The increases, the cuts, the new and the outcasts

The Church was a big winner in the Budget with an above average increase in funds for its schools, contrary to those earmarked for the new post-secondary campus in Kordin, which have decreased sharply.

With an allocation of €38.5 million, Church schools saw their share of the Budget jump up by 16 per cent. The additional €5.5 million from taxpayers' money was justified by the Prime Minister, with the increased funds intended to help Church schools implement the reform to ease the transition of students from primary to secondary school.

The percentage increase is equivalent to the overall percentage rise in the state's expenditure on education, which will go up by €16 million to reach a whopping €270 million next year.

But with Budget 2010 reading very much like a balancing act, the Finance Minister had to keep expenditure in check and one of the casualties was the proposed campus for the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology in Kordin.

The allocation for the construction of the campus, first promised in 2007, dropped to €500,000 from €3.5 million earmarked last year.

The Mcast campus was not the only project to feel the pinch. No funds were earmarked for the implementation of a National Sexual Health Policy and money for health education and nutrition was cut by €63,000.

There has been a new budgetary allocation to implement a national strategy on obesity with €150,000 earmarked to tackle expanding waistlines.

More significant expenditure cuts were announced in the social field. The government budgeted €59.5 million in social assistance for 2010, €2.5 million below the allocation for 2009.

Similarly, the house loan subsidy scheme run by the Housing Authority was slashed to €160,000 from €1.3 million.

On the other hand, with the hospital waiting lists being a constant headache for public health practitioners and patients, the government earmarked €4 million in funds to tackle the problem. This was the first time a dedicated fund was created to tackle the problem that has plagued the public health system for years.

The initiative to start a breast screening programme was given a boost with funds going up to €1.6 million from €700,000.

Similarly, funds for the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme more than tripled to €1.5 million with the service being rolled out in other localities to reach a further 50,000 new patients.

As for subsidies, the government withdrew its funding for the planning authority, estimated to be about €6 million but increased the support schemes for agriculture by €2.6 million to €14 million.

The seriously-degraded Fort St Angelo in Vittoriosa, which risks collapse in some parts, benefitted from a cash injection of €1.5 million while families will share €10 million between them to make up for higher water and electricity bills.

Local councils were on the receiving end of the austerity stick with their direct budget allocation stuck at €28 million, the same as this year's. The only reprieve was the creation of a special initiatives' fund to be used for cultural activities, clean energy investments and studies on the safety of playing fields.

Next year will see the government plant fewer trees after the afforestation budget was cut by €61,000 to €300,000. But the Christmas period would be musically enriched with the RAI Christmas concert for which the Budget allocated €250,000.

As for the much-vaunted income tax cut from 35 to 25 per cent, taxpayers will have to continue waiting.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com