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Major building projects review confirmed after Budget vote

Major building projects review confirmed after Budget vote

Wednesday 13 November 2024

Major building projects review confirmed after Budget vote

Wednesday 13 November 2024


The States’ building programme is now being reviewed.

Policy & Resources has confirmed this will be its next step having suffered a major defeat in the States last week over its keystone Budget proposal of a 10% income tax hike.

Losing the income tax vote left a £23m. hole in next year's Budget.

There is no confirmation of which projects could be targeted, but during debate the next phase of the hospital extension and Alderney's airport were both identified as being under threat.

"As the Policy & Resources Committee made unequivocally clear throughout the Budget debate, the portfolio of infrastructure projects would need to be reviewed if the Assembly was unable to agree the temporary increase in the personal rate of income tax," said P&R President Lyndon Trott.

"This increase, as clearly explained by our committee both in the lead up to the debate and throughout the four-day meeting, was essential to address the immediate financial challenge we face and secure the continued investment in infrastructure.

"That is why we called this a Budget for infrastructure, as the proposal to temporarily increase the personal rate of income tax would have enabled us to continue investing in the capital projects this Assembly agreed were essential.

"But we cannot continue spending money we don't have and unfortunately – and this is not what the Policy & Resources Committee wanted – a review of the portfolio of infrastructure projects is now needed.

"The Committee will make recommendations to the Assembly in due course once that review has been carried out, but we must ensure our island is fiscally responsible."

Deputy Trott made no mention of the other options that were open to the committee to help, including looking again at indirect taxation and committee spending.

READ MORE...

Tax rises, project delays, savings, rewriting the rules and eating into reserves - the options on the agenda as P&R draws up emergency Budget

States paves the way for GST package by 2027, rejects income tax rise

LIVE: Budget 2025

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