States expenditure (FOI)​

Request

A

How much do the States of Jersey spend each quarter? Total expenditure from January 2018 to date.

B

Who makes the decision on what is allocated to each department for each quarter?

C

What techniques are used to measure the success of each departments spending

D

Who is the person in charge of keeping the different departments on target

Response

A

The States Assembly approved the total net (of departmental income) expenditure limits available to allocate to States of Jersey departments for each year of the four years 2016 to 2019 in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and subsequently in the MTFP Addition for 2017 to 2019. This included amounts held centrally within Growth and Contingencies subject to the relevant approvals to allocate to departments.

Medium Term Financial Plan

Medium Term Financial Plan addittion for 2017 to 2019

B

Department budgets are confirmed annually within the MTFP agreed limits. The total net expenditure limit for 2018 in the MTFP was £697.6 million.

Department budgets can be varied during the year via transfers between departments, reprioritisation of existing resources or allocations of centrally held funding. All such transfers require political or delegated officer approvals and are reported to the States Assembly in the year and as part of the published States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts (see page 194 of the 2017 Accounts).

States of Jersey Accounts

P.1/2018 ‘Draft Machinery of Government (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Jersey) Law 201-‘ established the Chief Executive Officer as the Principal Accounting Officer for the States of Jersey.

Draft Machinery of Government (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Jersey) Law 201-

See the extract below outlining what that means:

Principal Accountable Officer

There is a need for clear accountability at the very top of the public service for the overall use of resources. This can be achieved through a legal obligation placed upon the organisation’s most senior office-holder. Such an approach is consistent with modern practice elsewhere in the British Isles, such as in Scotland, where the most senior official in the public administration is also the Principal Accountable Officer and is held to account by Parliament for the overall use of resources.

The draft Law proposes that the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) should be the Principal Accountable Officer (“PAO”), whose functions would include designating persons as Accountable Officers (“AOs”) for discrete parts of the Jersey administration (States bodies and States funds). The PAO would be responsible for ensuring the propriety and regularity of the finances of States bodies and funds; and for ensuring that such resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively. The PAO would appoint AOs to States bodies and funds, and would be responsible for ensuring the performance of relevant functions by AOs.

C

The Executive Management Team receive monthly monitoring reports and the Council of Ministers receive quarterly monitoring reports which, amongst other management information, present how much has been spent to date and what is forecast to be spent by the end of the year to inform decision-making.

D

The Executive Management Team collectively manage resources to ensure funds are prioritised across the organisation and pressures are managed.