Save first, tax later
Wednesday 9th December 2009, 3:00PM GMT.
Senator Ozouf presented his first Budget
STATES departments will face unprecedented scrutiny on spending as the task of closing a looming deficit begins, Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf warned yesterday in his debut Budget speech.
Introducing his proposals for £558m worth of taxation in 2010, the Senator said that the new comprehensive spending review process would be tougher than any previous efforts, and that only after all possible savings had been identified would new taxes be brought forward to make up deficits of between £50m and £68m stretching out ahead.
Debate has begun on next year’s Budget, which includes rises of nearly 10% in duty on tobacco and fuel and a 6.2% increase in alcohol duty. The Budget also sets out plans to introduce a duty on car emissions, but not until September, by which time ministers say that economic recovery should be beginning.
In his introductory Budget speech, Senator Ozouf also praised his ministers and the States for their backing of a fiscal stimulus fund to keep the economy ticking over, saying that the Island’s economic picture would look much bleaker without it.
• Senator Ozouf’s speech in full: Click here
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Its easy. CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING.
An Island with 100,000 people spending £600M a year on “public services” and “Capital projects” is totally outrageous.
Trim the fat and waste. Get your house in order. Cut staff.
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I cannot believe I have just read in Phil’s speech that £2.5 million has been allocated to open overseas offices-it beggars belief!!!
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It is pretty much no extra taxation, the States have thrown out the extra duty increases and I doubt there will be much in the way of cuts either.
The big spending departments are more powerful than the Treasury.
We are on course to run structural deficits until we run out of reserves and then unable to borrow will have to make really agonising cuts.
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So much for all the promises that we would not have environmental taxes!
Why don’t they have a tax on marine fuel instead, excluding commercial boats (ie Condor) and commercial fishermen – rich people with their yachts can afford a fuel tax more than families.
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Does he really expect to be taken seriously..?
does he think the public of this island are to be taken in by his spin, when the Govt itself is the villain spending the way it does, a govt that lurches about like a drunk teenager with it’s parents credit card spending wildly and ,parachuting u.k. staff in all over the place at huge wages,while we have local people struggling…to coin a modern phrase “Yeah that’ll be right”
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If Senator Ozouf would have delayed his speech by a day, he could have learned a thing or two from Chancellor Alistair Darling, over in Westminster.
While the UK pre-budget statement is far from satisfactory in many respects, it does acknowledge the fact that Britain is still in recession. Darling Darling has proposed quite a few unpopular moves, including a pay freeze for nurses, police, teachers, and firefighters.
What does Senator Ozouf propose: rises of nearly 10% in duty on tobacco and fuel and a 6.2% increase in alcohol duty. He wants a duty on car emissions, but not until September.
Not even cash-strapped Darling has done that – but he has one eye on the ballot box next summer.
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A UK Chancellor would have to resign if he received a mauling like Sean Power gave to Phillip Ozouf today as he would no longer enjoy the confidence of the House.
But Phillip Ozouf will just continue as he is not really a Chancellor anyway and it is the Jersey way!
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Save Full Stop!!!
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Quite right Pip I agree 100%. Just think this person will soon be the Chief Minister.
This bit from his speech made me laugh.
“Sir, I rise with a degree of some trepidation as I present my first budget statement to the Assembly.”
He gives me a degree of trepidation whenever I see his face in the JEP, which appears to be nearly everyday now.
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In the hands of babes.If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny.How can the States of Jersey gain any respect when you see this amateurish speech which was obvviously written for the Senator by his civil servants.Tail wagging the dog comes to mind.!
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Sorry last comment should have used my cookie crumble name.Thank you.
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I’m with Brian #1 on this one – sort out your own house before leaning on the increasingly NON-silent majority of islanders to bail you out time and again.
Dare we even MENTION a hike on GST – I can’t remember off the top of my head when they said that’d be upped but you KNOW it’s going to happen. And let’s be honest, how can the States yet again need to prey upon the pockets of the populace when we are ALL now paying an additional 3% on ALL our regular shopping ? Fine it’s pennies each time, but we all do a LOT of shopping I’m sure, so … what are they playing at !?
I think THEY think we’re stupid personally.
!?!?! Puzzled !?!?!
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Regarding the environmental taxes – it should either be an increase in duty OR an annual emissions tax. But surely not both!
As we already have the former, why are they even discussing bringing back a road tax?
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#4 Nellie: “rich people with their yachts can afford a fuel tax more than families”
Marine fuel does carry a duty, its just reduced because road fuel includes our road tax. And just because you own a boat doesn’t make you rich. Pretty narrow minded view really.
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4 Nellie macon – re boat fuel. Whilst I would love to tax boaters this would just be cutting off our noses to spite our face as we earn thousands from the tourist who come to the island to fill up on our cheap fuel. So much so that harbours stumped up £300k of their revenue to subsidise this cost.
The real answer is to cut our bloated goverment structure
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What would happen if we all (Islandwide) refused to pay them ??
Would they take us all on mass to petty debts ?
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So we will have to pay more tax – and we see on another page that we have people flocking to steal our healthcare and put their elderly relatives in care – AT TAX PAYERS’ EXPENSE.
The States have given so many handouts over the past 10 years reality is now biting and they will have to start cutting back – otherwise we will be as bust as they UK
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I don’t mind paying my taxes as long as I see the revenues going to good use. Time to get your house in order ladies and gents!!
Then again ‘there’s a boat in the morning’. Think I’ll be on in for sure…….
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@ UK Student #13
“…environmental taxes – it should either be an increase in duty OR an annual emissions tax…”
Totally agree, the proposed annual emissions tax is a stupid idea, the tax should be on the consumption, not the potential to consume.
I would argue less if it were an annual registration tax, for which a stronger case could be made, but to try and wrap a purely revenue increasing(let’s not even think about the cost of the bureaucracy for the moment)exercise up in environmental propaganda is just a poor political sham.
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#18 if they haven’t taxed you out of being able to afford it!
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#9 Adrian ,
Lord ‘elp us if Phil is elected or should i say anointed Chief Minister in the near future , that would be the time to get on that ” boat in the morning ” thats if you can sell your house !
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reggio it won’t be long now before the big O gets the job then I think it will be a case of batten down the hatches and get ready to abandon ship.
Any advance on 10% GST anyone?
I see no ships only hardships…..
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Ha Ha, yes there is a boat in the evening aswell, i took it, now im in Bournmouth, the tax is higher here, but its a fair tax, everything is much cheaper here, saving £250 a month on rent in a bigger place out weighs the cost of councel tax etc and food, goods etc are much cheaper, so much better off, i was Jersey born, life here is how you make it, you have choice, the slow lane or the fast lane, Luke in Bournemouth.
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23 Luke ,Good luck to you mate, Bournemouth is a nice neck of the woods, but it is quite sad to see that more and more locally born and bred people of all backgrounds are considering moving away because they see the Jersey that they grew up in turning into a quite unpleasant and uncaring place to live.
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Our esteemed leaders seem to think that cutting costs is the same as cutting services.
It is not. They are labouring under the misbelief that Efficiency describes a swimming thing in the ocean.
Stop wasting OUR money
Stop subsidising poorly managed businesses
Stop outsourcing to contractors and ‘experts’
Start being realistic
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