Emergency Planning Function: Transfer from Chief Minister's Department to Home Affairs Department as of 1 January 2015

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A decision made 12 February 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2015-0017
Decision Summary Title:	Transfer of Emergency Planning Function from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Home Affairs Department		Date of Decision Summary:	28 January 2015
Decision Summary Author:	Finance Director Home Affairs		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Transfer of Emergency Planning Function from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Home Affairs Department		Date of Written Report:	28 January 2015
Written Report Author:	Finance Director Home Affairs		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The transfer of the Emergency Planning Function from the Chief Ministers Department (CM) to the Home Affairs Department (HA) with effect from 1 January 2015.
Decision(s): The Minister: agreed to seek the approval from the Minister for Treasury and Resources for a recurring budget transfer in 2015 of £150,031 from the CM revenue head of expenditure to the HA revenue head of expenditure; agreed to seek the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources to increase the HA 2015 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) included in the 2015 Annex to the MTFP by 1.5; agreed to seek the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources to vary the presentation of the Department’s Service Analysis in the MTFP to reflect the transfer.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 18(1)(c) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that all or any part of the amount appropriated by a head of expenditure may, with the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, be used for the purposes of another head of expenditure. Section 5.2 of Financial Direction 3.6, Variations to Heads of Expenditure, states that approval of non-contentious transfers between heads of expenditure up to £1,000,000 is delegated to the Treasurer of the States. 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 and delegation 2.3 in which authority is delegated to the Treasurer of the States for agreeing non-contentious increases to States staffing levels.
Resource Implications: The HA revenue head of expenditure to increase by £150,031 and the CM revenue head of expenditure to reduce by the same amount. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current MTFP 2013 – 2015. This transfer will be reflected in the next MTFP 2016-2019. The HA approved FTE total will increase by 1.5 FTE and the CM approved FTE total will reduce by the same amount. There is no overall increase in FTE to the States of Jersey because of this decision.
Action required: Finance Director to seek the necessary approvals.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (if different from date signed):

Emergency Planning Function: Transfer from Chief Minister's Department to Home Affairs Department as of 1 January 2015

Transfer of the Emergency Planning Function to the Home Affairs Department

Home Affairs Department Report for Minister
Subject:	Transfer of Emergency Planning Function from Chief Minister’s Department to the Home Affairs Department
Exempt Clause:	n/a	Date:	27 January 2015

Author:	Finance Director

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to seek the Minister’s approval for the transfer of the Emergency Planning function from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Home Affairs Department.

Background

Following a discussion between the Chief Executive, Emergency Planning Officer and the Chief Fire Officer in 2014 it was agreed that it would be easier for the Chief Fire Officer to line manage the Emergency Planning role and budget, if it were transferred to within the Home Affairs Department.

In order to minimise the administrative requirements it was agreed that the budget and manpower allocated to the Emergency Planning function should be transferred from the Chief Minister’s Department with effect from 1 January 2015.

The 2015 budget allocated to the Emergency Planning function is £150,031 and 1.5 full time equivalent (fte) staff posts (2.0 headcount).

Accounting Requirements

The Emergency Planning Function will be allocated a new company number (04435) for reporting purposes and will require a separate Service Area (BUCC16) to be established for reporting in the Medium Term Financial Plan and Annual Financial Report and Accounts, Treasury officers have endorsed this course of action.

Section 2.4.18 of FD 3.1, Medium Term Financial Plan, states ‘that if the presentation of a Department’s Service Analysis for a given year varies from the presentation in the original MTFP Department Annex a Ministerial Decision agreed by the Minister for Treasury and Resources will be required.’

FD 12.6, Accounting in States of Jersey IT Systems, states that:

‘2.1.7 Departments must populate and maintain Category Codes in JDE for all Business Units and all Object Accounts in accordance with Table 1 and Table 2 respectively.

2.1.8 Approval from the Treasury is required when changing key Business Unit and Object Account Category Codes.’

Reason for Decision

Article 18(1)(c) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that all or any part of the amount appropriated by a head of expenditure may, with the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, be used for the purposes of another head of expenditure.

Section 5.2 of Financial Direction 3.6, Variations to Heads of Expenditure, states that approval of non-contentious transfers between heads of expenditure up to £1,000,000 is delegated to the Treasurer of the States.

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 and delegation 2.3 in which authority is delegated to the Treasurer of the States for agreeing non-contentious increases to States staffing levels.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister:

accepts the transfer of the Emergency Planning Function from the Chief Minister’s Department;
accepts a recurring budget transfer of £150,031 from the Chief Minister’s revenue head of expenditure with effect from 1 January 2015;
seeks the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources to vary the presentation of the Department’s Service Analysis in the MTFP to reflect the transfer.