Budget transfer from Central Contingencies to various departments: 2016 Voluntary Release and Redundancy Scheme Costs

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A decision made 21 December 2016:

Decision reference: MD-TR-2016-0114
Decision Summary Title:	Transfer of funding from Central Contingencies to various departmental budgets to recognise the costs associated with the Voluntary Release and Redundancy Scheme in 2016.		Date of Decision Summary:	19th December 2016
Decision Summary Author:	Financial Performance Reporting Manager		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Transfer of funding from Central Contingencies to various departmental budgets to recognise the costs associated with the Voluntary Release and Redundancy Scheme in 2016.		Date of Written Report:	19th December 2016
Written Report Author:	Financial Performance Reporting Manager		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Transfer of funding from Central Contingencies to various departments’ revenue heads of expenditure to recognise the costs associated with the 2016 Voluntary Release and Redundancy Scheme.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a non-recurring budget transfer in 2016 of £1,738,128.73 to departments from Central Contingency – Redundancy Provision for VR Applications approved and signed up to 19th November 2016.
Reason(s) 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 to heads of expenditure of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year. On 16th and 17th April 2015, the Council of Ministers agreed to the request to approve non-recurring funding in 2015 totalling £5,100,000 from the Central Contingency – Redundancy Provision to various departments for the funding of the Voluntary Release Scheme. MD-TR-2015-0141 approved funding of £4,666,119 to fund the Voluntary Release Scheme in 2015 in line with the allocation of funding approved by the States Assembly in P.72/2015 Medium Term Financial Plan 2016 – 2019 (as amended). MD-TR-2016-0058 and MD-TR-2016-0082 approved funding of £1,735,344 to fund applications approved and signed up to 30th June 2016. This Decision funds the next tranche of VR Applications to 19th November 2016 and will leave a balance of £13.86 million in Contingency for future applications. There will be a final Ministerial Decision relating to 2016 in early January 2017 to capture any further applications signed before 31st December 2016.
Resource Implications: Various departments’ revenue heads of expenditure to increase by a total of £1,738,128.73 in 2016 and Central Contingency – Redundancy Provision to decrease by the same amount. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current MTFP 2016 to 2019. The transfers are detailed in the attached report.
Action required: The Head of Decision Support to notify the Finance Directors of all relevant departments that the Decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator A J H Maclean Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision: