Population Office: Transfer of budget and staff from Chief Minister's Department to Social Security Department

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A decision made 18 May 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2015-0057
Decision Summary Title:	Transfer of staffing and budget for the Population Office from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Social Security Department.		Date of Decision Summary:	1st May 2015
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 staffing and budget for the Population Office from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Social Security Department.		Date of Written Report:	1st May 2015
Written Report Author:	Head of Decision Support		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Budget transfer with effect from 1 January 2015 from the Chief Minister’s Department (CMD) to the Social Security Department (SSD) to enable the transfer of the Population Office between the two departments.
Decision(s): The Minister approved a recurring budget transfer with effect from 1 January 2015 of £124,109 from the CMD revenue head of expenditure to the SSD revenue head of expenditure. The Minister further approved the transfer of 17.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) from CMD to SSD to enable the transfer of the Population Office. The Minister approved a non-recurring budget transfer with of £250,000 from Central Contingency to the SSD revenue head of expenditure for the administration of the Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 18(1) (c) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that all or any part of the amount appropriated by a head of expenditure may, with the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, be used for the purposes of another head of expenditure. 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. To comply with P67/1999, which charges the Minister for Treasury and Resources to regulate the number of persons that may be employed by the States.
Resource Implications: The CMD revenue head of expenditure to decrease by £124,109, Central Contingency to decrease by £250,000 and the SSD revenue head of expenditure to increase by £374,109. The CMD approved FTE total will decrease by 17 FTE and the SSD approved FTE total will increase by an identical amount. There is no overall increase in approved FTE for the States of Jersey because of this decision. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2013 – 2015. This transfer will be reflected in the next MTFP 2016 – 2019.
Action required: The Head of Decision Support to advise Finance Manager – Corporate Group, Finance and Governance Director – SSD and the Financial Performance Reporting Manager that this decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator A J H Maclean, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Population Office: Transfer of budget and staff from Chief Minister's Department to Social Security Department

Treasury and Resources Department

Treasury Minister’s Report

The transfer of the Population OFfice from ThE Chief Minister’s DEPARTMENT to the social security DEPARTMENT

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve the budget transfer with effect from 1 January 2015 of the Population Office from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Social Security Department.

Background

Following a discussion between the Chief Executive, Director of Corporate Policy and the Chief Officer of Social Security in 2014 it was agreed that the administration of the Population Office could be made more effective through integration with the Social Security Department.

In order to minimise the administrative requirements it was agreed that the budget, manpower and assets allocated to the Population Office (including the Housing Gateway) should be transferred from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Social Security Department with effect from 1 January 2015.

The 2015 budget allocated to the Population Office function within the Chief Minister’s Department is £124,109.

In addition £250,000 has been held in central contingency to cover the shortfall in income under the Control of Work and Housing Law as a result of the States Decision not to implement an annual charge on registered employees

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister:

approves the recurring budget transfer of £124,109 with effect from 1 January 2015 of the Population Office from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Social Security Department.

approves the non-recurring budget transfer in 2015 of £250,000 from central contingency to the Social Security Department revenue head of expenditure;

approves the increase in 2015 of the Social Security Department Full Time Equivalent (FTE) included in the 2015 Annex to the MTFP by 17.0;

Reason for Decision

Article 18(1)(c) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that all or any part of the amount appropriated by a head of expenditure may, with the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, be used for the purposes of another head of expenditure. Delegation 1.2 delegates authority for non-contentious transfers between heads of expenditure of up to £1,000,000 to the Treasurer of the States.

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.

To comply with P67/1999, which charges the Minister for Treasury and Resources to regulate the number of persons that may be employed by the States.

Resource Implications

The Chief Minister’s Department revenue head of expenditure to decrease by £124,109, Central Contingency to decrease by £250,000 and the SSD revenue head of expenditure to increase by £374,109. The Chief Minister’s Department approved FTE total will decrease by 17 and the Social Security Department approved FTE total will increase by an identical amount. There is no overall increase in approved FTE for the States of Jersey because of this decision. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2013 – 2015. This transfer will be reflected in the next MTFP 2016 – 2019.