Public sector pay freeze for Jersey announced
A pay freeze for public sector staff, excluding nurses and midwives, has been announced by the States of Jersey, the BBC has reported.
Jersey, one of seven Channel Islands off the French coast of Normandy, is a so-called Crown dependency, which means it is part of the British constitutional monarchy, but it does not belong to the United Kingdom. It is autonomous and self-governing, with its own independent legal, administrative and fiscal systems.
The freeze, reported yesterday, follows the announcement of job cuts and charges for services to tackle a predicted £125m shortfall.
Treasury Minister Senator Alan Maclean said earlier this week that services will be “redesigned” to be more efficient and vacant staff posts will not be filled, in an attempt to save £60m per year in staff costs through voluntary redundancies.
He said there was a shortfall in income over what was originally predicted as part of the three-year financial plan.
Senator Maclean said: “We are focusing on 2019, we have profiled the expenditure for key priorities and by 2019 we are seeking to have a balanced budget.”
In 2014, there was a shortfall of £35m, and £50m in 2015.
The government predicted the gap, between what needs to be spent and predicted income, could increase to £125m by 2019 if no action was taken.
About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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