Senator John Le Fondré explained that more information was being collected before any decisions were taken on how large the population should be.
This week, new data on how much tax is received from households compared to how much it costs the States to provide services per household was published.
According to the report, 3.2% of the total expenditure of an average Jersey household is estimated to go on GST.
Meanwhile, in terms of receipts, the provision of healthcare is identified as the ‘largest single broad area of government expenditure in Jersey’, accounting for around £220 million of expenditure a year or approximately £2,100 per person.
It is the first piece of information that will be used to form the population policy.
‘To get our population policy right we need to consider a range of factors,’ said Senator Le Fondré in the vlog which is on YouTube.
‘Those will include tax income from companies as well as their future workforce needs, and the positive social impacts that immigrants have on Jersey, as well as the ongoing impact of having an ageing population and how we’re going to support our elderly now and into the future.’
The Chief Minister says the policy-makers will gather together and consider evidence which may take longer to get right.
‘But what I can promise is that when we publish our report in the autumn, it’ll give us for the first time, a factually based assessment of how a changing population will affect the Island.’
Senator Le Fondré added: ‘I believe getting the groundwork right is essential to developing all our policies and in particular this one on population so that the reasons we give for our decisions to States Members, to Scrutiny, and to the public are being honest, transparent and built on evidence.’
