BUSINESS leaders got an early insight yesterday into the new Government Business Plan.

Treasury minister Charles Parkinson (pictured), who is heading the team tasked with overhauling it, also revealed that it was likely to be renamed the States Strategic Plan.

‘Essentially, we will be producing five-year forecasts for States revenue and expenditure, based on current budgets, adjusting for the efficiency savings we anticipate of 4.5% per annum identified in the fundamental spending reviews and adding back agreed and prioritised revenue spending initiatives, flowing out of either the capital prioritisation process or the GBP revenue prioritisation process,’ he told diners at the Chamber of Commerce monthly lunch.

He admitted that was not the ideal way of planning for future budgets and the ultimate aim would be for the States to move to ‘zero-cost budgeting’, but that was not possible in one go.

‘The States has never before had to deal with a revenue prioritisation process, or to drive out the sort of efficiency savings which will be identified by the fundamental spending reviews. We have to learn to walk before we try to run.

‘The new States Strategic Plan will set out, in ballpark terms, the revenue account consequences of the fundamental spending reviews, our capital investment programme and our revenue prioritisation process and therefore predict the size of the structural deficit in the States accounts for the period 2009 to 2013.’