Public spending (FOI)

​Request

Please provide the following information:

A
Confirmation as to whether or not there has been a deficit or surplus in the public spending vs tax income in each of the last ten years.

B
Details of the amounts of the surplus/deficit in the past ten years.

C
Details of the "contingency amounts" set aside in each annual budget for the past ten years.

D
Confirmation if these contingency amounts have been spent and if they form part of the deficit/surplus calculations above.

E
What is the current total value of the social security fund, raining day fund and any other reserves held by the government

F
What is the total income and capital gains on those reserves in each of the past ten years.

G
Was the income and capital gain rolled back into the reserves or "spent" in any way.

Response

A and B
Details are available in the States of Jersey Accounts which are available in the following link. (e.g. ‘Financial Review’ section from 2017 onwards and within ‘The Treasurer’s Report’ before 2017). Please see the following link:
Historic annual report and accounts for the States of Jersey

C
Details are available in the States of Jersey Business Plan, MTFP, Government Plan published online:
Medium Term Financial Plans

Government Plan 2021 to 2024

4) Details are available in the States of Jersey Accounts (e.g. Page 160 in 2019 Accounts ‘Carry forward of contingency’, page 167 in the 2018 Accounts ‘Carry forward of contingency’). Where contingency amounts have been spent, they are included in the deficit/surplus calculations. Please see the following link:
Historic annual report and accounts for the States of Jersey

5) The audited value of each States Fund is detailed in the Annual report and Accounts each year.

6) The total income and capital gains on reserves in each of the past ten years is consolidated into the Annual report and Accounts for each of those years.

7) Expenses of the reserves are consolidated into the Annual report and Accounts for each of the last 10 years. Drawings from the Funds can be found in the relevant Annual Business Plan/Medium Term Financial Plan/Government Plan.

Article applied

Article 23 Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the
Applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.