. to approve the estimated income and expenditure proposals for the Climate Emergency Fund for 2026 as set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 8 to the Report.

12. to  approve,  in  accordance  with  Article  9(1)  of  the  Law,  the Government  Plan  2026-2029,  as  set  in  the  Appendix  to  the accompanying Report ", except that, on page 42, after Table 9, there should  be  inserted  the  words  "Within  the  Revenue  Head  of Expenditure  for  the  Cabinet  Office,  funding  for  Statistics  and Analytics' should be increased by £80,000 in 2026 and 2027 and £130,000  in  2028  and  2029,  through  reallocation  of  other departmental expenditure within the Cabinet Office. This should be reflected  in  the  Cabinet  Office  Service  Level  Analysis  tables contained within the Annex accompanying the Report (R.139/2025), entitled Part 2 – Heads of expenditure financial information' for the Cabinet Office.""

REPORT

Purpose of the Amendment

The Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel's (hereafter "the Panel") Amendment to the Proposed Budget (Government Plan) 2026-2029 (hereafter the "Budget") seeks to ensure that adequate funding is available to Statistics and Analytics to fulfil the requirements of the Statistics and Census (Jersey ) Law 2018 following the amendments (Draft Statistics and Census (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-) (hereafter "the Law"), which were provided to the States Assembly in September 2024 and brought into force in February 2025. The effect of this Amendment will therefore be to:

• Increase funds for Statistics and Analytics (hereafter "Statistics Jersey"), through the reallocation of departmental expenditure within the Cabinet Office.

• Ensure that Statistics Jersey can fulfil its requirements under the Law, that include the production of a "separate annual report and accounts detailing the performance of functions of the Chief Statisticians", a "strategy for the Jersey Statistics System (JSS) and formal coordination of the JSS, including secretarial functions for the Statistical Producers Group" and "conducting the ordinary programme of reviews and occasional extraordinary reviews of Tier 1 statistics".

Rationale for the Amendment

The Panel decided to bring this Amendment to the Budget to ensure that Statistics Jersey is sufficiently resourced to fulfil its requirements under the Law. In a submission [1]from the Chief Statistician to the Panel's review of the Budget, the Panel identified that a Business Case – Administrative Support for Statistics Law Amendments (hereafter the "Business Case"), was submitted by the Chief Statistician as part of the assessment of funding required for the Budget cycle (2026-2029).

The Business Case sets out the three areas that the Chief Statistician would be required to fulfil under the Law and would carry resource implications, these include:

1. Producing a separate Annual Report detailing the performance and functions of the Chief Statistician
2. Producing the strategy for the JSS and formal co-ordination of the JSS, including secretarial functions for the Statistical Producers Group (SPG)
3. Conducting the ordinary programme of reviews and occasional extraordinary reviews of Tier 1 Statistics

Furthermore, the Law requires that as soon as practicable after each new Common Strategic Policy (CSP) has been approved by the States Assembly that a strategy for the JSS must be prepared.

In respect of Tier 1 Statistics, the Law requires that the Chief Statistician must develop and publish a scheme for suspending statistical reports in consultation with the Statistics Council, instigate a programme of reviews of Tier 1 Statistics (including to establish and publish the criteria against which the reviews will be carried out) and consult with

the  Statistics  Council  on  the  programme  of  reviews  and  their  criteria  ahead  of publishing.

The Chief Statistician has acknowledged that the 2024 Annual Report was supported by a contracted resource funded by budget only available in 2025. Although noting that subsequent Annual Reports will be less resource intensive, Statistics Jersey highlighted that this work will still incur additional costs. Moreover, it is noted that secretarial support provided to the Jersey Statistical Producers Group could potentially be absorbed within existing resources.

The  Chief  Statistician  also  emphasised  that  the  work  required  following  the establishment of the next CSP, will require resources in late 2026 and 2027 and that currently Statistics Jersey does not have any resources to develop the criteria and schedule for Tier 1 Statistics, and to carry out the future Tier 1 Statistics reviews, as required under the Law.

In relation to fulfilling the requirements of the Law, the Business Case recognised that Budgets are tight, that the Tier 1 Statistics (belonging to Statistics Jersey) are only likely to be agreed in early 2026 and that it will take time for Tier 1 Statistics from other public authorities to be added to the Tier 1 Statistic's list.

