Health and Community Services Department and Department for Growth, Housing and Environment: Allocation and Extension of Reserve Funding for Covid Response Initiatives in 2020

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A decision made on 18 December 2020

Decision reference: MD-TR-2020-0165
Decision Summary Title:	Allocation and Extension of Reserve Funding to HCS and GHE for funding for COVID response initiatives in 2020.		Date of Decision Summary:	18th December 2020
Decision Summary Author:	Specialist – Special Project Assurance		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Allocation and Extension of Reserve Funding to HCS and GHE for Delivery of COVID response initiatives in 2020.		Date of Written Report:	18th December 2020
Written Report Author:	Specialist – Special Project Assurance		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The allocation in 2020 of up to £7,409,984 and up to £1,556,344 from the General Reserve to the Health and Community Services Department (HCS) and the Department for Growth, Housing and Environment (GHE) Heads of Expenditure respectively for the delivery of initiatives to manage and mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a non-recurring allocation from the General Reserve in 2020 of up to £7,409,984 to HCS and up to £1,556,344 to GHE for the delivery of COVID-19 response initiatives.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 15(3) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that the approval by the States 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 agreed by the Minister for Treasury and Resources (published as R.80/2020) sets the requirement that all proposed allocations from the General Reserve (Covid-19), once recommended for approval by the States Treasurer (taking into account comments from the Principal Accountable Office), are referred for review to either the Council of Ministers or the relevant Competent Authorities Ministers prior to submission to the Minister for approval. The Investment Appraisal Team has recommended this request for approval and further to these reviews the Treasurer of the States, having consulted with the Principal Accountable Officer and the Council of Ministers, recommends this allocation to the Minister subject to: - written confirmation by the Accountable Officer that the income lost and expenditure incurred is Covid-19-related expenditure; and - further evidence of actual spend at the year end.
Resource Implications: The HCS head of expenditure to increase by up to £7,179,562 in 2020 and the General Reserve to decrease by the same amount. Funding for HCS of up to £230,422 for Staff Accommodation will be met from the unspent allocation allocated under MD-TR-2020-0046. Funding for GHE of up to £1,556,344 will be met from the unspent allocation allocated to GHE by MD-TR-2020-0042. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Government Plan 2020-2023.
Action required: The Head of Financial Governance to advise the Head of Investment Appraisal and the Head of Finance Business Partnering supporting HCS that this decision is approved and inform them of the requirement for the Department to provide evidence of actual expenditure at the year end and confirmation from the Accountable Officer that costs incurred were Covid-19 related.
Signature:		Position: Deputy S J Pinel Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision: