States makes a surplus
The States made a net surplus of £63.7m in 2023, according to the latest set of accounts, which were described as encouraging by Policy & Resources vice-president and joint treasury lead Heidi Soulsby.
It was a good year with strong income tax receipts, a positive investment performance and spending restraint by committees, she said.
However, there was one exception, Health & Social Care, which saw its total spend on services increase by about £14.7m.
Deputy Soulsby said this reflected the growing demand for services and the reliance on agency workers, overtime and bank staff, which were pushing up costs.
'It demonstrates why there is a need to take a strategic approach to the delivery of health and care, as well as the need to generate more housing, both of which are top priorities of the States.'
But overall the improved performance was encouraging, especially when compared to 2022, 'although we know that the underlying pressures, as a result of our changing demographics have not gone away and will need to be addressed.'
Changes to the accounts this year include the addition, for the first time, of the State's trading bodies – Guernsey Water, Guernsey Ports, Guernsey Waste, Guernsey Dairy and States Works.
Previously accounts for these five appeared separately and their collective balance was not included in the overall accounts.
The addition of these and other changes is moving the accounts towards being compliant with International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
