Children, Young People, Education and Skills delivery of a schools catchup programme in 2020: Allocation of Reserve Funding

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A decision made on 22 October 2020

Decision reference: MD-TR-2020-0132
Decision Summary Title:	Allocation of Reserve Funding to CYPES for the delivery of a schools catchup programme in 2020		Date of Decision Summary:	21st October 2020
Decision Summary Author:	Specialist – Business Cases		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Allocation of Reserve Funding to CYPES for the delivery of a schools catchup programme in 2020		Date of Written Report:	21st October 2020
Written Report Author:	Specialist – Business Cases		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The allocation of up to £445,333 in 2020 from the General Reserve to CYPES (Children, Young People, Education and Skills) for the delivery of a schools catchup programme (small group tutoring and teacher training) as a result of the impact of COVID-19.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a non-recurring allocation from the General Reserve in 2020 of up to £445,333 to CYPES for the delivery of a schools catchup programme as a result of the impact of COVID-19.
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. Under Treasurer’s Decision TR-2020-TD051, the Treasurer has agreed a permanent delegation of his function to the Group Director Strategic Finance to make recommendations for the approval of allocations from the Reserve to the Minister, where: The Treasurer considers that he has a conflict or interest; and / or Where the amount of the recommendation for approval is less than £500,000. The Investment Appraisal Team has recommended this request for approval and further to these reviews the Group Director Strategic Finance, having consulted with the Principal Accountable Officer and the Council of Ministers, recommends this allocation to the Minister.
Resource Implications: The CYPES head of expenditure to increase by up to £445,333 in 2020 and the General Reserve to decrease by the same amount. 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 Specialist – Business Cases and the Head of Finance Business Partnering of CYPES that this decision is approved.
Signature:		Position: Deputy S J Pinel Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Children, Young People, Education and Skills delivery of a shcools catchup programme in 2020: Allocation of Reserve Funding

Treasury and Exchequer

Ministerial Decision Report

ALLOCATION of Reserve Funding to CYPES for DELIVERY OF A SCHOOLS’ CATCH UP PROGRAMME in 2020

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister to approve the allocation of up to £445,333 in 2020 from the General Reserve to the Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES) department for the delivery of a schools catchup programme required as a result of the impact of COVID-19.

Background

Funding provisions were made in the Government Plan 2020-2023 in the General Reserve for funding needs that cannot be met from existing heads of expenditure in 2020. The Minister has increased the amount available in the General Reserve by transferring £65.3 million from the Treasury and Exchequer head of expenditure (MD-TR-2020-0035) and approving an additional £99.99 million of expenditure (MD-TR-2020-0047) and approving the transfer of £28 million from the Stabilisation Fund, with associated authority to spend from the General Reserve (MD-TR-2020-0055).

Evidence suggests that school closures and schooling children remotely from home, as a result of Covid-19, significantly impacted pupil progress and attainment.

In particular, evidence strongly indicates that some pupils within specific groups, namely Jersey Premium, English as an Additional Language, and Special Educational Needs, found the challenges of learning at home extremely difficult for a range of complex reasons.

CYPES have proposed several interventions that include:

Small Group tuition (1:1 and 1:few) to up to 3,300 pupils over the course of the 2020/21 academic school year. The tuition will be focused on the most disadvantaged children, to help reduce the achievement gap that has arisen during the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme will deliver twelve-week programmes that will focus on additional English and mathematics at primary; and offering secondary pupils additional support in English, mathematics and science.
Teacher training, through the OLEVI teaching programme, to ensure that teachers are best equipped for the recovery challenge.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve the allocation of up to £445,333 from the General Reserve to the CYPES head of expenditure in 2020 for the delivery of the proposed schools catchup programme for the autumn term (academic school year 2020/21) required as a result of the impact of COVID-19.

Reasons 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.

Under Treasurer’s Decision TR-2020-TD051, the Treasurer has agreed a permanent delegation of his function to the Group Director Strategic Finance to make recommendations for the approval of allocations from the Reserve to the Minister, where:

The Treasurer considers that he has a conflict or interest; and / or
Where the amount of the recommendation for approval is less than £500,000.

The Investment Appraisal Team has recommended this request for approval and further to these reviews the Group Director Strategic Finance, having consulted with the Principal Accountable Officer and the Council of Ministers, recommends this allocation to the Minister.

5. Resource Implications

The CYPES head of expenditure to increase by up to £445,333 in 2020 and the General Reserve to decrease by the same amount. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Government Plan 2020-2023.

Report author: Specialist – Business Cases	Document date : 21st October 2020
Quality Assurance / Review: Group Director, Strategic Finance	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2020-0132 Reserve Funding to CPYES for catchup funding
MD sponsor: Group Director, Strategic Finance