Budget Transfer: Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to Home Affairs: Firefighters: 2013 New Pay Scale

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A decision made 18 October 2013:

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2013-0057
Decision Summary Title:	Central Contingency Funding for the new pay scale for Firefighters		Date of Decision Summary:	11 October 2013
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:	Funding of the new pay scale for Firefighters		Date of Written Report:	10 October 2013
Written Report Author:	Finance Director Home Affairs		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Transfer of contingency funding from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to the Home Affairs Department for costs associated with the new pay scale for Firefighters introduced in 2013.
Decision(s): The Minister for Home Affairs requested that the Minister for Treasury and Resources make available recurring contingency funding of £83,300 from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) for the costs associated with the introduction of a new pay scale for Firefighters in 2013.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 17(2) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that the Minister for Treasury and Resources is authorised to approve the transfer from contingency expenditure to heads of expenditure of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year. Contingency funding is held for pay awards within the MTFP. In order to fund the costs associated with the new pay structure it is necessary to have the budget transferred to the Home Affairs Department’s revenue head of expenditure.
Resource Implications: The Home Affairs Department’s revenue head of expenditure will increase in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) reduce by the same amount. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for 2013 - 2015. The recurring transfers will be reflected in the next MTFP 2016 – 2018.
Action required: The Home Affairs Finance Director to liaise with the Treasury and Resources Department to effect the necessary budget transfers.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Budget Transfer: Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to Home Affairs: Firefighters: 2013 New Pay Scale

Funding of the new pay scale for Firefighters

Home Affairs Department

Report for Minister

Subject: Funding of the new pay scale for Firefighters

Exempt Category: n/a Date: 10 October 2013

Author: Finance Director

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to ask the Minister to request the Minister for Treasury and Resources to make available recurring contingency funding totaling £83,300 from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) for the costs associated with the introduction of a new pay scale for firefighters in 2013.

Background

As the Minister is aware following the mediation meeting held under the auspices of the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (JACS) on 23rd April 2013, a final offer was made to the Fire and Rescue Association (FRA) for the period 1st January 2012 to 31st December 2014.

The offer included:

the introduction of Role Profiles and a Firefighter Career Development and Competency Framework in 2013;

the introduction of new monetary values attached to the proposed new pay structure with effect 1st January 2013.

The offer was subsequently accepted by members of the FRA.

The Role Profiles and a Firefighter Career Development and Competency Framework links pay to performance and skills.

The Council of Ministers has made provision in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for a Central Contingency for the pay award for 2013. The implementation of the pay offer requires a transfer of funding to those departments affected by the pay offer.

The cost of implementing the new pay structure is £83,300 therefore a recurring transfer is required from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to the Home Affairs Department’s head of expenditure.

Reason for Decision

Article 17(2) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that the Minister for Treasury and Resources is authorised to approve the transfer from contingency expenditure to heads of expenditure of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year.

Contingency funding is held for pay awards within the MTFP. In order to fund the costs associated with the new pay scale it is necessary to have the budget transferred to the Home Affairs Department’s revenue head of expenditure.

Resource Implications

The Home Affairs Department’s revenue head of expenditure will increase by £83,300 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) reduce by the same amount. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for 2013 - 2015.

The recurring transfers will be reflected in the next MTFP 2016 – 2018.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister request the Minister for Treasury and Resources to make available recurring contingency funding totaling £83,300 from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) for the costs associated with the introduction of a new pay scale for firefighters.