Education Department
Ministerial Decision Report
Contingency Funding Request – Investment in initiatives that support vulnerable children
Section 1: Introduction
The MTFP2, as adopted by the States Assembly, included the allocation of £1.65million per year from central contingencies for initiatives that support vulnerable children. (Full amount £4,950,000 profiled as £1.65 million per year over the three-year period from 2017 to 2019).
As set out in MTFP2, that allocation is to support delivery of initiatives that include outstanding recommendations from key reports (e.g.: Williamson, Care Inquiry and Serious Case Reviews), where it is anticipated that those initiatives may feature in the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry recommendations (IJCI). It is anticipated that the IJCI will now due to be published in July 2017.
Further to the decision of the States Assembly, the Council of Minister agreed on 9th November 2016, the release of a proportion of the allocated contingency monies to support the delivery of nine different initiatives. The cost of nine initiatives agreed by the Council of Minister does not represent the total contingency allocation (see Section 3 below).
The Council of Ministers also agreed to delegate to the Chief Minster the decision to request the Treasury and Resources Minister to release the remaining contingency allocation at some point in the future. Prior to making that request, the Chief Minister must have consulted with CAVA Ministers[1] about the initiatives to be funded from the remaining allocation.
In accordance with that decision, and having consulted with the CAVA Ministers, on 12 May 2017 the Chief Minister requested that the Treasury and Resources Minister release a proportion of unallocated contingency monies for two additional initiatives. That proportion being a total of up to £896,150 over 2017 – 2019 (up to £223,600 2017, up to £300,000 in 2018 and up to £372,500 in 2019 but the amount for each year potentially to be varied without exceeding the total amount for the three years). (MD-C-2017-0038).
Further to MD-C-2017-0038, the Chief Minister having again consulted with CAVA Ministers, is now requesting that the Treasury and Resources Minister release the remaining proportion of unallocated contingency monies for six additional initiatives. That proportion being a total of up to up to £1,793,250 over 2017 – 2019. The total drawn down will be up to £445,750 in 2017, up to £710,000 in 2018 and up to £637,500 in 2019, but the amount for each year may be varied without exceeding the total amount for the three years. (See table 1 below)
Table 1
Initiative | Department | 2017 (amount up to) | 2018 (amount up to) | 2019(amount up to) | Total (amount up to) |
Legal advisers (children and family) | Law officers Department | £168,000 | £350,000 | £350,000 | £868,000 |
Pilot Parent/Infant Psychotherapy Service | Community and Constitutional Affairs Department | £35,000 | £70,500 | £70,500 | £176,000 |
Children's Change Programme | Community and Constitutional Affairs Department | £79,550 | £16,500 | £0 | £96,050 |
Youth Enquiry Service (YES) | Education Department | £91,200 | £95,000 | £95,000 | £281,200 New |
New headcount required 2017-2019 (over and above departmental allocation) = 2.0 Fte |
Nursery SEND | Education Department | £57,600 | £60,000 | £60,000 | £177,600 |
New headcount required 2017-2019 (over and above departmental allocation) = 1.0 Fte |
On-Island social work training | Health and Social Services Department | £14,400 | £90,000 | £90,000 | £194,400 |
Total per year (up to) | £445,750 | £710,000 | £637,500 | |
Total over 3 year period (up to) | £1,793,250 |
Section 2: Overview of additional initiatives (Education)
Youth Enquiry Service (YES)
The purpose of this funding is to support development of services provided to particular cohorts of vulnerable or potentially vulnerable young people. This consists of 2 full-time equivalent Assistant Youth Workers to support:
- the development of the Youth Enquiry Service which is the Islands young people advice centre. With the development of a new one-stop-shop / advice centre for young people these posts will allow the shop to open additional hours.
- the development of curricular work which is targeted at vulnerable and at risk young people through the Youth Service project team. This will involve attending various schools, youth projects, street work and other locations where young people attend / gather and provide informal learning opportunities around issues young people could be facing such as well-being & self-esteem workshops, health workshops, staying safe, legal highs, This would be delivered in a youth work style where young people are engaged through informal processes so they become engaged. Which we know from recent reports has a positive impact on hard to engage young people.
The Education Department, with the agreement of the Council of Ministers, is requesting the Treasury and Resources Minister to approve the non-recurring budget transfer for the Youth Enquiry Service of up to £91,200 in 2017 and up to £95,000 in 2018 and 2019 from central contingency to the Education Department revenue head of expenditure.
Nursery Special Educational Needs project
To fund outreach service for families with children with special needs. To support potential access to mainstream education rather that Mont-A-l’Abbe.
The need for this additional support is driven by a number of factors. These are;
- An increase in the number of babies with profound needs surviving birth and infancy;
- An increase in the size of the total school population at Mont-A-l’Abbe school. This has removed capacity for the school to provide any outreach support to parents;
- The need to support parents in the home whilst the children are pre-school;
- To support and prepare parents and schools in cases where children have the ability to be included in mainstream education;
- To ensure that all work with families and children is coordinated and cohesive.
The Education Department, with the agreement of the Council of Ministers, is requesting the Treasury and Resources Minister to approve the non-recurring budget transfer for Nursery Special Educational Needs of up to £57,600 in 2017 and up to £60,000 in 2018 and 2019 from central contingency to the Education Department revenue head of expenditure.
Section 3: Financial implications
The MTFP2, as adopted by the States Assembly, included the allocation of £1.65million per year from central contingencies for initiatives that support vulnerable children (£1.65million per year totals £4,950,000 over the period from 2017 to 2019).
In accordance with the Council of Ministers’ decision on 9 November 2016, a total of up to £2,260,600 was allocated for nine different projects over the three-year period. In accordance with (MD-C-2017-0038), a further amount of up to up to £896,150 was allocated for two additional projects over the three-year period.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Total over three-year period |
Projects agreed by COM on 9 November | £723,850 | £768,400 | £768,400 | £2,260,600 |
MD-C-2017-0038 | £223,600 | £300,000 | £372,500 | £896,150 |
Total allocated to date | £3,156,750 |
Total MTFP allocation over three year period | £4,950,000 |
Remaining allocation from central contingencies | £1,793,250 |
The Chief Minister is now requesting that the Treasury and Resources Minister agrees to release a total up to £1,793,250 from the remaining allocation in central contingencies on receipt of budget transfer requests from the Minister for Education, Minister for Health and Social Services, and the Home Affairs Minister. At this point all of the contingencies monies set aside for projects of vulnerable children via MTFP2 will have been allocated.
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