Treasury and Exchequer
Ministerial Decision Report
aLLOCATION OF pRE-FEASIBILITY vOTE and General Reserve funding TO GHE for Fort Regent and Island sports facilities projects
- Purpose of Report
To enable the Minister to approve the non-recurring allocation of up to £158,000 from the Pre-feasibility Vote (PFV) and £76,950 from General Reserve to Growth, Housing and Environment (GHE) for the Fort Regent Development (Early Phase) and Island Sports Facilities major project as detailed below.
- Background
The PFV has been established in the Government Plan 2020-2023 in recognition that projects may require access to funding to conduct initial exploratory work that will gather the necessary data and understanding to support the development of a robust and comprehensive business case. The PFV is a source of one-off funding intended to support pre-feasibility studies for capital projects which were identified as part of the Government Plan.
Fort Regent (Early Phase) - £117,000
The objectives of this allocation are:-
- Appointment of Commercial Manager support.
- Delivery of Procurement Strategy.
- Ongoing Development Director and Project Management support.
- Coordination with Sports Facilities Programme.
- Business Advisory – delivery strategy.
The pre-feasibility work identified in the business case is an essential pre-requisite to the delivery of the wider Fort Regent (early phase) project in the Infrastructure, Housing and Environment department.
The remaining balance of £76,950 from previous pre-feasibility funding available to the Fort Regent project in 2019 was unused and has been ring-fenced in General Reserve. This will be allocated first before allocating the 2020 PFV budget.
As part of the Capital Restart report that went to ELT on 23rd June 2020 £1,800,000 has been deferred and is included in the Fort Regent (Early Phase) Major Project allocation in 2021 in the Government Plan 2021-2024.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, the pre-feasibility study has been delayed and therefore the balance of the 2020 allocation (£159,950) is requested to be included in the Unspent Capital End of Year report with the intention to be available for this project in 2021.
Island Sports Facilities, Inspiring Places - £117,950
The objectives of this allocation are:-
- Appointment of Specialist Sports advisers.
- Appointment of Specialist Designers, Technical and Commercial Support.
- Fort Regent user relocation plan.
- Programme Director from Jersey Sport.
- Design for temporary facilities where required.
- Project Management support.
- Les Quennevais and Island Stadium layout options
- KKP Sport Facility Feasibility Study Report.
The pre-feasibility work identified in the business case is an essential pre-requisite to the delivery of the wider Islands Sports Facilities and Inspiring Places in Infrastructure, Housing and Environment.
As part of the Capital Restart report that went to ELT on 23rd June 2020 £200,000 has been deferred and is included in the Central Planning Reserve in 2021 in the Government Plan 2021-2024.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, the pre-feasibility study has been delayed and therefore the balance of the 2020 allocation (£382,050) is requested to be included in the Unspent Capital End of Year report with the intention to be available for this project in 2021.
- Recommendation
The Minister is recommended to approve the non-recurring allocation of up to £158,000 from the PFV and £76,950 to GHE for the Fort Regent and Island Sports Facilities major projects as detailed above.
- Reasons for Decision
Article 18(1)(a) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that a specified amount appropriated for one head of expenditure may, with the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, be used for the purposes of another head of expenditure that is set out in the government plan.
Article 18(4) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that the Minister shall give the States Assembly at least 4 weeks’ notice before an amount is transferred under paragraph (1)(a).
Article 18(5) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that if a direction under this Article would affect a head of expenditure that relates to the responsibilities of any Minister, that Minister must be consulted before the direction is made. The Minister has been consulted.
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) states that ‘Where a request is made for £100,000 or less, or where the Minister is satisfied that there is an urgent need to provide funding in the public interest, an allocation may be made by the Minister on the recommendation of the Treasurer.’
As this request from the General Reserve is for only £76,950 the Treasurer recommends this allocation directly to the Minister.
5. Resource Implications
The PFV and General Reserve heads of expenditure will decrease by up to £158,000 and £76,950 respectively and the Fort Regent major project and Islands Sports Facilities heads of expenditure will increase by £117,000 and £117,950 respectively.
This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Government Plan 2020-2023.
Funding that has been drawn down and is unspent at the end of the financial year will return to the PFV. Where unspent balances are required for the same purpose in the following year, the Minister for Treasury and Resources may approve a Ministerial Decision to reissue the funding without a need to repeat the funding application process. Any amounts that remain unspent once the pre-feasibility work has been completed will be returned to the PFV or to the Reserve.
Report author: Specialist – Business Cases | Document date : 9th December 2020 |
Quality Assurance / Review: Group Director, Strategic Finance | File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2020-0154- PFV to GHE for Fort Regent and Islands Sports Facilities |
MD sponsor: Treasurer of the States |