Insurance Premiums: Reserve Funding for increases

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A decision made on 27 July 2021

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2021-0088
Decision Summary Title:	Reserve Funding for increases to Insurance Premiums		Date of Decision Summary:	14th July 2021
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:	Reserve Funding for increases to Insurance Premiums		Date of Written Report:	14th July 2021
Written Report Author:	Specialist – Business Cases		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The allocation of up to £848,501 from the General Reserve to the Treasury and Exchequer (T&E) Head of Expenditure and the use of additional income of £136,499 received in T&E.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the allocation of up to £848,501 from the General Reserve to the Treasury and Exchequer (T&E) Head of Expenditure and the use of additional income of £136,499 received in T&E.
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, presented to the States Assembly as R.60/2021, sets the requirement that all allocations from the General Reserve are recommended for approval by the Treasurer of the States, taking into account comments from the Principal Accountable Officer (PAO), prior to submission to the Minister for approval. Where a request for funding is made by Treasury and Exchequer, the Policy requires that the Principal Accountable Officer also recommends the request to the Minister. If the Minister is minded to approve a funding allocation, the draft Ministerial Decision will be circulated to the Council of Ministers five working days before a Ministerial Decision is signed and published. The Investment Appraisal Team has reviewed the business case for this request and recommended it for approval. Following this review, the Treasurer and the PAO recommend that the Minister allocates funding from the General Reserve. Article 21 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that if, during a financial year, the Minister is satisfied that the income of a States funded body or area of operation is likely to exceed the estimate for that income, the Minister may authorise the withdrawal of that excess amount from the Consolidated Fund during that year. The total required for additional premiums in 2021 is up to £985,000. This will be funded by: the allocation of up to £848,501 from the General Reserve; and use of additional income of £136,499 held by Lacey’s Advocates for the Historic Abuse Redress Scheme, which is now not required. The funding returned from Lacey’s should be returned to the Insurance Fund, which was the original source of the funding. An equivalent amount (£136,499) will therefore be held unspent within the General Reserve, and hence will remain within the Consolidated Fund. It will be transferred to the Insurance Fund as part of the Government Plan 2022-25.
Resource Implications: The T&E Head of Expenditure to increase by £848,501 and the General Reserve to decrease by an identical amount. £136,499 will be held unspent within the General Reserve, and hence will remain within the Consolidated Fund. It will be transferred to the Insurance Fund as part of the Government Plan 2022-25. The recurring effects of this allocation and the additional request to top-up the Insurance Fund will be addressed and considered as part of the process to develop the Government Plan 2022-25. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Government Plan 2021-24.
Action required: The Head of Financial Governance to advise the Specialist – Business Cases and the Head of Finance Business Partnering for T&E that this decision is approved.
Signature:		Position: Deputy S J Pinel, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision: