Covid-19: Allocation of Reserve Funding to Chief Operating Office for Commercial Services, Emergency Support and Response

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A decision made on 26 June 2020

Decision reference: MD-TR-2020-0078
Decision Summary Title:	Allocation of Reserve Funding to COO for Commercial Services - Emergency Support and Response to COVID-19		Date of Decision Summary:	25th June 2020
Decision Summary Author:	Specialist – Business Cases		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Allocation of Reserve Funding to COO for Commercial Services - Emergency Support and Response to COVID-19		Date of Written Report:	25th June 2020
Written Report Author:	Specialist – Business Cases		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The allocation of up to £293,000 in 2020 from the General Reserve to the COO (Chief Operating Office) to provide emergency support for Commercial Services to respond to COVID-19.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the allocation of up to £293,000 in 2020 from the General Reserve to the COO (Chief Operating Office) to provide emergency support for Commercial Services to respond to COVID-19 from 1st May to 31st July 2020.
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 Procedures on Allocations from the Reserve (published as R.23/2020) sets the requirement for all allocations from contingency to be considered by the Investment Appraisal Board, Principal Accountable Officer and States Treasurer prior to submission to the Minister for approval, however it also states that ‘Where a request is made for £100,000 or less, or where the Minister is satisfied that there is an urgent need to provide funding in the public interest, an allocation may be made by the Minister on the recommendation of the Treasurer.’ A draft business case has been received and reviewed by the Investment Appraisal Team. Further to this review, the Treasurer recommends this allocation to the Minister for approval subject to the following conditions: Commercial Services to gather sufficient information to enable a review to be undertaken once the project closes. Funds will be held in Reserves until there is evidence that the funding is required.
Resource Implications: The General Reserve head of expenditure to decrease by up to £293,000 and the COO head of expenditure to increase by the identical amount in 2020.
Action required: The Head of Financial Governance to advise the Specialist – Business Cases and the Head of Finance Business Partnering of COO that this decision is approved. Director General of COO to ensure that the conditions detailed above are satisfied before funding is drawn down.
Signature:		Position: Deputy S J Pinel Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Covid-19: Allocation of Reserve Funding to Chief Operating Office for Commercial Services, Emergency Support and Response

Treasury and Exchequer

Ministerial Decision Report

Allocation of Reserve Funding to coo for the commercial services emergency support and response to covid-19

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister to approve the allocation of up to £293,000 in 2020 from the General Reserve to the Chief Operating Office (COO) to provide emergency support for Commercial Services to respond to COVID-19 from 1st May to 31st July 2020.

Background

Funding provisions were made in the Government Plan 2020-2023 in the General Reserve for funding needs that cannot be met from existing heads of expenditure in 2020. The Minister has increased the amount available in the General Reserve by transferring £65.3 million for the Treasury and Exchequer head of expenditure (MD-TR-2020-0035); approving an additional £99.99 million of expenditure (MD-TR-2020-0047) and approving the transfer of £28 million from the Stabilisation Fund, with associated authority to spend from the General Reserve (MD-TR-2020-0055).

As a direct result of the Covid-19 preparation and response, the demand on Commercial Services (CS) and in particular the Procurement Team has grown exponentially. This demand has arisen from across Government and is constant, causing the RAG statuses for strategic priorities other than Covid-19 to range between red and amber. Itis becoming increasingly difficult to manage or deliver the Government’s commercial needs within existing resources.

This Project will enable CS to temporarily augment its permanent resource with specialist commercial and programme management support, to continue to provide departments with the support they need (both in terms of business-as-usual and during the pandemic period). The outputs from the Project will further assist with implementing changes in the use of digital solutions within CS such that future management of work allocation within the team (and thus CS support of the organisation) is improved.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve the allocation of up to £293,000 in 2020 from the General Reserve to COO for the Commercial Services Emergency Support and Response to COVID-19 from 1st May to 31st July 2020.

Reasons 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 Procedures on Allocations from the Reserve (published as R.23/2020) sets the requirement for all allocations from contingency to be considered by the Investment Appraisal Board, Principal Accountable Officer and States Treasurer prior to submission to the Minister for approval, however it also states that ‘Where a request is made for £100,000 or less, or where the Minister is satisfied that there is an urgent need to provide funding in the public interest, an allocation may be made by the Minister on the recommendation of the Treasurer.’ A draft business case has been received and reviewed by the Investment Appraisal Team.

Further to this review, the Treasurer recommends this allocation to the Minister for approval

subject to the following conditions:

Commercial Services to gather sufficient information to enable a review to be undertaken once the project closes,
Funds will be held in Reserves until there is evidence that the funding is required.

5. Resource Implications

The General Reserve head of expenditure to decrease by £293,000 and the COO head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount in 2020.

Report author: Specialist – Business Cases	Document date : 25th June 2020
Quality Assurance / Review: Group Director, Strategic Finance	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2020-0078-Reserve Funding for Commercial Services Emergency Support
MD sponsor: Treasurer of the States