// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
P&R's two-pronged budget approach under fire
P&R has put forward two budgets for deputies to decide on
Politicians have expressed dismay at Policy and Resources' (P&R) budget for 2027, stating it does not do enough to support ordinary islanders.
Deputy Adrian Gabriel said "I'm disappointed" as he hit out at plans to reduce tax caps and said he "would have liked to have seen their maximum liability, their cap, increase much more".
Deputy Haley Camp said P&R's approach of presenting two budgets showed it had abandoned all spending discipline.
P&R Treasury Lead Charles Parkinson said he never believed the direction to reduce spending by 1% in real terms - which deputies agreed to last year - was possible.
Camp disagreed: "It is clear we're only moving in one trajectory which is let's just keep on spending money with abandon and at some point down the road someone else can fix it."
Deputy Lee Van Katwyk said alongside Deputy Rob Curgenven he would be bringing a proposal to freeze fuel duty to "support struggling families".
Former head of Start Up Guernsey, Deputy Jennifer Strachan questioned P&R's plans to introduce an entrepreneurs' tax cap to attract new business to the island, alongside the States' decision to close the Digital Greenhouse, a centre for digital and creative start-ups.
"I think they're doing an easy thing, which is to say - here's a tax cap, come live here," she said.
"I think the hard work is actually developing the ecosystem for entrepreneurs to thrive."