A DEBATE on restoring the full States grant to the Social Security Fund has been postponed after the Treasury Minister asked for more time to consider the proposal.
Deputy Max Andrews has agreed to defer the debate on his proposition by three weeks, until 29 September, following a meeting with Treasury Minister Alan Maclean.
The St Helier North Deputy said that the minister had also indicated that he wanted to discuss a “potential amendment” with the Council of Ministers.
“I’m happy with this approach and look forward to reconvening discussions after the first States sitting in September,” said Deputy Andrews.
The proposition, lodged last month, calls for the full grant to be restored from 2028 and reflected in the 2027–30 Government Budget.
Deputy Andrews has argued that the grant was partially withdrawn in the 2026 Budget because the government needed the money to fund £52 million of additional spending while preventing the Consolidated Fund from remaining in deficit.
His report said that the States had approved £334 million of “growth bid” expenditure across the past six government budgets, including £276 million between 2020 and 2024.
It also cited a warning from the Fiscal Policy Panel that the 2026 Budget proposed “an increase in day-to-day spending that exceeds revenue growth” while relying on borrowing and reducing reserves.
The panel said that increasing expenditure while Jersey’s economy was already operating at capacity was “likely to exacerbate domestically generated inflation”.
Deputy Andrews warned that, without reductions in government spending, the partial withholding of the grant would continue. Between £42 million and £45 million of investment income is expected to be transferred annually from the Social Security Reserve Fund to the Social Security Fund between 2027 and 2029.
He also described a recent decision to transfer £114.3 million from the reserve fund to compensate for reductions in the grant during 2025 and 2026 as setting “a dangerous precedent”.
If approved, the proposition would give ministers time to find departmental savings, improve efficiency and consider measures to raise revenue before reinstating the full grant.
It also argues that further growth bids should not be proposed until Jersey’s public finances have returned to a sustainable position.
