Historical Child Abuse: Committee of Inquiry (P.118/2012): Comments of the Minister for Treasury and Resources

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A decision made 1 March 2013:

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2013-0012
Decision Summary Title:	P.118/2012 Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse - comments		Date of Decision Summary:	27th February 2013
Decision Summary Author:	Projects Director		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	P.118/2012 Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse - comments		Date of Written Report:	27th February 2013
Written Report Author:	Projects Director		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Comments on P.118/2012: Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the comment on P.118/2012: Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse.
Reason(s) for Decision: To enable the Minister’s comments on P.118/2012: Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse to be presented to the States.
Resource Implications: Other than those detailed in the comments there are no further financial or manpower implications.
Action required: Greffier of the States to be requested to present attached comments to the States at the earliest opportunity and prior to the debate of P.118/2012 at the sitting commencing 5th March 2013.
Signature:		Position: Senator P F C Ozouf, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed		Date of Decision:

Historical Child Abuse: Committee of Inquiry (P.118/2012): Comments of the Minister for Treasury and Resources

Comment to “Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse

(P.118/2012)

The Minister for Treasury and Resources has particular responsibilities under Standing Order 150 “Committee of inquiry: remuneration and expenses”. These are set out below, along with his comments on the Financial and manpower implications contained in P.118/2012

Responsibilities under Standing Order 150 “Committee of inquiry: remuneration and expenses

Standing Order 150 states,

Committee of inquiry: remuneration and expenses

The Minister for Treasury and Resources may give directions as to-

(a) the remuneration (if any) of a member of a committee of inquiry;

(b) the expenses that a committee of inquiry may incur; and

The following comments are intended to inform States Members of the steps that will be taken under this Standing Order. Should the States approve the Proposition the Minister for Treasury and Resources will at the appropriate time issue formal directions.

Financial and manpower implications

Estimated Cost

An initial estimated cost of £6 million was identified by the Chief Minister’s Department. This was produced with some assistance from Verita, who have previous experience of similar Inquiries. Further validation work has since been undertaken by the States Greffe and States Treasury.

The detailed estimates are attached as Appendix 1.

In summary, the estimates include provision for the following areas of potential expenditure:-

Pre Inquiry costs relating to recruitment of Chairman and Panel.

Remuneration for Panel members (plus travel, accommodation and subsistence).

Management and administrative support to Panel and Inquiry.

Legal and specialist support to the Panel and Inquiry.

Accommodation (including fit out, furniture, equipment and rental).

ICT systems (including Document Management and storage, Recording, Transcription) with associated IT support.

Transcription costs.

Document research (including Document Officer and support from Jersey Archive).

Legal support costs to witnesses, individuals named and relevant organisations.

Communications.

Contingency.

By their very nature estimates have to be based on assumptions and this is the case here. The main assumption is that the actual Inquiry itself will be for one year. Other key assumptions relate to the number of witnesses, named individuals and organisations to be interviewed. Allied to this is the level of legal support (and costs) that will be required to support those individuals and organisations.

These estimates will be reviewed when the Chairman and Panel are appointed and their approach to the conduct of the Inquiry confirmed. The £6 million estimate includes a contingency provision of £1million recognising that there will inevitably be changes/developments as the process develops.

However it is considered essential that there is a clear indication given at the outset on both the likely timescale for the Inquiry and the Budget available.

Risks clearly exist for increased costs, should the timescale of the Inquiry be extended for whatever reason. This needs to be recognised and managed appropriately.

The Financial and manpower implications also identify that the £6 million cost estimate does not include officer time in departments which have dealings with the Committee of Inquiry and which may lead to “backfill” costs. At this stage the expectation is that Departments affected will be required to meet such costs from within their existing budgets.

Funding the £6 million

Should the States approve P.118/2012, it is recommended that up to £6 million be allocated from the Central Contingency that Members approved in the Medium Term Financial Plan. Such an allocation would be required to follow the approved and published procedures for the Central Contingencies (R.10/2012).

Management of the £6 million Budget

The £6 million would be allocated to the States Greffe as part of the States Assembly head of expenditure. The Accounting Officer would be the Greffier of the States and financial management support would be provided through the existing States Treasury arrangements.

Management of the Budget would be required to comply with all aspects of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 and all relevant Financial Directions.

If approved, the Inquiry would operate over 2 financial years - 2013 and 2014.

It is expected that expenditure will be contained within the £6million allocated. Ongoing forecasting will need to be undertaken as part of the regular budgetary controls procedures.

The Treasury and Resources Minister intends, after having received formal advice in the usual way from the Treasurer of the States, to issue directions under Standing Order 150 to the Committee of Inquiry. The Directions will cover budgetary limits, financial procedures and reporting.