THE 2026 Budget debate has been pushed back by two weeks after an initial target for its publication was missed.
It had been anticipated that the Council of Ministers would unveil its financial plan for the upcoming year this week.
However, it has now been confirmed that the new target is to lodge the proposals by 16 September ahead of it being debated by the sitting beginning on Tuesday 9 December.
In a letter to Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel chair Deputy Helen Miles in May, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham said that it was “the intention to lodge on 2 September for debate at the 25 November sitting”.
In recent years, the Assembly has typically avoided holding the lengthy Budget debate on the last sitting before the Christmas break.
Typically, Ministers provide a 12-week lodging period before a Budget debate to allow for Scrutiny panels to review the plans and bring amendments.
One of the key topics for this year is likely to be the future of funding for health amid growing concerns about overspending within the department.
Health Minister Tom Binet has previously admitted that he will be asking the Assembly to “sanction a major increase in funding for the health service” and has put forward several suggestions including recently announcing a review of elective surgery procedures, charging people for missing Emergency Department appointments and charging for some “non-essential” services such as the homebirth service.
