Premier and Minister of Finance Reuben T. Meade has reaffirmed his government’s commitment to protecting Montserrat’s most vulnerable citizens, announcing a range of new programmes and investments in social services during the 2025/26 Budget Presentation on Tuesday.
“Our Social Services Department provides vital support across our communities,” Premier Meade told the Legislative Assembly. “Social protection remains a core part of this Government’s mandate as the United Alliance (UA) team believes that the most vulnerable in our society should be protected.”
He outlined a series of targeted initiatives to strengthen social protection systems and enhance the quality of care available to children, families, and individuals in need.
“During this new financial year, this government plans to increase the number of early help and preventative programmes across all services,” Meade stated.
Public education and awareness will be a key part of the strategy.
“We will increase the number of public awareness and education programmes for the work of Social Services, especially in the areas of Parenting Support, Domestic Violence and Safeguarding.”
Recognising the importance of inter-agency cooperation, Meade said the government will deepen collaboration between key departments to better protect children and families.
“We will improve multi-agency partnership work across Police, Education and Health to improve safeguarding and protection issues through the additional funding we have already secured with His Majesty’s Government.”
Plans also include modernising how social services are delivered.
“We will also modernise service delivery and support integration through the implementation of an electronic data management system for Social Services,” he said.
One of the most significant investments announced is the transformation of a key government building into a child-focused support centre.
“In that context Madam Speaker, I am pleased to inform this Honourable House that the sum of $500k has been allocated to upgrade the former Cudjoe Head Police Station, the upstairs of which will be allocated to child safeguarding and counselling services.”
According to the Premier, the Ministry of Health and Social Services will receive a total of $25,489,200 under the recurrent estimates for the coming financial year.
These investments, he noted, are intended to ensure long-term, sustained support for those in need.
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