Budget transfer from Office of the Chief Executive to fund Office of the Data Protection Commissioner

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A decision made 23 December 2019:

Decision reference: MD-TR-2019-0118
Decision Summary Title:	Transfer of approved Contingency Funding to the Office of the Chief Executive to fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner		Date of Decision Summary:	19th December 2019
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Finance Business Partnering		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Transfer of approved Contingency Funding to the Office of the Chief Executive to fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner		Date of Written Report:	19th December 2019
Written Report Author:	Head of Finance Business Partnering		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Transfer of up to £1,146,000 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Office of the Chief Executive to fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a transfer in 2019 of up to £1,146,000 from Central Contingencies to the Office of the Chief Executive to fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 58 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that the provisions of the previous Law, as they have effect immediately before the 2019 Law came into force, continue to apply to money received, expended or otherwise handled by or on behalf of the States during the financial year in which this Law came into force. 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. MD-TR-2018-0010 approved a non-recurring transfer of up to £807,533 in 2018 and up to £1,146,000 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Office of the Data Protection Commission for the implementation of the Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201- This decision confirms the 2019 transfer to cover the increased running costs of the new Data Protection Authority. Following implementation of that Law the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is now funded by a grant from the Office of the Chief Executive.
Resource Implications: Central Contingencies to decrease by up to £1,146,000 in 2019 and the Office of the Chief Executive head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount. The grant from the Office of the Chief Executive to the Office of the Data Protection Commission will include £513,918 base budget as well as the amount of this transfer. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current MTFP 2016 to 2019.
Action required: The Head of Financial Governance to advise the Head of Finance Business Partnering of OCE that this decision is approved.
Signature:		Position: Deputy S J Pinel Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Budget transfer from Office of the Chief Executive to fund Office of the Data Protection Commissioner

Treasury and Exchequer

Ministerial Decision Report

Transfer of approved Contingency Funding to the Office of the Chief Executive to fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister to approve a transfer in 2019 of up to £1,146,000 from Central Contingencies to the Office of the Chief Executive to fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

Background

Ministerial Decision MD-TR-2018-0010 approved a non-recurring transfer of up to £807,533 in 2018 and up to £1,146,000 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Office of the Data Protection Commission for the implementation of the Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-. This decision confirms the 2019 transfer to cover the increased running costs of the new Data Protection Authority. Following implementation of that Law the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is now funded by a grant from the Office of the Chief Executive.

The correct budget position has been reflected in the Government Plan for 2020 onwards.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve in 2019 of up to £1,146,000 from Central Contingencies to the Office of the Chief Executive to fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

Reason for Decision

Article 58 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that the provisions of the previous Law, as they have effect immediately before the 2019 Law came into force, continue to apply to money received, expended or otherwise handled by or on behalf of the States during the financial year in which this Law came into force.

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.

MD-TR-2018-0010 approved a non-recurring transfer of up to £807,533 in 2018 and up to £1,146,000 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Office of the Data Protection Commission for the implementation of the Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-. This decision confirms the 2019 transfer to cover the increased running costs of the new Data Protection Authority. Following implementation of that Law the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is now funded by a grant from the Office of the Chief Executive.

Resource Implications

Central Contingencies to decrease by up to £1,146,000 in 2019 and the Office of the Chief Executive head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount.

The grant from the Office of the Chief Executive to the Office of the Data Protection Commission will include £513,918 base budget as well as the amount of this transfer.

This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current MTFP 2016 to 2019.

Report author : Head of Finance Business Partnering	Document date: 19th December 2019.
Quality Assurance / Review : Head of Financial Governance	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2019-00xx - Contingency to OCE for Data Protection
MD sponsor : Treasurer of the States