Treasury and Resources
Ministerial Decision Report
Contingency Funding – TRIBUNAL SERVICE RELOCATION COSTS
- Purpose of Report
To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve the allocation of up to £272,000 in 2017 from Central Contingencies to the Judicial Greffe for the costs associated with the re-location of the Tribunal Service.
- Background
The Tribunal service is moving from its current premises at Bath Street to International House as the lease is coming to the end of its extended period. Larger premises are needed due to additional tribunals being transferred to the department and also disability access is very restricted and therefore does not comply with legislation.
Working closely with Jersey Property Holdings (JPH) a tender process was undertaken and quotes received from 3 potential suppliers. After a tender report was completed by Elliott Design Partnership and reviewed by JPH and the Judicial Greffe a contractor was appointed and it is anticipated they will start work on site imminently.
A carry forward request of £90,000 from 2015 was granted for the relocation cost of the Jersey Tribunal Service but the move was subsequently delayed until 2017. The 2015 carry forward will be required to cover the unfunded cost pressure and a further £270,000 was provided from Judicial Greffe 2016 underspends. Both of these sums are ring fenced in contingencies for these purposes.
The current forecast spend is estimated at £272,000 as detailed in the table below. Funding will only be drawn down when required and all unspent funds will be returned to central contingencies at the end of the project.
- Recommendation
The Treasury and Resources Minister is recommended to approve the allocation of up to £272,000 in 2017 from Central Contingencies to the Judicial Greffe for the costs associated with the re-location of the Tribunal Service.
- 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 or the insurance fund of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year.
The current Contingency Allocation Policy (published as R.10/2012) sets the requirement for all allocations from Contingency to be considered by the Council of Ministers prior to submission to the Minister for approval. This allocation was approved as part of the 2016 year end carry forwards request (MD-TR-2017-0068).
- Resource Implications
The Judicial Greffe revenue head of expenditure to increase by up to £272,000 in 2017 and Central Contingencies to decrease by the same amount.
This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Medium Term Financial Plan 2016 to 2019.
Report author : Finance Manager, Corporate Group | Document date : 14th August 2017 |
Quality Assurance / Review : Head of Decision Support | File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2017-0107 - Contingency Funding for Tribunal Service Relocation Costs |
MD sponsor : Director of Financial Planning and Performance |