Budget transfer from Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision within Central Contingencies to Department for External Relations

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A decision made 23 March 2018:

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2018-0034
Decision Summary Title:	EPGDP Re-assign 2018 Funding for business case ER01- Brexit		Date of Decision Summary:	13th March 2018
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Decision Support		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title:	EPGDP Re-assign 2018 Funding for business case ER01- Brexit		Date of Written Report:	13th March 2018
Written Report Author:	Head of Decision Support		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Non-recurring transfer of up to £1,073,000 in 2018 from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies to the Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a non-recurring transfer of up to £1,073,000 in 2018 from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies to the Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 17(2) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that the Minister for Treasury and Resources is authorised to approve the transfer from contingency expenditure to heads of expenditure of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year. To comply with P67/1999 which charges the Minister for Treasury and Resources to regulate the number of persons that may be employed by the States. The current Contingency Allocation Policy (published as R.110/2017) sets the requirement for all allocations from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) to be considered by the EPGDP Officer Group and the Economic Policy Political Oversight Group (EPPOG). The EPGDP Officer Group recommended this funding on 4 August 2016. The EPPOG recommended the funding on 26 August 2016. The EPGDP Officer Group further recommended that all funding be transferred to the Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure at its meeting on 9th March 2018. This decision supersedes and replaces the 2018 allocations identified in MD-TR-2016-0074, MD-TR-2016-0087 and MD-TR-2017-0154.
Resource Implications: The Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure will increase by up to £1,073,000 in 2018. The EPGDP within Central Contingences will decrease by the same amount. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for 2017-2019 in the Medium Term Financial Plan. There are no FTE implications associated with this funding.
Action required: Head of Decision Support to advise the Policy and Research Officer – Chief Minister’s Department once this decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator A J H Maclean, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Budget transfer from Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision within Central Contingencies to Department for External Relations

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Treasury and Resources

Ministerial Decision Report

EPGDP Re-Assign 2018 funding for business case ER 01 – Brexit

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve a non-recurring transfer of up to £1,073,000 in 2018 from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies to the Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure.

Background

Overview

In 2016, following a review by the EPGDP Officer Group, the Economic Policy Political Oversight Group (EPPOG) recommended that the Minister for Treasury and Resources should approve funding for business case ER01 – Brexit from the EPGDP. This sought to provide funding for the following departments between September 2016 and December 2019.

- Department for External Relations

- Chief Minister’s Department

- Law Officers’ Department

- Department for Community and Constitutional Affairs

- Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture

The Minister for Treasury and Resources subsequently signed ministerial decisions [1] allocating resources as necessary to each of the departments detailed above up to and including 2018.

The allocations for 2018 were as follows:

Department	2018	Total
External Relations	534,000	534,000
Chief Minister's	120,000	120,000
Law Officers’	110,000	110,000
Community and Constitutional Affairs	184,000	184,000
EDTSC	125,000	125,000
Total	1,073,000	1,073,000

The EPGDP Officer Group has recommended that 2018 Brexit funding be allocated in full to the Department for External Relations and subsequently assigned to departments. This change will strengthen financial oversight and allow for greater flexibility in the allocation of funding between departments where necessary.

The transfer of increased FTEs to departments will remain unchanged.

3. Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve a non-recurring transfer of up to £1,073,000 in 2018 from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies to the Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure.

4. Reason for Decision

Article 17(2) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that the Minister for Treasury and Resources is authorised to approve the transfer from contingency expenditure to heads of expenditure of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year.

To comply with P67/1999 which charges the Minister for Treasury and Resources to regulate the number of persons that may be employed by the States.

The current Contingency Allocation Policy (published as R.110/2017) sets the requirement for all allocations from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) to be considered by the EPGDP Officer Group and the Economic Policy Political Oversight Group (EPPOG).

The EPGDP Officer Group recommended this funding on 4 August 2016. The EPPOG recommended the funding on 26 August 2016.

The EPGDP Officer Group further recommended that all funding be transferred to the Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure at its meeting on 9th March 2018.

This decision supersedes and replaces the 2018 allocations identified in MD-TR-2016-0074, MD-TR-2016-0087 and MD-TR-2017-0154.

5. Resource Implications

The Department for External Relations revenue head of expenditure will increase by up to £1,073,000 in 2018. The EPGDP within Central Contingences will decrease by the same amount.

This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Medium Term Financial Plan.

Report author : Head of Decision Support	Document date 13 March 2018
Quality Assurance / Review : Director of Financial Planning and Performance	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2018-0034 - C28 EPDGP Funding Allocation Reassign - Brexit
MD sponsor : Treasurer of the States

[1] MD-TR-2016-0074, MD-TR-2016-0087 and MD-TR-2017-0154