Island’s defence contribution to the UK a third of Isle of Man’s
GUERNSEY’S contribution to the UK’s defence is the lowest of all the Crown Dependencies and for 2020/21 was one third of the amount paid by the Isle of Man.
The figures were released by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice Lord Wolfson of Tredegar in response to written questions from Lord Wallace of Saltaire, the Liberal Democrats Lords’ spokesperson for the Cabinet Office.
Lord Wallace asked three questions – when the Crown Dependencies last made financial contributions to the UK and what they were, what was the sum of all the contributions made since April 2015, and whether Guernsey still declared the maintenance of the Alderney breakwater as its contribution to UK defence and if the island made any other contribution.
Lord Wolfson said the dependencies made voluntary contributions either financially or by providing military personnel.
‘As it is in the interests of the UK to represent the whole British family internationally, these contributions are not intended to reflect the exact cost of either defending the Crown Dependencies or representing them internationally,’ he said.
As well as funding the upkeep of the Alderney breakwater, Guernsey also makes a contribution in the form of payment of passport fees.
This totalled £809,562 in 2020/21, with just over half a million going on the breakwater. The total amounted to £12.85 per head of population.
By contrast, the Isle of Man, which makes a direct monetary contribution to the UK’s consolidated fund at HM Treasury, paid £3,236,233 in that period, or £37.78 per capita.
Jersey paid £14.28 per capita in 2020, with its contribution of £1,532,678 being spent on the Army Reserve Unit (the Jersey Field Squadron, part of the Royal Engineers) on the island.
The totals paid since 2015 were: Isle of Man, £18,626,304; Jersey, £7,497,833; Guernsey, £5,463,966.
