Last week, the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel published a comments paper following its review of the Government’s proposed Mini-Budget to address Islanders’ cost of living concerns.
The Panel sought to establish what consideration had been given to the economic impact of the measures outlined in the Mini-Budget by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture. The Panel found that the Mini-Budget was not designed to address longer-term issues such as staffing shortages or the impact on businesses and that opportunities to assist the business community had not been explored.
The Panel has concluded that there are a number of areas, such as the transition from the minimum wage to the living wage and its impact on various industry sectors, that it wishes to revisit with the Minister for Economic Development.
Chair of the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Moz Scott, said: “Our review of the Mini-Budget has provided us with the opportunity, as a newly formed Panel, to establish key areas of interest and concern with the Economic Development Minister. It is clear that as a result of time constraints in producing the Mini-Budget, some of the key areas highlighted in our report require further attention. It is the Panel’s intention to collaborate with the Minister to revisit areas related to minimum wage and rental costs and their impact on businesses over the course of its tenure, with the hope of assisting the Government to produce longer-term solutions to the economic issues linked to the rising cost of living.”
States Assembly Press Notice