LegoCo member Peter Reid has given his support to the government’s final budget, describing it as a “good start” despite warning that the next administration faces significant economic challenges.
In his first budget speech since joining Tynwald, the political member for health noted that his department accounts for a substantial portion of proposed spending, with the Manx Utilities Authority also facing major capital requirements.
Mr Reid said the budget reflected challenges facing the island, including “the rising cost of social care, the demands on our reserves and the longer term challenges for the National Insurance Fund, the contraction of our economy, inflationary pressure and increasing government costs”.
He confirmed the Department of Health and Social Care had moved away from Treasury’s traditional “pink book assumptions” towards a model “far more based on patient care and patient demand that we can actually measure”.
Framework
A new regulatory framework had been introduced “with key deliverables in line with good practice, and they’re around governance and leadership, ethical standards, transparency, financial planning and control, risk management, assurance and systems and capability”.
Mr Reid also highlighted the major financial recovery programme now in place, focusing on cost control, workforce productivity and demand management.
However, he warned: “The dark cloud on the horizon, I believe, for our next government are the demands on the reserves and the longer term pressure on our National Insurance Fund.”
While supporting the budget, Mr Reid expressed concern about the increase in personal allowances, noting he had “favoured the previous suggestions for improvements in national insurance, which I believe would have benefited business and employees”.
He concluded that the next government faces “real challenges to grow and open the increase in the jaws of our economy”.