However, the Chief Statistician's List of Tier 1 Statistics (R.164/2025) (hereafter the "List") was published on 19th November 2025. The List consists solely of Statistics that are produced by Statistics Jersey. Therefore, the Tier 1 Statistics required of other public authorities are not included. Although the initial List has been agreed and published sooner, the work to develop the List with the Tier 1 Statistics of other public authorities, as well as carrying out the Tier 1 Statistics reviews will follow as anticipated and carry resource implications.

The Tier 1 Statistics reviews may also need support from international subject matter experts, with part of the Business Case taking into account non-staff budget to cover such costs if needed.

The Panel is concerned that the Government's decision not to accept the bid for funding for Statistics Jersey's Business Case will impact upon its ability to properly fulfil its obligations under the Law. In particular, to carry out the ongoing work relating to Tier 1 Statistics, which are "key statistics that provide essential insights into Jersey's economic, population, society and the environment".2

The Panel highlights that it was recognised in the Proposition – Draft Statistics and Census (Jersey) Law 202- [P.29/2024], approved by the States Assembly, that additional ongoing annual costs of £143,900 would be required from 2026 to implement the requirements of the Law:

2 Statistics Jersey – Tier 1 statistics

The Chief Statistician notes that uprating these costs for inflation would mean that the estimated costs for 2026 would be £168,000. The Business Case takes into account the current position and the effect on the timeline to progress this work. Therefore, a reduced amount of funding of £80,000 is requested for 2026 and 2027.

The Panel's Amendment proposes to increase funds by £80,000 in 2026 and 2027 and £130,000 in 2028 and 2029 for Statistics Jersey in line with the Business Case through the  reallocation  of  departmental  expenditure  within  the  Cabinet  Office  Head  of Expenditure. This is to ensure that funding is available as requested by the Chief Statistician for the purpose of enabling Statistics Jersey to fulfil its requirements under the Law.

Background and Context of the Law

On 14th May 2024, the Government lodged the Law which proposed amendments to the Statistics and Census (Jersey) Law 2018 (the "2018 Law"), to bring the 2018 Law, "in line with international best practice"  and to "maintain the public's trust and confidence in the Island's statistical system in the long term".

The  proposed  amendments  under  the  Law  included  significant  changes  to  the governance of Statistics Jersey such as the provision of a "process to secure adequate funding for Statistics Jersey which is commensurate with its responsibilities under the Law", the establishment of a Statistics Council in place of the Statistics Users' Group, protections for "Jersey's most important statistics" that are termed "tier 1 statistics" and to strengthen and formalise Jersey's existing decentralised statistical system.

The Panel undertook extensive scrutiny of the Law which commenced on 15th April 2024. On 16th August 2024, the Panel presented Comments following its review of the Law, the Panel's Comments highlighted in relation to Tier 1 statistics that whilst the Law "ensures a balance of powers", any funding requests by Statistics Jersey "will need be considered by the Chief Minister and the final decision for the approval of any funding requests will need to be sought from the States Assembly".

Additionally, the Panel's Comments also highlighted that "Tier 1 Statistics will expand incrementally as the statistics will need to be at the required quality level as prescribed by the draft Law to be included on the list" and that statistics "could also be suspended from the list, should they not meet the requirements relating to quality".

The Panel's Comments concluded with its support for the Law, and that the Law proposed "an appropriate and balanced approach".

Scrutiny and Current Status

During the Panel's review of the current Budget, the Panel considered the impact of the Budget proposals on Statistics Jersey. At a Public Budget Review Hearing with the Chief Minister on 10th October 2025, the Panel questioned the Government's views about the adequacy of the resources available to Statistics Jersey to fulfil its obligations in 2026. The Panel received the following response:

Chief Officer, Cabinet Office:

"I went through a process with the Chief Statistician and we met formally with the Chief Minister to determine whether that was the case. It is a matter of record because I had an exchange of letters with the Chief Statistician that he did bid for some additional monies, around £80,000 in 2026 and £120,000 for recurring  after  that  in  order  to  produce  the  kind  of  governance  and administration that goes along with this new function. That is primarily in the annual report space and I am an accountable officer, I have determined that that is desirable, not essential, and lifting ourselves back up to that kind of curbing the growth agenda, that was one area that we needed to sacrifice."3

