Budget Transfer: Economic Developmment, Tourism, Sport and Culture: Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision within Central Contingencies

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A decision made 15 December 2017:

-Decision Reference: MD-TR-2017-0154
Decision Summary Title:	EPGDP funding allocation for the Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture		Date of Decision Summary:	13th December 2017
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Decision Support		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title:	EPGDP funding allocation for the Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture		Date of Written Report:	13th December 2017
Written Report Author:	Head of Decision Support		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: A non-recurring allocation of up to £125,000 in 2017 and up to £125,000 in 2018 to the Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture revenue head of expenditure from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a non-recurring allocation of up to £125,000 in 2017 and up to £125,000 in 2018 to the Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture revenue head of expenditure from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies.
Reason(s) 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. The Council of Ministers agreed to recommend this request to the Minister for Treasury and Resources at its meeting of 7th September 2016. A total of £3.679 million was requested for this purpose for a number of departments. A decision, MD-E-2017-0035, was signed by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture on 03 October 2017
Resource Implications: The Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture revenue head of expenditure will increase by up to £125,000 in 2017 and up to £125,000 in 2018. The EPGDP within Central Contingences to decrease by the same amounts. The £250,000 in total is proposed to be drawn down as £125,000 in 2017 and £125,000 in 2018 but the amount for each year may be varied without exceeding the total amount for the two years. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Medium Term Financial Plan.
Action required: Head of Decision Support to advise the Finance Manager – Corporate Group once this decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator A J H Maclean, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Budget Transfer: Economic Developmment, Tourism, Sport and Culture: Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision within Central Contingencies

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Treasury and Resources

Ministerial Decision Report

EPGDP funding allocation to the Department for economic development, tourism, sport and culture

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve a non-recurring allocation of up to £125,000 in 2017 and up to £125,000 in 2018 to the Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture revenue head of expenditure from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies.

Background

A business case detailing how government may need to respond to Brexit was reviewed by the EPGDP Officer Group and was recommended by the Economic Policy Political Oversight Group. On 7th September 2016, the Council of Ministers recommended that funding be approved in the total amount of £3.679 million to support work on Brexit for the period 2016-2019. The business case included funds for the Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Culture and Sport to be allocated by the Minister for Treasury and Resources when the Brexit process necessitated additional resources for the Department.

There was no requirement to draw down resources for Brexit in 2016 as the amount of new work required in 2016 was minimal and could be dealt with within existing budget limits and staffing. Recent and ongoing developments in the UK relating to Brexit now require significant senior officer time to be spent providing specialist advice within Government to Ministers and other officers, on the detail of the issues associated with the agriculture and fisheries work stream, but also in supporting policy development in other work streams, such as Customs and Immigration.

It should be noted that while there are significant opportunities for collaboration with HMG, there is also a need for diplomatic handling to ensure that areas of potential conflict between Jersey and UK objectives are appropriately managed. Funding will be used not only to enhance our reputation and ability to access markets but also to ensure our place in the multilateral trading system.

The Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture requires funds to commission consultancy and increase capacity in the Marine Resources Team, through the appointment of a Marine and Fisheries Assistant Officer. This will free up part-time capacity for the Assistant Director for Marine resources to dedicate to essential Brexit activity, whilst maintaining the ability to remain operational in terms of fisheries enforcement activity at sea, which requires a de minimis number of staff to undertake work effectively and within Health and Safety guidelines. Additional resources to backfill senior officers will be required as workstream business progresses.

In addition, detailed and extensive stakeholder consultation is required, which necessitates an ongoing dialogue across the arable sector, the dairy sector, capture fisheries, aquaculture and the up and down-stream businesses that support these sectors, such as merchants. This is time consuming work, which requires technical research and facilitation. It is therefore necessarily supported and coordinated by a specialist consultancy, which also has links into the Brexit process in the UK and as such provides the necessary expertise.

There is also a requirement for travel to London as needed to meet with Defra and other Crown Dependency officials at roundtable meetings on EU exit.

Financial Summary

	2017 £	2018 £	Total £
	2017 £	2018 £	Total £
Backfill Director EMRE and AD Marine Resources	80,000	80,000	160,000
Research and sector specific consultancy	40,000	40,000	80,000
Travel	5,000	5,000	10,000
Total	125,000	125,000	250,000

3. Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve a non-recurring allocation of up to £125,000 in 2017 and up to £125,000 in 2018 to the Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture revenue head of expenditure from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies.

4. 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.

The Council of Ministers agreed to recommend this request to the Minister for Treasury and Resources at its meeting of 7th September 2016. A total of £3.679 million was requested for this purpose for a number of departments.

A decision, MD-E-2017-0035, was signed by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture on 03 October 2017.

5. Resource Implications

The Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture revenue head of expenditure will increase by up to £125,000 in 2017 and up to £125,000 in 2018.

The EPGDP within Central Contingences to decrease by the same amounts.

The £250,000 in total is proposed to be drawn down as £125,000 in 2017 and £125,000 in 2018 but the amount for each year may be varied without exceeding the total amount for the two years.

This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Medium Term Financial Plan.

Report author : Head of Decision Support	Document date 13th December 2017
Quality Assurance / Review : Director of Financial Planning and Performance	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2017-0154 – C15 EPGDP Brexit funding to EDTSC £125k
MD sponsor : Director of Financial Planning and Performance