Decision(s): The Minister decided to approve: the retention and use of up to £3,294,000 additional income by the States of Jersey Police (SoJP), Infrastructure and the Environment heads of expenditure; the repurposing of up to £794,670 of Reserve funding by the Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, the States of Jersey Police and Environment heads of expenditure; the repurposing of up to £2,154,000 of Government Plan Growth allocation by the Children, Young People Education and Skills and the Justice and Home Affairs heads of expenditure; the allocation of up to £3,299,113 from the Reserve for Centrally Held Items to various heads of expenditure; the allocation of up to £32,103,350 from the Central Reserve (General Reserve), to address departmental pressures that could not be met from the existing budget allocations provided in 2024, and; the allocation of up to £14,585,200 from the Central Reserve and Reserve for Central Risk and Inflation to the Project and Major Project heads of expenditure as detailed in the table below. |
Reason for Decision(s): Article 15(3) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that the approval by the States Assembly of a Government Plan authorises the Minister to direct how an approved appropriation for a reserve head of expenditure in the plan may be spent (including on another head of expenditure) in the first financial year covered by the plan. The current Policy for Allocations from the Reserve, presented to the States Assembly as R.76/2022, sets out the requirements for allocations from the General Reserve. These requirements have been met and the Treasurer now recommends these allocations to the Minister for Treasury and Resources for approval, as set out in the accompanying report. To enable departments to use existing resources before calling on any additional funding to manage the financial pressures in 2024, the Minister for Treasury and Resources is approving the one-off repurposing of 2024 Growth and Major Incident funding. Article 21 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 relates to the power to allocate excess income. It states: (1) This Article applies if – (a) an approved Government Plan includes, under Article 9(8), the estimated income that will be earned by, or be attributable to, a States body or by an area of operation of a States body during the first financial year covered by the plan; and (b) income in excess of that estimate is earned by, or attributable to, the States body or area of operation during that financial year. (2) Despite the approved Government Plan, the Minister may direct that the excess income referred to in paragraph (1) (b) be allocated to a head of expenditure set out in the Plan. (3) The amount subject to the Minister’s direction may be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund and spent on that head of expenditure in the first financial year covered by the approved Government Plan, as if the amount had been appropriated for that head of expenditure. The Minister for Treasury and Resources has agreed that Accountable Officers can use additional income in excess of that approved in a Government Plan to the extent that additional income is matched by additional expenditure incurred in the generation of that income. Above that level, Accountable Officers may approve the use of additional income up to 10 per cent of the estimated departmental income included in the Government Plan (up to a maximum of £100,000). The Accountable Officer of the relevant States Body must seek approval to spend additional funds in excess of these levels. The Public Finances Manual requires that where funding has specifically been allocated in a Government Plan for a defined purpose (for example, through growth or an approved amendment), any change of use will require a Ministerial Decision from the Minister for Treasury and Resources. This applies only to the year in which that expenditure is separately identified in the Government Plan and will not apply once funding becomes part of a department’s base budget in subsequent years. |
Resource Implications: Resource Implications The following Heads of Expenditure will decrease in 2024 by up to the following amounts: Central Reserve (General Reserve) £37,385,241; Reserve for Central Risk and Inflation £9,330,309; Central Reserve (Markets Smoothing Reserve) £387,250; and, Central Reserve (Court and Cases Costs Smoothing Reserve) £2,911,865. The following Heads of Expenditure will increase in 2024 by up to the following amounts: Health and Community Services £28,844,000; Infrastructure £2,048,250; Environment £1,404,550; States of Jersey Police £686,000; Law Officers’ Department £1,952,000; Bailiff’s Chambers £476,665; Jersey Opera House £6,202,600; Office Modernisation £2,070,500; Sewage Treatment Works £1,348,200; Major Refurbishments and Upgrades £1,200,900; Integrated Technology Solution R1 & R2 £920,200; In-Patient Support Services £749,000; Elizabeth Castle £779,500; Property Dilapidation £446,100; Health Service Improvements £294,600; Feasibility £248,300; Replacement Assets – HCS £246,400; New School and Educational Developments £63,000; and, Aerial Ladder Platform £15,900. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Government Plan 2024-27. |
gov.je