Mr. Robert Watt:

At various stages during any fiscal year, issues will emerge. Previously we had issues around flooding, where the country was subjected to a very significant storm and there was a lot of damage. The Government responded to the calls from every single Deputy in the House and lots of people outside the House to allocate more money. The Government decided to commit to allocate additional money to local authorities. At the time the Government stated it would consider how to fund the allocation during the year, as the budget evolved. A Government needs the flexibility to be able to make decisions during the year and find the money over time and to adjust its budget accordingly. It is an enormous budget. The budget is set in October but the world moves on, and now six months after the budget was set, issues have changed and we are addressing them and trying to find solutions that arise. As the Minister said on the previous day, the Government decided for policy reasons to bring forward the welcome pay increases for public servants and we will see during the year how we will fund that additional commitment.