£9M shortfall in Guernsey's government income

2024 accounts show the States has a £9M shortfall in the money it receives from taxes and charges.

The headline figures in the newly-published accounts were published by the States before the election, so the overall deficit of £44M is not a surprise.

It is made up of a £9M shortfall in general revenue, £13m in Social Security Funds and £22m of non-infrastructure project expenditure. An example given is the IT transformation programme that has changed direction now that Agilisys will no longer lead it.

Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq fronted the accounts on behalf of Policy and Resources in the period between the election and the appointment of committee members next week. He told us that this new Assembly will have to get to grips with government finances:

"We can't rely forever on just taxing what we used to tax yesterday, and assuming, with a few cuts here and there and making some savings, that we can move forward.

"This new Assembly has an opportunity, early on, to take some difficult and unpopular decisions, because things can improve."

The figures are the first to be fully compliant with International Public Sector Accounting Standards and to be given a ’true and fair’ view by the auditors. Included with them are answers to FAQs on the accounts and accounting terms.

They show the financial position of all the States-owned entities, including Aurigny. It made a £6.5M loss in 2024 but again that had been well signposted by the head of the STSB before the figures were published. They show the bulk of that loss came from the cost of leasing aircraft and crew.

Guernsey States' staffing numbers increased by almost 2% last year, to 5,154, with the bulk of new employees joining Health and Social Care. Deputy Le Tocq says this will save money long-term:

"In 2024 there were significant improvements in being able to recruit staff so that we didn't need agency.

"The numbers might be a bit shocking for some people, but a lot of those are nurses that are now on permanent contracts so we're not having to pay sometimes more than twice the amount for agency nursing."

The number of civil servants employed by the States whose overall pay costs exceed £110,000 rose by 48 last year to 263. The States say half of this number work in positions like Health, Education or Policing or Borders.