Manx Care’s chief executive has said the way Manx Care’s budget uplift is presented isn’t a fair representation of the facts
Teresa Cope told Tynwald members that a headline £45m increase for 2026/27 does not tell the full story, with the real-terms uplift being significantly lower.
The Chief Executive was giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee when she was challenged by Lawrie Hooper on the discrepancy between the publicised figure and the actual increase once contingency funds and previous spending are accounted for.
Mr Hooper asked: “Do you think that’s really a reflective and fair way of presenting Manx Care’s budget in that big, glorious £45 million headline? Actually sounds great, but actually when you look beneath the surface of what it really represents, it’s less than half that in actual terms.”
Ms Cope replied: “No, I would agree. I don’t think it is fairly represented, but I don’t think that’s new.”
Uplifts
The outgoing CEO said Manx Care had presented four funding scenarios to government, with an initial ask of £425 million representing a 17% uplift. The final settlement came in at just over £404 million.
She described the coming year as “a consolidation year” rather than one for major expansion.
“The core offer is what’s already there, and you can’t change. There is not a lot of new services or additional investment. It is what is currently there.”
Ms Cope acknowledged that both the DeHSC and Manx Care “really wanted this year to be the year where we demonstrate we can operate within the money”.
However, she warned of significant financial risks, particularly around pay.
The budget assumes a 2.9% pay uplift, but union expectations are far higher. When asked directly if the budget was sufficient, Ms Cope said: “If we think about what we’re likely to achieve in terms of pay uplifts and inflation, then no.”
She added: “I have to also recognise our responsibilities around the wider government finances. We’ve got a 12% uplift and that’s better than most of the government departments.
“But actually the reality is that does mean we’ve got to be really, really careful on our expenditure.”