ELECTION DISASSEMBLED: What would candidates do about our mammoth £1bn government?

Ask a room full of election candidates whether government has become too expensive and you’ll struggle to find anyone who disagrees… but, when you ask them what they would actually cut, things get much more interesting…

The sheer size, scale and spend of Jersey’s government – and its various associated arms-length organisations – has been heavily in the spotlight in recent years. Even the current CEO has weighed in over the “cult” of high spending.

So, for Bailiwick Podcasts’ Election Disassembled series, we put a tough question to the election candidates who were willing to be grilled: “What would YOU do to bring things back under control?”

Here’s what the Senatorial candidates had to say (listen to other candidates’ views in the playlist below)…

Keep a lid on recruitment

Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham pointed to measures already introduced by his government.

He said a recruitment freeze had helped curb growth in the public sector and should continue.

“When we took office in 2024 there were 1,000 job vacancies that we removed,” he said.

While frontline roles in health and education had continued to grow, he argued savings had been achieved elsewhere, particularly in management positions.

Cut regulation

For Sir Mark Boleat, the answer was simple: government is trying to do too much.

He argued that excessive regulation and bureaucracy are driving up costs for both government and Islanders.

He said there was scope to “hugely reduce the paperwork” involved in everything from planning applications to tax refunds.

“Substantially reduce regulation” was his prescription.

Fewer reports, more decisions

Several candidates argued that government spends too much time studying problems rather than solving them.

Environment Minister Steve Luce said ministers should be empowered to make decisions without commissioning endless reviews and consultations.

“We do a lot of consultation, a lot of reports, a lot of reviews, and maybe a bit less of that, and get people to make decisions and just get on,” he said.

Housing Minister Sam Mézec struck a similar note.

“I can tell you that there’s a lot of reports that are written that nobody ever reads, and the conclusions are completely ignored,” he said.

Technology and digitisation

Others saw technology as the key to reducing costs.

Former Treasury Minister Alan Maclean said public services should be redesigned to become more efficient and more cost-effective through greater use of technology.

Independent candidate Alan Le Pavoux also argued that government was lagging behind in digitisation.

He suggested many processes could be streamlined, allowing staff to be redeployed to frontline services rather than removed altogether.

“There’s a lot of work that could be streamlined and made a lot more efficient and effective,” he said.

Spend and budget smarter

External Relations Minister Ian Gorst focused on the way government manages its finances.

Rather than identifying a specific department for cuts, he argued that returning to a three-year budgeting cycle would improve financial discipline.

“If we get back to a three-year budgeting process, it means that we can manage over the period of a parliamentary term,” he said.

Treasury Minister Elaine Millar argued that controlling government spending ultimately comes down to making difficult choices about priorities.

She said ministers need to focus on what government can realistically afford to deliver and ensure resources are directed towards the areas of greatest need.

Prevention rather than cure

Rather than focusing on bureaucracy or staffing, Karl Busch argued that improving Islanders’ health could reduce pressure on public finances.

“If we’re healthier and we can save those healthcare costs, I’m looking possibly in saving up to £4 million a year,” he said.

His argument was that investment in prevention today could reduce spending on treatment tomorrow.

Decide what government can – and can’t – do

Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat said ministers need to be more realistic about priorities.

“We can’t do everything with the budgets that we have,” she said.

“I think we need to actually decide what we’re going to do, and what we are not going to do.”

Government has become too expensive

Former Senator Guy de Faye suggested politicians should pay more attention to concerns already raised by senior officials.

“When I was first in the States, I think the civil service was about 6,000. Now we’re over 9,000, heading 10,000,” he said.

“Clearly this is unbelievably expensive government we’re running. And we can’t afford it.”

Alan Maclean also linked rising government spending to inflationary pressures, arguing that an expanding public sector ultimately increases costs for everyone.

Work out what delivers value

Deputy Helen Miles said: “I think we need a fundamental spending review, so that we can absolutely understand where government money is going and why, and whether it’s what the public want to spend their money on.”

Independent candidate Martin Aliga declined to identify a specific target for cuts.

Instead, he said spending decisions should be based on a detailed assessment of which projects deliver results.

“I wouldn’t want to specifically point out something right now,” he said, arguing that government should first examine the strengths and weaknesses of existing spending before deciding where savings can be made.

Senatorial candidates Tom Binet, Serena Kersten Guthrie and Alan Breckon did not take up the offer of a podcast interview. Listen to the full Senatorial podcast here.