Jersey's government has published the States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts for 2020, highlighting the government's achievements over the past year, its response to Covid-19 and its financial performance.
The Performance Report provides a breakdown of the activities and initiatives carried out by government departments, both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 related. It explains what the government has done with taxpayers’ money, highlighting where projects have been delivered, delayed or deferred.
The Financial Review also explains how taxpayers’ money has been spent. The headline financial figures show that despite the increased costs of protecting lives and livelihoods throughout the year, the government’s major revenue streams performed better than forecast.
While income reduced overall by 1% to £1,290m, net general revenue income increased marginally by £6.6m compared with 2019. The impact of Covid-19 on company taxation will not be seen until later in 2021.
In comparison, while revenue remained relatively stable, there were significant increases in expenditure as a result of measures to help manage the impact of the pandemic. As announced in April, £190m was spent on responding to Covid in 2020, with £97.9m supporting businesses through the Co-Funded Payroll Scheme.
Stronger balance sheet
In 2020, the balance sheet strengthened, with group net assets increasing by £95m to £7.6bn due to an increase in the value of investments and a revaluation of infrastructure and property costs.
The government did not put up taxes or cut spending to fund Covid-19 costs, but decided to run deficits in the short term – at the end of 2020 the deficit stood at £113m.
Other key information in the report includes:
• Social Security funds increased in value by £105m, up 5% on 2019
• Revenue Jersey recorded £677m in tax revenues, including more than £10m through compliance activity
• The government’s investment performance made gains of £253m, despite the volatility of the markets
• At a group level, expenditure exceeded income by £272m, and £173m was spent on capital projects
Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, commented: “We’ve now been living with Covid-19 for more than a year and this report reflects the wide-ranging support we’ve put in place for islanders and businesses.
“Our response to the pandemic was swift and sustained; we mobilised the largest financial support package in our island’s history, developed a testing programme which ranks among the most effective in Europe and put in place a comprehensive track and trace programme to mitigate the spread of the virus within our community.”
• To view the 2020 States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts click here
• To view the 2020 Departmental Annual Reports click here