Reserve Funding Allocation: Covid-19: Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing and Essential Air Connectivity

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[THIS DECISION RESCINDS MD-TR-2021-0030 & MD-TR-2021-0006] A decision made on 16 April 2021

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2021-0045
Decision Summary Title:	Reserve Funding for Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing and Essential Air Connectivity		Date of Decision Summary:	14th April 2021
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Investment Appraisal		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 Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing and Essential Air Connectivity		Date of Written Report:	14th April 2021
Written Report Author:	Head of Investment Appraisal		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Allocation of Reserve funding to the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure for Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing and Essential Air Connectivity, and rescindment of previous allocations made for the same purposes in MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006 respectively.
Decision(s): The Minister decided to approve the following allocations to the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure from the General Reserve (Covid): - Up to £955,000 to enable investment in children’s mental health and wellbeing - Up to £241,500 to enable essential air connectivity to be maintained The Minister also decided to rescind MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006.
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 for all allocations from the General Reserve (Covid-19) once approved by the States Treasurer to be referred for review to either the Council of Ministers or the relevant Competent Authorities Ministers and to seek comments from the Principal Accountable Officer (PAO) prior to submission to the Minister for approval. The requirements for the Policy for Allocations from the Reserve were satisfied prior to the approval of MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006. Those decisions allocated funding from the General Reserve (Covid) directly to the departments who will be spending the allocation. In order to collect all Covid-related costs in one place this decision rescinds those previous allocations and places the funding within the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure. The Treasurer of the States, under delegation from the Principal Accountable Officer, will appoint the Directors General for Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES) and Financial Services and Digital Economy (FSDE) respectively as the Accountable Officers for the allocations.
Resource Implications: The Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure to increase by a total of £1,196,500 being £955,000 for children’s mental health and wellbeing and the £241,500 for essential air connectivity. The General Reserve (Covid) to decrease by the same amount. The decision to rescind MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006 withdraws the previous increase to the CYPES Head of Expenditure by £955,000 and the increase to the FSDE Head of Expenditure by £241,500. These amounts will now be added to the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure. The decision does not increase the total amount of funding agreed in the Government Plan 2021-24.
Action required: Head of Financial Governance to ensure this decision is published on www.gov.je and notify the Heads of Finance Business Partnering for CYPES and FSDE.
Signature:		Position: Deputy S J Pinel, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision: