Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment, Funding and Operation (P.124/2012) Amendment: Lodged 'au Greffe'

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A decision made 16 April 2013:

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2013-0021
Decision Summary Title:	Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment, Funding and Operation (P.124/2012) -Amendment		Date of Decision Summary:	12th April 2013
Decision Summary Author:	Projects Director		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	Projects Director
Written Report Title:	Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment, Funding and Operation (P.124/2012) -Amendment		Date of Written Report:	12th April 2013
Written Report Author:	Projects Director		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment, Funding and Operation (P.124/2012) - Amendment.
Decision(s): The Minister decided to lodge ‘au Greffe’ an amendment to Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment Funding and Operation (P.124/2012).
Reason(s) for Decision: To enable the Minister’s amendment to Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment Funding and Operation (P.124/2012) to be lodged ‘au Greffe’. The amendment relates to changes made by the Minister for Economic Development to the, “Jersey Innovation Fund, Operational Terms of Reference, September 2012”, following receipt of the Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel report on the Jersey Innovation Fund presented to the States on 27th March 2013 (S.R. 4/2013). These are to be replaced with the revised ”Operational Terms of Reference, Jersey Innovation Fund Grants and Loans – Phase 1”.
Resource Implications: There are no additional resource implications as a result of this amendment.
Action required: The Greffier of the States to be requested to lodge “au Greffe” the amendment to Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment Funding and Operation (P.124/2012).
Signature:		Position: Senator P F C Ozouf, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment, Funding and Operation (P.124/2012) Amendment: Lodged 'au Greffe'

REPORT

Jersey Innovation Fund: Establishment, Funding and Operation (P.124/2012)

Introduction

Following the lodging of P124/2012 on 20th November 2012 the Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel undertook a review with the following terms of reference:-

1. To undertake an examination of key elements of the proposals to create a Jersey Innovation Fund (JIF), including:

eligibility criteria and how ‘innovation’ is defined for the purpose of the Fund
the constitution and role of the ‘Innovation Board’, and the associated role of the Minister for Economic Development
the appropriateness of increased risk in the investment of public funds, and how such risk will be managed
the processes to manage the Fund’s income and its operational costs

2. To establish what work has been undertaken on plans to enable equity investment, and what work remains to be completed.

3. To examine how the Jersey Innovation Fund compares to similar initiatives in relevant jurisdictions

The detailed review, which included meetings with Ministers and senior officers from Economic Development, Treasury, Chief Ministers Departments and key external stakeholders, resulted in a report being published on March 27th 2013.

The Scrutiny Report’s findings and recommendations have been welcomed by the Minister and, as a consequence, changes have been made to reflect fully or partially the recommendations made. The changes have led to the “Operational Terms of Reference” included in P.124/2012 being revised.

As a result, this Amendment to P.124/2012 has been brought forward to replace the previously lodged “Jersey Innovation Fund, Operational Terms of Reference, September 2012” with the ‘’Revised Operational Terms of Reference, Jersey Innovation Fund Grants and Loans – Phase 1, April 2013”.

2 Summary of changes to the Operational Terms of Reference to reflect the Scrutiny Panel’s recommendations

The areas of change in the Operational Terms of Reference to incorporate Scrutiny’s recommendations

Eligibility

i) The criteria have been amended to encourage applications from individuals, sole traders, all types of partnerships, any business registered in Jersey, or any organisation from the third sector.

ii) Access to the JIF will not be limited to projects in high value sectors. Eligibility criteria have been changed to encourage applications for projects from any sector with high growth potential that will create jobs for locals.

Level of Funding support

i) To be consistent with the Treasury Ministers maximum lending limits under the Public Finance Laws (Jersey) 2005, the maximum loan or grant available will remain at £500,000

ii) The proposed minimum level of £20,000 has been removed to encourage applications from early stage or small projects.

Corporate Governance

i) To strengthen the Board the number of private sector members has been increased to a minimum of 4 inclusive of the independent Chair

ii) Consideration will be given to commissioning organisations such as Jersey Business Ltd, Digital Jersey and the State’s Rural Economy Team to provide ongoing aftercare and monitoring functions.

Some of the Scrutiny recommendations refer to the Phase 2 of the project which, subject to States approval, will allow the JIF to make equity investments and move it towards a Partnership Model. During the development of the Report and Proposition for Phase 2 all the Scrutiny Panel’s recommendations will be carefully considered and where appropriate adopted.

3. Financial and manpower implications

There are no additional financial or manpower implications arising from this amendment.

4. Conclusion

The recommendations made by the Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel have been welcomed and the changes made will, in Phase 1, improve access to the JIF and increase the amount of investment in all areas of innovation which overall should drive growth and create new exciting job opportunities for locals.

The Operational Terms of Reference, Application Forms and all supporting documentation have been amended to reflect the changes in eligibility, level of funding and corporate governance recommendations.