All the behind-the-scenes talk from Frossard House this summer was off a new, tough approach to public finances from the new old Treasury lead.
Deputies, many of them still wet behind the ears, taken aback as the big bad Treasury lead sought to pull the rug from under their spending plans.
As it turns out, once again, we’ve got something of a halfway house from the holders of the purse strings while, plus ca change, committees do their best to screw every penny they can off the taxpayer.
Surprise, surprise, they asked Policy & Resources for a combined £28m. The senior committee accepted that there was merit in much of this. And so it was left with the proverbial ‘difficult decisions’, and has caved in somewhat by offering a total package of RPI plus an extra £8m. – all justified as contractual commitments, legal obligations or ‘a compelling business case’.
It’s clear that the juggernaut isn’t stopping any time soon, not least while committees hold sway. The handful of deputies who say they want to stop spending will have their work cut out – as will the States' chief executive, who has put both reputation and neck on the line by handling what Yes Minister called ‘The Economy Drive’.
There’s a modest £4m. target to start – maybe hook out the ideas presented to the Reducing the Cost of Public Services sub-committee. Aren’t they quite untouched?
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