The latest accounts show that income exceeded expenditure by £10.2M with personal income tax receipts making up nearly half of the money the States receive.

The accounts please deputy Heidi Soulsby, who's vice president of senior committee Policy and Resources.

She says it shows despite talk of deficits and general doom and gloom, they're good news:

"That focus on the operating surplus, where we're showing we're balancing the books and really had a good year I think is important."

The States hold millions in investments and those are subject to markets going up and down. Deputy Soulsby says it's positive that those holdings did better in 2023.

Income tax brings in half of the States revenue, and she says that's the sign of a healthy economy:

"Income taxes did go up, and that's a reflection of wage increases and increased employment. That underlying picture of a strong economy is a good one." 

Committees kept with budget aside from health, which overspent by £4M in 2023, which is 1.8% of its budget. That's blamed on agency workers, increased charges for medicines and children's services.

For those concerned about a burgeoning public sector with employees being paid large salaries then the accounts show an increase in the number of staff whose salary and other expenses cost the States more than £105,000 a year.

Deputy Heidi Soulsby, says much of that is in fact down to vacancies in the health service:

"That has been driven by more and more people doing overtime to fill positions that are currently vacant. Yes we've got agency staff coming in, but we've also got a lot of people working really hard to keep the service going."

The accounts are progressively becoming more transparent and are moving to approved international standards for the public sector.

They go before deputies on 19 June.