Tourism Development Fund Grant: Acceptance of funds from Central Reserve

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A decision made 10 November 2011:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2011-0188
Decision Summary Title :	Acceptance of Central Reserve transfer of funds to Economic Development for a grant to the Tourism Development Fund		Date of Decision Summary:	8th November 2011
Decision Summary Author:	Performance and Operations manager		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (If exempt State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Acceptance of Central Reserve transfer of funds to Economic Development for a grant to the Tourism Development Fund		Date of Written Report:	8th November 2011
Written Report Author:	Performance and Operations manager		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Acceptance of funds from the Central Reserve to Economic Development for a grant to the Tourism Development Fund.
Decision(s): The Minister accepted a non-recurring budget transfer of £450,000 from the Central Reserve for the purposes of a grant to the Tourism Development Fund.
Reason(s) for Decision: This transfer honours the commitment made in the Comment lodged by the Council of Ministers in response to Amendment P123/2011 (Amd 3), in the debate on the Draft Annual Business Plan 2012. Article 15(1)(a) 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. Delegation 1.3 authorises the Treasurer of the States to approve non-contentious transfers between heads of expenditure up to £1,000,000.
Resource Implications: The Tourism Development Fund will receive a grant of £450,000 from the Economic Development Department. There are no manpower implications.
Action required: On receipt of the £450,000, the Finance Director will transfer the same amount to the Tourism Development Fund by way of an onward grant.
Signature: Senator AJH Maclean		Position: Economic Development Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

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Tourism Development Fund: Acceptance of funds from Central Reserve - grant

Acceptance of £450,000 from the Central Reserve to grant £450,000 to the Tourism Development Fund

Issue

In the debate on the draft Annual Business Plan 2012, a commitment was made to grant £450,000 to the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) from within existing States spending limits. This proposal honours this commitment.

Background

Senator Le Gresley lodged an Amendment (P123/2011 Amd (3)) to the draft Annual Business Plan 2012 to increase the net revenue expenditure of the Economic Development Department by £1 million in order to provide a grant of this amount to the Tourism Development Fund in 2012.

In response, recognising the value of the TDF’s contribution to the Tourism Sector, a Comment was lodged by the Council of Ministers that committed £450,000 of additional funding for the Tourism Development Fund. It was proposed that this could be funded within existing spending limits

During the debate of the draft Annual Business Plan 2012 this commitment was restated by the Chief Minister and Minister for Treasury and Resources. The States accepted Senator Le Gresley’s request to withdraw his Amendment (P123/2011 Amd (3)) on the basis of this commitment.

Proposal

The Treasurer of the States has agreed to the transfer of £450,000 from the Central Reserve (TR-2011-DD113) to the Economic Development Department. It is recommended that the Minister accepts this on the basis that it will be awarded as an onward grant to the Tourism Development Fund. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for 2011.

Resource implications

This grant to the Tourism Development Fund will bring the total amount in the Fund to around £700,000. There are no manpower implications.

Performance and Operations manager

November 2011