PROPOSED cuts to the Children’s Commissioner’s funding could be blocked, if States Members agree.
Under the current Budget figures being put forward – the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for Jersey will be required to make a saving of £61,000.
However, an amendment from the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel is calling for the funds to be reinstated through reallocating money from the Cabinet Office spend.
In a written submission to the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, the Office for the Children’s Commissioner for Jersey warned that meeting the savings targets required in the proposed 2026 Budget would restrict the “capacity to do the job that it was established to do” and would leave the office with an “almost shoestring budget” of non-staffing costs of £208,000.
The OCCJ added that, when combined with savings across the previous two Budgets, the £61,000 target represented a cut of £139,000 in three years.
In its amendment, the Corporate Services panel said the Children’s Commissioner needed to “sufficiently resourced” in order to meet its legal obligations.
The panel acknowledges that the government has requested savings and budget
reductions across a wide range of departments and sectors in this Budget.
“However, it does not consider that the government’s decision to propose this saving, and the subsequent impact it will have on the Children’s Commissioner’s areas of work, is in
alignment with the aims of the law,” the panel said.
The Children’s Commissioner post was set up following a recommendation made in the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry report.
The panel said it is important to uphold the recommendations made by the inquiry and to “highlight the parallels between the adequacy of funding provided to the Children’s Commissioner and its ability to discharge its statutory functions”.
“The panel believes that the Children’s Commissioner should have security regarding
the funding required to sufficiently resource the delivery of its functions as required by
law,” the amendment continued.
“This includes progressing workstreams related to educational inequalities, considering the views of children with SEND and progressing important strategic priorities which will impact on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Jersey.
“Furthermore, the Children’s Commissioner should remain secure in its ability to obtain independent, expert advice as required. The panel believes that reinstating the £61,000 of funding allocated to the Children’s Commissioner is proportionate, necessary and aligns with the aims of the law.”
