ADDITIONAL funding should be allocated in the Budget to ensure that important statistics are made available as evidence for government projects, a Scrutiny panel has stated.
The Corporate Services Panel has lodged an amendment to the government’s proposed financial plans for the next four years that – if supported – would see Statistics Jersey given an extra £80,000 in both 2026 and 2027, plus £130,000 in each of 2028 and 2029.
In the report accompanying the amendment, the panel stated that it wanted to ensure that Statistics Jersey was sufficiently resourced to fulfil its legal requirements, particularly in relation to so-called “tier one statistics” deemed most important.
The report referenced feedback from chief statistician Ian Cope at a recent hearing regarding the restrictions that funding proposed in the draft Budget would impose.
The proposed funding, totalling £420,000 across the span of the Budget, should be achieved by reallocating other departmental expenditure within the Cabinet Office, the panel stated.
States Members are due to debate the Budget and a raft of amendments next week.
