Proposals to freeze state budgets for 2025 were rejected by MPs.

Only six politicians voted in favor of the project. from former Deputy Chief Minister Mark Helyarwith 27 votes against.

MPs backed, in principle, next year’s proposals to “ensure that new employees are appointed at a static rate of pay” and to close any positions left vacant in the United States for six months.

After the vote, Helyar said he was “delighted” that some of his proposals were supported.

He added: “Unfortunately, there has been little support for spending restraint. It is clear to me that the public wants more evidence of savings, and I hope that message gets through.”

The two proposals retained could be rejected when the final proposals for the 2025 budget are voted on by deputies.

During the debate, several politicians criticized the number of civil servants employed by states.

A civil servant, who wished to remain anonymous, said after the debate that he had felt “demoralized and humiliated”.

They added “it made me think about leaving the service.”

The BBC has contacted Prospect, the union which represents most civil servants on the island, for comment.

In a letter to MPs ahead of the debate, the island’s public sector unions urged MPs not to vote in favor of some of Helyar’s proposals.

They warned that closing positions after six months of vacancy could have the “unintended consequence that managers will feel obliged to recruit any candidate for fear of seeing the role eliminated”.

They also warned that approving these proposals could “exacerbate” the “significant staff recruitment and retention challenges” currently facing states.