MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' Government publishes Budget for 2022/23: “stability and continuity”

The capital projects commitment recognizes priorities are the new Port Facility, new Power Station, school expansion, improvements to the hospital plus the new waste management facility

Stability and continuity are at the heart of the Falkland Islands Government Budget for 2022/23. The Budget recognizes these two themes are essential in the time of continued uncertainty stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic and the work on global recovery.

The operating budget for 2022/23 is £92.4 million (excluding internal recharges) with the main areas of investment for the coming 12 months including:

* £14.1m for health and wellbeing
* £9.8m for education and training
* £12.2m on transportation and infrastructure
* £6.1m on protecting the environment
* £2.5m maintaining health of pension funds

The overall commitment to capital projects continues in 2022/23 recognizing the priorities are the new Port Facility, new Power Station, school expansion, improvements to the hospital and the development of a new waste management facility in addition to the construction of Tussac House which is well underway. Other significant projects and programs of work include the maintenance of Stanley roads, continuation of the MPA road asphalt program, repairs and investment in new Camp roads, and increased housing and building maintenance.

In addition, the capital program includes provision for equipment to support data gathering of carbon flux rates and weather changes including drying out of land as well as establishing funding for the development of environmental schemes.

The Budget continues the Government’s prudent approach to expenditure, maintaining reserves and continuing the existing capital program. The Budget increases the minimum wage, welfare and social allowances including pensions and has new increases in fees and charges in line with inflation for the 2022/23 financial year.

MLA Roger Spink, Government Service, Legal and Regulatory portfolio holder, said: “The Assembly in our last Budget emphasized its foundation on focusing on the wellbeing of people across the Falkland Islands and the negative impact of COVID-19 on our day to day lives. We are now moving from a pandemic to living with COVID-19 in an endemic world and we wanted to have this reflected in this year’s Budget.

It is important that we as a government look forward to what we can now achieve following our excellent handling of the global pandemic. The continuation of the new Port Facility is vital in ensuring that as we grow as a country we have the right facilities in place to support this expansion. Our capital program remains robust and continues to look at our key areas for development and maximizing local involvement, provides jobs and economic activity together with assets that will benefit our community over a long period. The health and wellbeing of our community remains a priority and with the continued progress of Tussac House, we are well on the way in welcoming the first residents to their new home in early 2024. The public will see that the KEMH is currently having some refurbishments done, all the while remaining open and providing an excellent service. The Budget will support these continued refurbishments with the focus to continue to provide a hospital with new capabilities so we can provide more diagnostic, medical procedures and care for anyone who visits.

Our long-term social vision of giving our children and young people the best possible start remains unchanged, we cannot always build a future for our youth, but we can give them the best tools available to help them build their own future. This Budget supports this through family support, a significant rise in the minimum wage and school investment which will look to extend the Falkland Islands Community School. As we look to the future in our young people, we are also looking to the future in working alongside our environment. We aim in this Budget to purchase equipment to support data gathering of carbon flux rates and weather changes. The results of this will inform our research and will enable us to understand what we need to do to as a government to improve our infrastructure and ensure it is sustainable for the future.”