However, it is the view of the Panel that the funding requested for the Business Case is not desirable, but rather essential, to ensure that Statistics Jersey can fulfil its obligations under the Law. Furthermore, Article 4(3) of the Law states that the Chief Minister must "ensure that the Chief Statistician is provided with the financial and administrative resources, and other support, including staff, services, equipment and accommodation, necessary to enable the Chief Statistician to discharge the functions of the  office economically,  effectively  and  efficiently".  During  the  same  hearing,  the  Panel highlighted  the  Article  4(3)  provision  of  the  Law  and  questioned  whether  the Government believed this threshold was met. The Panel was informed that:

Chief Officer, Cabinet Office:

"I am happy that we did, we had that formal meeting, we set it all out in a ministerial submission template that we were discussing earlier, to the Chief Minister, we had that discussion with the Chief Minister and, as I said, I put it all on record. I am happy to share those letters if that would be useful, but it is important to have that transparency, we thought."4

Whilst Statistics Jersey informed the Panel in its submission that it will be supported by the Cabinet Office and Department for Treasury and Resources to "ensure it is able to produce an annual report for 2025, as it managed to do for 2024", the Panel is unclear about the nature and extent of the support that will be provided by Government to Statistics Jersey to complete the Annual Report, and why the required level of funding is not instead provided to Statistics Jersey to undertake this work.

However, of particular concern to the Panel, as highlighted by Statistics Jersey in its submission, is that there is not the "resources to develop the criteria and schedule for

3 Transcript – Public Review Hearing (Chief Minister) – Proposed Budget 2026-2029 – 10th October 2025 (P.20)

4 Transcript – Public Review Hearing (Chief Minister) – Proposed Budget 2026-2029 – 10th October 2025 (P.20)

Tier 1 statistics required under the law, nor resources to carry out Tier 1 Statistics reviews in the future". This is important, because Tier 1 statistics are "essential for decision making, of high public interest". [2]

The Panel is also concerned about the references made by the Government, in meetings with Statistics Jersey during the Budget process, to statistical reviews undertaken by Statistics Jersey, as not being required to "be conducted at specific frequencies or to set standards", which appeared to indicate that Government accepts the potential for variation in the frequency and quality of those statistical reviews.

The Panel acknowledges that the submission provided by Statistics Jersey highlights engagement between Statistics Jersey and the Cabinet Office, and that the Cabinet Office is prepared to provide material support to Statistics Jersey to undertake various workstreams. However, the Panel is of the view that a reallocation of departmental expenditure within the Cabinet Office Head of Expenditure to increase funds for Statistics Jersey, is a proportionate amendment to properly resource Statistics Jersey and enable it to fulfil its requirements under the Law.

Whilst Statistics Jersey acknowledges that "further time is required to assess whether the Law increases the administrative burden on Statistics Jersey", the Panel is of the view that the quality and frequency of statistical outputs should not be impacted by the level of funding provided by Government, when reasonable requests for funding are submitted by Statistics Jersey.

Conclusion

The Panel acknowledges that Government has  consulted  with Statistics  Jersey  in relation to its funding and resourcing requirements as part of the Budget process, however, it does not consider that the Government's decision to reject the request for funding for the Business Case submitted by Statistics Jersey is in alignment with the aims of the Law.

The Panel wishes to emphasise the commitment made by the Chief Minister and the States Assembly, to ensure that Statistics Jersey is adequately resourced, and that this was approved by the States Assembly following its adoption of the Law and has been in force since February 2025.

The Panel believes that Statistics Jersey should have security regarding the funding required to sufficiently resource the delivery of its functions as required by the Law, which includes the delivery of the Statistics Jersey Annual Report for 2025 and in future years and to ensure that Statistics Jersey is resourced to carry out its functions for key Tier 1 statistics, including associated Statistics reviews at an appropriate degree of frequency and quality. The Panel believes that the business case submitted by Statistics Jersey is proportionate and aligns with the aims of the Law.

The Panel urges the Chief Minister and the States Assembly to support this Amendment. Financial and staffing implications

The Panel is of the view that the Amendment would not incur additional financial and staffing implications. The Amendment aligns with previously set ambitions of the States Assembly and within the existing priorities of the Chief Minister to determine the

appropriate way forward in respect of ensuring that Statistics Jersey can fulfil its requirements under the Law.

Children's Rights Impact Assessment

The Panel considers that this Amendment has no direct or indirect impact on children and that the duty to have due regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child does not arise. Accordingly, a Children's Rights Impact Assessment is not required under the Children (Conventions Rights) (Jersey) Law 2022.

[1] Submission – Statistics Jersey

[2] Statistics Jersey – Tier 1 statistics