Budget transfers from Central Contingency to Education Department: Family Support Workers Initiative

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A decision made 4 April 2017:

Decision Reference: MD-ESC-2017-0006
Decision Summary Title:	Contingency Funding Request – Investment in initiatives that support vulnerable children (Family Support Workers)		Date of Decision Summary:	23 March 2017
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Finance		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Contingency Funding Request – Investment in initiatives that support vulnerable children (Family Support Workers)		Date of Written Report:	23 March 2017
Written Report Author:	Head of Finance		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: One off budget transfers of up to £153,600 in 2017 and up to £160,000 in each of the years 2018 and 2019 from the Central Contingency to the Education Department to support delivery of the Family Support Workers initiative.
Decision(s): The Minister for Education requested the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve budget transfers of up to £153,600 in 2017 and up to £160,000 in each of the years 2018 and 2019 from the Central Contingency to the Education Department revenue head of expenditure to support delivery of the Family Support Workers initiative. The Minister for Education also requested the Minister for Treasury and Resources to increase the Education Department’s headcount by 6.0 FTE in each of the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Reason(s) for Decision: The MTFP2, as adopted by the States Assembly, included the allocation of £1.65million per year from central contingencies for initiatives that support vulnerable children (£4,950,000 in total over the period from 2017 to 2019). Further to that, on 9 November 2016, the Council of Ministers collectively agreed nine projects to be allocated a proportion of those contingencies including allocations to the Education Department of up to £85,000 annually in 2017-2019 and £180,000 annually in 2017-2019 for Early Year Approach and development of the Youth Enquiry Service respectively. The Council of Ministers also collectively agreed to delegate to the Chief Minister the decision to request the Treasury and Resources Minister to fund other initiatives that support vulnerable children from the remaining contingency allocation. In accordance with the Council of Ministers decision the Chief Minister, having consulted with the Children and Adults Policy Group members, has identified the Education Department’s Family Support Workers initiative for allocation from the Central Contingency. The Education Minister therefore requested that the Minister for Treasury and Resources approves the non-recurring budget transfer of up to £153,600 in 2017 and £160,000 in each of the years 2018 and 2019 from the Central Contingency to the Education Department revenue head of expenditure. To Education Minister requested the increase in headcount in order to ensure compliance with P67/1999 which charges the Minister for Treasury and Resources to regulate the number of persons that may be employed by the States. 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 of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year.
Resource Implications: The Education Department’s revenue head of expenditure will increase by up to £153,000 in 2017 and up to £160,000 in each of the years 2018 and 2019 and the Central Contingency will decrease by the same amounts. The £473,000 in total is proposed to be drawn down as outlined but the amount for each year may be varied without exceeding the total amount for the three years. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current MTFP 2016 to 2019.
Action required: Head of Decision Support to advise the Education Finance Director that the decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Deputy Rod Bryans Minister for Education
Date Signed:		Date of Decision: