Pay Award: Firefighters: Funding from Central Contingency

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A decision made 18 November 2013:

Decision reference: MD-TR-2013-0100
Decision Summary Title:	Central Contingency Funding for Firefighters’ Pay Award		Date of Decision Summary:	14 November 2013
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Financial Planning		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?		Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:		N/A
Written Report Title:	Central Contingency Funding for Firefighters’ Pay Award		Date of Written Report:		14 November 2013
Written Report Author:	Assistant Accountant, Financial Planning		Written Report : Public or Exempt?		Public
Subject: Contingency funding allocation from Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to the Home Affairs Department (HA) for costs associated with the Firefighters’ Pay Award.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a recurring budget transfer of £83,300 per annum from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to the HA revenue head of expenditure to fund the 2013 to 2015 Firefighters’ Pay Award.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 17(2) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that the Minister for Treasury and Resources (T&R) 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.
Resource Implications: Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to decrease by £83,300 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the HA revenue head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount in the corresponding years. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for 2013 to 2015. In order to fund this, a non-recurring budget transfer of £83,300 is required in 2013 from Central Contingency (One-off) to Central Contingency (Pay Provision) where there is earmarked provision in addition to the Pay Provision for 2013 which is now exhausted. The equivalent adjustments will be made for 2014 and 2015 to Departmental expenditure limits. The recurring transfer will be reflected in the next Medium Term Financial Plan 2016 to 2019.
Action required: Business Manager to inform the Head of Financial Planning, the Financial Performance Reporting Manager and the Director of Finance, HA that this decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator P F C Ozouf, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Pay Award: Firefighters: Funding from Central Contingency

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Treasury & Resourses

Ministerial Decision Report

Central Contingency Funding for FIREFIGHTERS’ Pay Award

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources (T&R) to approve recurring additional funding of £83,300 from Central Contingency (Pay Provision) for the Home Affairs Department (HA) for the Firefighters’ Pay Award.

Background

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.

Funding

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 per annum, therefore a recurring transfer is required from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to the HA revenue head of expenditure.

4. Conclusion

Provision was made in the MTFP in the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) for:

1% non-consolidated in 2012
1% consolidated and 1% non-consolidated in 2013, and
4% consolidated in 2014.

The additional award has been agreed following the mediation meeting held under the auspices of the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (JACS) and the Fire and Rescue Association on 23rd April 2013.

Central Contingency exists for urgent and unforeseen events for which a department is unable to identify alternative funding. Although the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) is exhausted for 2013, Central Contingency (One-off) has earmarked funds to meet the cost of this award in 2013, 2014 and 2015. A non-recurring budget transfer of £83,300 is required in 2013 from Central Contingency (One-off) to Central Contingency (Pay Provision) and the equivalent adjustments will be made for 2014 and 2015 to Departmental expenditure limits.

5. Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve a recurring budget transfer of £83,300 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from the Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to the HA revenue head of expenditure to fund the 2013 to 2015 Firefighters’ Pay Award.

6. 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.

7. Resource Implications

Central Contingency (Pay Provision) to decrease by £83,300 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the HA revenue head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for 2013 to 2015.

In order to fund this, a non-recurring budget transfer of £83,300 is required in 2013 from Central Contingency (One-off) to Central Contingency (Pay Provision) where there is earmarked provision in addition to the Pay Provision for 2013 which is now exhausted. The equivalent adjustments will be made for 2014 and 2015 to Departmental expenditure limits.

The recurring transfer will be reflected in the next MTFP 2016 to 2019.

Report author : Assistant Accountant, Financial Planning	Document date : 14th November 2013
Quality Assurance / Review : Head of Decision Support	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DSs, WRs and SDs\2013-00XX - Central Contingency Funding for Firefighters’ Pay Award\WR - Central Contingency Funding for 2013 FFs’ Pay Award.docx
MD sponsor : Treasurer of the States