TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES
TOWN PARK PROJECT – BUDGET TRANSFERS
Purpose of the Report
The purpose of this report is to seek the Minister for Transport and Technical Service’s approval to various budget transfers and request the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources to this transfer.
Background
The (then) Planning and Environment Committee was charged, in 1997, with developing proposals for a park on the site of the Gas Place/Talman car parks adjacent to Bath Street, St. Helier.
That Committee produced a report to the States dated March 2000 (presented 11 April 2000), recommending a scheme that incorporated a park across the whole site (1.3 hectares) with a three storey underground car park (826 spaces).
The cost of the proposed scheme was originally estimated to be £23.18 million at November 1999 prices. Funding of £15 million was to be made available from the Jersey Car Parking – Trading Fund for an equivalent above ground multi-storey car park and the report assumed that ‘the Millennium Fund’ would meet the remaining £8.18 million (at November 1999 prices).
The preferred option was further developed by the project steering group, with the eventual outturn cost estimate reaching some £30 million. The Millennium Fund included a sum of £1.225 million for the Park element of the project and no further funding source was available to meet this shortfall. With no identified funding route to meet this funding shortfall, the project stalled.
The project has been resurrected on the basis of dealing with the remediation of the site and development of a park as a core project. Replacement car parking is to be provided off site and funded from the Jersey Car Parking - Trading Account.
The project is to be managed by the Transport and Technical Services Department and a project group is in place.
Approval to transfer allocated capital budgets ('Heads of Expenditure') lies with the Minister for Treasury and Resources not the States as a whole (see extract from Financial Direction 3.6 below):
Transfers between capital heads of expenditure
· Approval of non-contentious transfers of up to £100,000 is delegated to the Treasurer of the States, or in his absence another person nominated by the Treasurer of the States.
· All other transfers between existing capital heads of expenditure require the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources.
· Transfers to new capital heads of expenditure require the approval of the Council of Ministers and the Minister for Treasury and Resources.
Discussion
Budgets allocated for the project currently sit in a number of Departments and it is intended to bring these together under a new capital Head of Expenditure under Transport and Technical Services. To achieve this, the following budget transfers (and transfer of associated expenditure) are required:
§ £925,000 (spend to date £7,641.54) from Chief Minister’s Department (Business Unit CXP100)
§ £300,000 (spend to date £300,967.87) from Planning and Environment (Business Unit IXB009)
§ £493,201 (spend to date £199,952.71) from Treasury & Resources - Property Holdings (Business Unit FXA007). This figure is the balance after the transfer of £500,000 to TTS which the Council of Ministers has determined will be used for landscaping works on Victoria Avenue, which will be the subject of a separate report.
§ £400,000 from the Capital Reserve (Business Unit FXN105) - this sum being the ‘inflation’ uplift of £300,000 approved by the (then) Finance and Economics Committee), updated to a June 2007 position.
§ In addition to the above, the following sums are inscribed in the draft 2008 -2012 States Annual Business Plan:
§ £2,000,000 in 2009
§ £500,000 in 2011 (replacing the £500,000 transfer re Victoria Avenue). £250,000 to be provided from TTS 2011 capital allocation and £250,000 to be provided from Housing.
The impact of these budget transfers and future allocations is as follows:
Source | Budget | Expenditure | Balance Available |
Chief Minister’s. | £925,000 | £7,642 | £917,358 |
Planning & Environment | £300,000 | £300,968 | -£968 |
Property Holdings | £493,201 | £199,953 | £293,248 |
Capital Reserve | £400,000 | - | £400,000 |
2009 Capital Allocation | £2,000,000 | - | £2,000,000 |
2011 Capital Allocation | £500,000 | | £500,000 |
Total Available | £4,618,201 | £508,563 | £4,109,638 |
Estimated costs for the remediation works and development of the park are being prepared to present to the Council of Ministers at its meeting in October.
Recommendation
That the Minister approves the following budget transfers (and associated expenditure) to a new capital Head of Expenditure in the Transport and Technical Services Department:
§ £925,000 from Chief Minister’s Department (Business Unit CXP100)
§ £300,000 from Planning and Environment (Business Unit IXB009)
§ £493,201 from Treasury & Resources - Property Holdings (Business Unit FXA007)
§ £400,000 from the Capital Reserve (Business Unit FXN105).
Reason (s) for Decision
To provide the Transport and Technical Services Department with the budget to undertake the Town Park project.
Action Required
The Finance Director:
· to request the Minister for the Treasury and Resources Department to approve the capital transfer as referred to in this report.
Written by: | Ellen Littlechild, Finance Director |
Approved by: | John Richardson, Chief Executive Officer |
Attachment: | |
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