Government of Jersey

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

A formal published “Ministerial Decision” is required as a record of the decision of a Minister (or an Assistant Minister where they have delegated authority) as they exercise their responsibilities and powers.

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demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
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A decision made 26 January 2015:

Delegated decision reference: MD-TR-2015-0004
Decision Summary Title:	Application of Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF) Funding to States of Jersey Police Headquarters Re-location Project for onward payment to the Consolidated Fund and Central Contingencies		Date of Decision Summary:	8 January 2015
Decision Summary Author:	Treasurer of the States		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Application of COCF Funding to States of Jersey Police Headquarters Re-location Project for onward payment to the Consolidated Fund and Central Contingencies		Date of Written Report:	8 January 2015
Written Report Author:	Treasurer of the States		Written Report : Public or Exempt	Public
Subject: The application of funding of £9,400,000 from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF) to the Home Affairs Department (HAD) for the Police Relocation capital programme with £6,400,000 to be transferred from the Police Relocation capital programme to the Consolidated Fund and £3,000,000 to be transferred to Central Contingencies.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the following: an application for funding of £9,400,000 from the COCF to the HAD to ease pressures on the Police Relocation capital project; the use of additional income of £9,400,000 by HAD; a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £9,400,000 from the HAD revenue head of expenditure to the Treasury and Resources (Jersey Property Holdings) (T&R (JPH)) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure; a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £6,400,000 from the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure to the Consolidated Fund; a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £3,000,000 from the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure to Central Contingencies. Authorisation for the Treasurer of the States to drawdown up to £3,000,000 from Central Contingencies for allocation to the Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 19(1)(a) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that if, during a financial year, the Minister is satisfied that the income of a States funded body is likely to exceed its estimated income, the Minister may authorise the body to withdraw from the consolidated fund during that year an amount not exceeding the likely excess of income. 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. The application will ease pressures on the Police Relocation capital programme and enable funding to be released to support the decision of the Council of Ministers to increase the funding for the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse and contribute towards the Proposed Measures to Balance the Consolidated Fund identified in the Budget Statement 2015. The new Police Headquarters will provide the first ever purpose built Police Headquarters in Jersey, which will provide the kind of working environment that modern policing demands. This will support the States of Jersey Police’s aim which is for its residents, businesses and visitors to be safe and fell secure. This meets the criteria for consideration of funding from the COCF. In a letter to the Interim Treasurer, dated 23rd January 2015, the Attorney General has confirmed his support for the use of COCF funds for this purpose. On 3rd September 2014 the Council of Ministers endorsed the utilisation of the available Criminal Offences Confiscation Funds to contribute towards the capital costs of the Police Headquarters relocation capital project. This was put forward by the Minister for Treasury and Resources as part of the Budget Statement 2015 proposed measures to balance the consolidated fund.
Resource Implications: Once the HAD income and revenue head of expenditure have been increased by £9,400,000, that sum will subsequently be transferred from the HAD revenue head of expenditure to the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure. £6,400,000 will be returned to the consolidated fund and £3,000,000 will be transferred to Central Contingencies. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States.
Action required: Head of Decision Support to notify the Finance Manager - Corporate Group, Financial Performance Reporting and the Finance Director – Home Affairs that this decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator A J H Maclean, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date signed:		Date of Decision:

Police Headquarters Re-Location: Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF): Application of funding - budget transfer. Historical Child Abuse drawdown from of funds from Central Contingencies to Committee of Inquiry

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Treasury and Resources

Ministerial Decision Report

Application of COCF Funding to States of Jersey Police Headquarters Re-location Project for onward payment to the Consolidated Fund and Central Contingencies

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve the following:

• an application for funding of £9,400,000 from the COCF to the HAD to ease pressures on the Police Relocation capital programme;

• the use of additional income of £9,400,000 by HAD;

• a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £9,400,000 from the HAD revenue head of expenditure to the Treasury and Resources (Jersey Property Holdings) (T&R (JPH)) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure;

• a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £6,400,000 from the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure to the Consolidated Fund;

• a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £3,000,000 from the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure to Central Contingencies.

