In brief: A backbench deputy has lodged an amendment to Jersey’s Common Strategic Policy calling for multi-year funding agreements for charities. The proposal follows repeated warnings that annual funding cycles are pushing organisations to the brink, with staff leaving and services at risk of closure. The Government accepted a similar recommendation in principle more than a year ago but has yet to act on it.
The Problem With Paying Charities One Year at a Time
Deputy Hilary Jeune has lodged an amendment to the Government of Jersey’s proposed Common Strategic Policy for 2026 to 2030, seeking funding agreements covering several years for charities and social enterprises that deliver essential public services.
The case for change is not new, and it is not subtle. Bailiwick Express reports that some charities have been receiving confirmation of annual grants worth more than £1 million as late as December, just weeks before the funding year begins. Try running a staffed organisation on that kind of notice.
Deputy Jeune put it plainly: “Staff leave when their jobs are never secure beyond twelve months, and every departure means recruitment, training and lost relationships with the Islanders they support.”
An Association of Jersey Charities report, covered by Bailiwick Express in March 2025, painted a stark picture: organisations operating with skeleton staffing, facing possible redundancies and unable to plan while awaiting funding decisions. One charity told reviewers: “In six months’ time, I might be closing services, not building on a nice strategy.” Another described a “visceral fear” of speaking out, saying of the Government: “They say we are equal partners but they hold all the trump cards. They are not interested in debate or dialogue.”
A Recommendation Accepted, Then Quietly Shelved
This is not the first time the issue has been raised at a formal level. In July last year, the Public Accounts Committee recommended moving towards guaranteed three-year funding cycles to improve charities’ financial security and support long-term planning of public services.
According to Deputy Jeune’s report, the Government accepted that recommendation in principle but deferred it indefinitely. Her amendment is, in essence, an attempt to force the issue back onto the agenda with an actual timetable attached. “The direction of travel is agreed,” she wrote. “What is missing is a commitment with a timetable.”
Her amendment would also require future Budgets to explain how prevention and early intervention are being prioritised, on the straightforward logic that catching problems early costs less than dealing with crises later. “When a charity closes, the need does not go away. It falls on government, usually at higher cost,” her report states.
Wider Reforms on the Table
Beyond the funding cycle itself, the amendment seeks to have charities and social enterprises formally recognised as part of Jersey’s “social infrastructure,” with support for their long-term resilience including governance, digital skills and collaboration.
It also calls for fairer processes when awarding public contracts, addressing earlier concerns about complicated systems and charities struggling to secure support when their work spans several government departments. Deputy Jeune argued that volunteers, community trust and local knowledge should count when assessing value for money, adding: “The cheapest bid is not always the best value.”
For Jersey’s charity sector, which quietly underpins a significant portion of the island’s social care and community support, the amendment represents a practical and overdue ask. Whether the States Assembly agrees remains to be seen.
Source: Bailiwick Express
