Cuts to the environment budget have the “potential to hit the competitiveness of our economy, livelihoods and essential regulatory work”, a senior scrutineer has said.
Deputy Hilary Jeune, who chairs the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, added that a lack of contingency funding means that departmental funds could be depleted further if the island gets hit with a major weather event – such as Storm Ciarán, which caused devastation across Jersey in 2023.
Environment Minister Steve Luce appeared before the panel during a Scrutiny hearing yesterday, in which he warned of “significant challenges” due to the cuts in funding.
Under the government’s 2026 Budget proposals, the Environment Department’s funding is set to be slashed by £656,000 from 2025 to 2026.
In 2025, the department was given £11,763,000 to spend – but this is set to be reduced to £11,107,000 in 2026, if the Budget is approved by the States Assembly in December.
Deputy Jeune said: “The impact of these cuts is not just that some bushes don’t get cut back on a path, or that a survey on the impact of an invasive species doesn’t get done; these cuts have the potential to hit the competitiveness of our economy, livelihoods and essential regulatory work.
“When the Minister himself is concerned about the effect of these cuts on the services his department can provide, then we should all take note.
“Not only is the reduction in budget a worry, but there is no contingency financing at all for the department which means that any unexpected incidents, such another major storm, a disease threat to livestock or the public, would mean other areas are de-prioritised further.”
She explained that Jersey must update 89 laws to align with upcoming UK-EU Brexit negotiations to benefit from better trade, but no funding is provided for this.
“That is a potential threat to our economic growth and to the livelihoods of our fishers, farmers and businesses across the island,” said Deputy Jeune.
The panel also raised the fact that the Climate Emergency has been removed from this year’s Budget as an Environmental Wellbeing Risk.
During the hearing, Deputy Luce said that his department needed to make £749,000 in staff-related savings in the proposed Budget.
The Environment Minister said: “There’s no doubt that next year is going to be challenging. The last few years, we’ve been working hard to make sure that we stay inside budget – a budget which is continually under pressure.
“We are a department which relies very heavily on fees and charges for a good chunk of our income and consequently we find ourselves under increasing pressure year on year.”