Minister admits health budget is 'concerning'

Jersey's treasury minister has admitted she is concerned about the amount of money the health department is getting in the government's proposed budget.

The government's proposed budget for 2026-2029 is scheduled to be debated in the States Assembly on Monday.

The amount assigned to health is set to be £381m, a nearly £60m increase from 2025 when its budget was £322m.

In September the health minister Deputy Tom Binet defended what he described as a "disproportionate" increase to his budget as he said the service had been consistently underfunded.

Deputy Elaine Millar, the treasury minister, acknowledged the increase to the health budget was "concerning".

She said: "It's concerning, it would be concerning for any department to see that level of growth of spending and that demand in spending."

She explained there were legitimate reasons for the health budget to be increased.

Millar said: "We are not alone, nearly everywhere in the western world is looking to increase health spending.

"So we are seeing an increase in spending that's due to more people living longer and living longer with illnesses that need to be treated.

"Health inflation is bigger than inflation in the rest of the economy."

The corporate services review panel, which reviews the budget, criticised the proposed health spending.

The panel said "despite well-recognised pressures" with the health system the budget "does not set out concrete measures to urgently address them, relying instead on longer term work to develop a sustainable funding model".

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