WITH an election looming and greater scrutiny than ever on how public finances are being spent, the release of the 2025 States Annual Report and Accounts comes with perhaps a little more intrigue than usual.
The lengthy document has revealed the cost of Jersey’s government has once again topped a billion – but is operating with a £262 million surplus after investment returns, while the Island’s balance sheet also soaring by £600m from £8.3 to £8.9 billion.
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham told the JEP that the report “should provide some reassurance to Islanders that we’re in a strong position”.
The figures reveal that the 2025 savings target of £20.3 million was exceeded by £4.5 million, with the report pointing to a 37% reduction in “consultant” expenditure as part of an ongoing effort to curb public sector growth.
In total, general revenue income is up £33 million from 2024, accounted for in part by the recouping of £734 million in personal income tax – though corporate income tax decreased by £6 million to £184 million.
Also of note is a £7m reduction in total net revenue expenditure; with a breakdown of the figures revealing a £41m reduction in social benefit payments when compared with 2024.
In spite of the reduction, departmental income as a whole increased by 9% from 2024 to £130m, while staff costs across the public sector now stand at £695m, up 5% from the 2024.
Top earning civil servants
A table listing the total earnings of Jersey’s “Executive Leadership Team” stated that chief executive Dr Andrew McLaughlin received a hefty pay award in 2025 earning between £325-330,000 in total last year – up from between £220,000-230,000 in 2024.
Similarly, assistant chief executive and Health chief officer Tom Walker was also remunerated with £325-330,000 compared to his previous total earnings of between £250-£260,000.
Chief officer for the Economy Department Richard Corrigan was rewarded with an improved salary of £270-275,000, while Sophie Le Sueur, who was officially appointed chief officer for Employment, Social Security and Housing after acting as interim since September, is revealed to have earned £210-215,000 in salary, allowances and pension-related benefits.
Interim chief officer of Children, Young People, Education and Skills Keith Posner – who is responsible for overseeing a new partnership model across Jersey secondary schools – received between £225,000 and £230,000.
Several ‘senior officers’ who are not part of the ELT also received slight improvements to their total earning packages.
Chief of Police Robin Smith saw his earnings increase by £5,0000 to £215,000, while Judicial Greffier Rebecca Morley-Kirk’s wages currently stand at £230,000 – up from £210,000 in 2024.
These various increases account for an increase in “upper quartile remuneration” from £73,305 to £76,237.
In contrast, “median remuneration” across Jersey’s public sector fell from £61,041 to £56,857, while “lower quartile remuneration” also dropped, falling from £43,684 to £41,922.
Exit packages and employee sickness
The report revealed a total of 45 ‘exit packages’ were dispensed to States of Jersey Employees in 2025, amounting to £1,262,657 for the public purse.
Of those 45, 13 were settlement agreements – with the public sector paying out a total of £452,952 for are what are often referred to as ‘golden handshakes’.
This figure stands in contrast to the 2024 Annual Report and Accounts, which found that the government spent over £870,000 on equivalent packages.
The average payment across settlement agreements, or redundancies – either compulsory or voluntary – decreased from £32,1995 in 2024 to £28,059 last year.
Also included in the report are statistics on average sick days taken by public sector employees.
The stated figure for total hours lost to employee sickness in 2025 is 636,142 – equivalent to 85,965 days.
This represents a stark increase from 2024, in which the total hours lost was reported at 557,344 – equivalent to 75,317 days.
Seen another way, ‘average days sick per employee’ rose from 8.8 to nearly 9.7 from 2024 to 2025.
The report, though, states that the rise was “anticipated” and “can be partly attributed to improved reporting”.
Grants
The overall figure for grants dispensed by the government increased overall by 2.2% in 2026, with the report citing the introduction of the Living Wage programme as “the most significant contributor”.
Total expenses for grants stands at just over £91 million, up from £89 million in 2024.
Highlighted in a table listing “significant grants” of over £75,000 and over are several entries concerning the Jersey Battle of Flowers Ltd.
The annual carnival received a grant of £128,000 in 2025 to “support initiatives to enhance the presentation and atmosphere of the Parades with [the] objective of increasing visitors numbers.”
According to the report it also received a further £120,000 to “support repayment of previous creditors”.
Meanwhile, the government handed the Jersey International Air Display Ltd a £118,000 grant “to provide financial support for the Jersey Air Display”.
Elsewhere, the Bureau de Jersey Ltd were given £126,00 in grants “to support relations with France” in areas including “energy, fisheries, civil contingencies transport links and tourism”.
Notable increases in grant payments include pay-outs to support Jersey farming and the operating costs of the Opera House.
A core grant of £189,000 to “support Jersey farming” in 2024 was increased to £400,000 in 2025 – while a grant of £400,000 to “provide support for the operating costs of the Opera House” in 2024 had risen to £630,000 last year.
Risk factors
The report also listed the “Top 5 Risks and Issues” for 2025-26 as part of a broader section on risk management in Jersey.
A score of “extreme” was designated “due to several factors” in relation to the issue of insufficient capacity in the Island to care for children.
It states: “There is a risk that Children’s Services have insufficient capacity to meet our statutory requirement to care for children who need to be cared for by the State.”
Areas of focus to remedy the extreme risk include adequate provision of foster carers, management of children’s residential capacity to meet needs and the development of a ‘Needs Analysis’ to inform residential estate modelling.
Also included in the “extreme risks” – as it relates to safety and security – is cyber defence, and the “risk that systems could be successfully breached, leading to a loss of government data and failure of public resources”.
The “management of health and safety including property portfolio” also features as a category with an “extreme” risk score – in particular “the risk that departments do not meet the agreed minimum standards for health and safety across all their services.”
The report states that “the scale and complexity” of health property in Jersey “presents ongoing challenges.”
In summary
As it relates to governance, the report concludes: “Actions have been taken to achieve a stronger grip on expenditure and curb the growth in the public sector, including controls engaging consultants, recruitment freezes, and developing the leadership cadre within the organisation.
“In addition, analyses of the drivers for observed growth have been developed, which have been published and will inform policy options for the next government to reduce costs by looking at departmental models and a revised landscape of arm’s length bodies.”
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham told the JEP that without these changes in governance “expenditure would have been significantly higher than it is.”
He added: “But it’s important, we cannot be complacent.
“We’re still in a strong financial position, and we’ll certainly be handing over a much stronger financial position to the new government we inherited.
“It’s important the next government, and the next Assembly, don’t let that slide. I’m mindful that that although we a wealthy Island there are many Islanders that continue to struggle, and it’s important that we prioritise our spending to make sure we provide the services and the support for those who need it most.”
Turning to the findings of the report, he added: “I think the high level figures: the fact that we’ve seen our revenue increase slightly, we’ve seen our expenditure fall slightly, we’ve increased the value of the balance sheet by £600m, over half a billion pounds, our reserves have grown, and we’ve ended up with very healthy surplus, I think will should provide some reassurance to Islanders that we’re in a strong position”
Treasury Minister Elaine Millar said the report reflects attempts to “stop the continuing mushroom of headcount in the public service”.
“There used to be a kind of ‘growth bid process’ that developed – people just came in and said: we want this and this, and this extra money,” she added.
“We’ve really tried to limit that, and I think that is the way and what we need to keep doing, really focusing just on what we need in the future.”