Background

The COCF was established under the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999. This Fund holds monetary amounts confiscated under the relevant laws and asset sharing agreements following successful legal action before they are distributed in accordance with applicable legislation. Responsibility for administering the Funds rests with the Treasury and Resources Department which manages the application process.

Applications may be made to the COCF for projects which:

prevent, suppress or otherwise deal with criminal conduct;
deal with the consequences of criminal conduct;
facilitate the enforcement of any enactment dealing with criminal conduct.

In addition, before supporting any application to the Fund, the Minister is obliged to consult the Attorney General and other persons or bodies (including other Ministers) as he considers appropriate.

Subject to the confirmation of the Attorney General that the requirements of the Proceeds of Crime Law have been met, the Minister can advise that this proposal could be facilitated by transferring available funds from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund to offset appropriate existing, approved expenditure allocations – in this case the Police Relocation capital head of expenditure. This releases funding to be used to return to the Consolidated Fund and transfer to Central Contingencies.

In a letter to the Interim Treasurer, dated 23rd January 2015, the Attorney General has confirmed his support for the use of COCF funds for this purpose.

The steps would be:

(1) funding allocated from the COCF treated as revenue income of the Home Affairs Department;

(2) budget transfer under delegated powers from the Home Affairs revenue to the Police Relocation capital head of expenditure;

(3) budget transfer under delegated powers from the Police Relocation capital head of expenditure of £3,000,000 to Central Contingencies (one off) and £6,400,000 to be returned to the Consolidated Fund.

The net effect of these steps is that States expenditure for 2014 would not be increased. The balance of the COCF would decrease by £9.4 million.

The application will ease pressures on the Police Relocation capital project. On 3rd September 2014 the Council of Ministers endorsed the utilisation of the available Criminal Offences Confiscation Funds to contribute towards the capital costs of the Police Headquarters relocation capital project proposed by the Minister for Treasury and Resources as part of the Budget Statement 2015 proposed measures to balance the consolidated fund.

The additional funding transferred to Central Contingencies supports the Council of Ministers decision on 30th July 2014 to approve the additional funding requirement in respect of the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve the following:

• an application for funding of £9,400,000 from the COCF to the HAD to ease pressures on the Police Relocation capital programme;

• the use of additional income of £9,400,000 by HAD;

• a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £6,400,000 from the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure to the Consolidated Fund;

• a non-recurring budget transfer in 2014 of £3,000,000 from the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure to Central Contingencies.

This decision is in accordance with the Proposed Budget Measures to Balance the Consolidated Fund identified as part of the Budget Statement 2015 and the Council of Ministers approval to increase funding for the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse from £6 million to £9 million.

Reason for Decision

Article 19(1)(a) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that if, during a financial year, the Minister is satisfied that the income of a States funded body is likely to exceed its estimated income, the Minister may authorise the body to withdraw from the consolidated fund during that year an amount not exceeding the likely excess of income.

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.

The application will ease pressures on the Police Relocation capital programme and enable funding to be released to support the decision of the Council of Ministers to increase the funding for the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse and contribute towards the Proposed Measures to Balance the Consolidated Fund identified in the Budget Statement 2015.

The new Police Headquarters will provide the first ever purpose built Police Headquarters in Jersey, which will provide the kind of working environment that modern policing demands. This will support the States of Jersey police’s aim which is for its residents, businesses and visitors to be safe and fell secure. This meets the criteria for consideration of funding from the COCF.

In a letter to the Interim Treasurer, dated 23rd January 2015, the Attorney General has confirmed his support for the use of COCF funds for this purpose.

Resource Implications

Once the HAD income target budget and the HAD revenue head of expenditure have been increased by £9,400,000, that sum will subsequently be transferred from the HAD revenue head of expenditure to the T&R (JPH) Police Relocation capital head of expenditure. £6,400,000 will be returned to the consolidated fund and £3,000,000 will be transferred to Central Contingencies. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States.

Report author : Manager, Financial Management	Document date : 8th January 2015
Quality Assurance / Review : Business Manager	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DSs, WRs and SDs\2015-0004 -\WR - COCF funding for SOJP HQ for Consolidated Fund and Contingencies.docx