Government of Jersey

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A decision made 21 January 2010 regarding: Loss of reciprocal health agreement - transfer of funds from Treasury and Resources to Health and Social Services.

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2010-0008
Decision Summary Title	Reciprocal Health Agreement Income		Date of Decision Summary:	18th January 2010
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Decision Support		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Transfer of Funds to the Health and Social Services Department in accordance with P83/2009		Date of Written Report:	18th January 2010
Written- Report Author:	Finance Manager – Decision Support		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Transfer from the Treasury and Resources Department to the Health and Social Services Department
Decision(s): The Minister approved the transfer of £2,598,540 non-recurrently from the Treasury and Resources contingency fund to the Health and Social Services Department to fund the shortfall during the period 1st April to 31st December 2009 caused by the ending of the Reciprocal Health Agreement with the UK.
Reason(s) for Decision: To transfer funds in accordance with the approval of P.83/2009 (approved by the States in July 2009) which requested funding to be made available to the Health and Social Services Department under Article 11(8) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 up to a maximum of £2,900,000.
Resource Implications: As above
Action required: Head of Financial Planning to be requested to action the transfer as soon as possible.
Signature:		Position: Deputy E. J. Noel, Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision):

Loss of reciprocal health agreement - transfer of funds from Treasury and Resources to Health and Social Services

Treasury and Resources

Report

TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO THE health and social services department in accordance with p83/2009

Purpose of Report

To support approval of the transfer of £2,598,540 from the Treasury and Resources contingency fund to the Health and Social Services Department to fund the removal of the Reciprocal Health Agreement (RHA) income by the UK Department of Health.

Background

The UK Government terminated the RHA with effect from 1st April 2009. The effect of the termination of the RHA means that Health and Social Services is no longer able to charge the UK Government for urgent and necessary healthcare treatments provided to UK residents whilst they are in Jersey. The annual loss of income is estimated by the Health and Social Services Department to be £3.9m.

The States agreed an additional expenditure approval of up to £2.9m (P83/2009) under Article 11 (8) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law, being the estimated loss of income between 1st April and 31st December 2009.

In accordance with P83/2009, the Minister for Health and Social Services must make requests for specific funding to meet actual lost income. A breakdown of the shortfall of £2,598,540 for the period 1st April to 31st December 2009 is shown below (MD-HSS-2009-0057, MD-HSS-2010-0006).

Details	£
Income not received from the Department of Health	2,925,000
Recurrent HSS income budget set for overseas visitors	22,650
Actual income received from overseas visitors	(380,280)
Cost of additional staff taken on to identify treatment costs and raise invoices for overseas visitors	31,170
Total	2,598,540

The Accounting Officer for Health and Social Services confirms that:-

The claim is necessary.
This loss of income can not be met from existing resources.

All possible measures (within current systems) had been taken to secure payment by visitors from the UK and their insurers.

Resource implications

Recurrent (net) funding of £3.5m was approved by the States in the 2010 Annual Business Plan.

Reason for the Decision

To transfer funds in accordance with the approval of P.83/2009 (approved by the States in July 2009) which requested funding to be made available to the Health and Social Services Department under Article 11(8) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 up to a maximum of £2,900,000.

Recommendation

The Minister for Treasury and Resources approves the transfer of £2,598,540 from the Treasury and Resources contingency fund.