States of Jersey Accounting Standards for Annual Financial Statements 2017: Adoption

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A decision made 23 March 2018:

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2018-0037
Decision Summary Title:	States of Jersey Accounting Standards		Date of Decision Summary:	20th March 2018
Decision Summary Author:	Financial Accountant		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Accounting standards to be adopted for the States of Jersey’s Annual Financial Statements 2017		Date of Written Report:	20th March 2018
Written Report Author:	Financial Accountant		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The adoption of States of Jersey Accounting Standards for the Annual Financial Statements 2017.
Decision(s): The Minister decided to:- adopt a new version of the Jersey Financial Reporting Manual (JFReM) which sets the IFRS-based accounting standards to be adopted in preparation of the States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts 2017; adopt the Treasury and Resources Accounting Policy (Appendix 1 in the attached report); approve the list of Accounting Officers exempted from the definition of Directors as set out in section 5.3.3 of the JFReM (Appendix 2 in the attached report); present the JFReM to the States.
Reason(s) for Decision: Following the Accounting Standards policy set in MD-2015-0134, the JFReM has been updated in line with the the equivalent UK FReM for the year ended March 2016, to implement IFRS-based accounting in the States of Jersey, and to ensure that the accounting standards that are applied are maintained appropriately.
Resource Implications: None.
Action required: The Head of Decision Support to notify the Head of Financial Planning and Performance once the decision is signed. The Head of Financial Planning and Performance to request the Greffier of the States to arrange for the JFReM to be presented to the States for their information at the earliest opportunity.
Signature:		Position: Senator A J H Maclean, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

States of Jersey Accounting Standards for Annual Financial Statements 2017: Adoption

Accounting Standards to be Adopted for the States of Jersey’s Annual Financial Statements 2017

Purpose of Report

The purpose of this report is:

1) To set out the policy for implementing and updating the Accounting Standards to be used in the preparation of the States of Jersey annual financial statements.

2) To provide additional information on the basis on which the States of Jersey’s 2017 Annual Report and Accounts will be prepared.

Background

The Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 (as amended by P.73/2013) states that the annual financial statements of the States must be prepared in accordance with accounting standards issued by the Treasurer with the approval of the Minister.

In Ministerial Decision MD-TR-2015-0134, the Minister recognised that accounting standards are not fixed, that they evolve over time. The Minister’s policy is to update the accounting standards adopted by the States on an annual basis, following those standards adopted by the UK Government in their annually updated Financial Reporting Manual. This policy has been continued, with the 2017 version being based on the UK FReM for the year ending 31 March 2016, adapted as appropriate for the public sector in Jersey.

An updated policy for implementing and updating the GAAP-based Accounting Standards to be used in the preparation of the States of Jersey financial statements is set out in Appendix 1.

Under section 5.3.3 of the JFReM the Minister can exempt Accounting Officers of minor departments from the definition of Directors. The rationale for the proposed exemptions and the list of approved exempt Accounting Officers is included in Appendix 2.

The JFReM 2017 is included in Appendix 3.

Recommendation

That the Minister approves Jersey Financial Reporting Manual (JFReM), which sets out the accounting standards to be adopted in the preparation of the States of Jersey Financial Statements for 2017.

That the Minister approves the policy for implementing and updating the Accounting Standards to be used in the preparation of the States of Jersey annual financial statements.

That the Minister approves the list of exempt Accounting Officers.

Reason for Decision

Following the Accounting Standards policy set in MD-TR-2015-0134, the JFReM has been updated in line with the equivalent UK FReM for the year ended 31 March 2016, to implement GAAP-based accounting in the States of Jersey, and to ensure that the accounting standards that are applied are maintained appropriately

Due to changes in the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 a Ministerial Order is no longer required to set Accounting Standards, and so the previous Order is to be withdrawn.

Appendix 1 – Treasury and Resources Accounting Policy

Introduction

The Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that the annual financial statements of the States must be prepared in accordance with accounting standards issued by the Treasurer with the approval of the Minister. This policy sets out the proposed model for implementing the accounting standards to be used in the preparation of the States’ annual financial statements, and the process for updating these accounting standards.

Maintaining Accounting Standards

The Minister’s policy is to require the States of Jersey accounting records to be maintained and accounts prepared in accordance with IFRS GAAP, modified for the Jersey public sector.

The Minister recognises that accounting standards are not fixed, that they evolve over time and also that the implementation of new standards in the public sector context can be a complex and resource hungry exercise.

The Minister’s policy, therefore, is to update the accounting standards adopted by the States on an annual basis.

The Minister intends to follow those standards adopted by the UK Government in their annually updated Financial Reporting Manual. The implementation of new accounting standards can be complex and resource intensive; there are obvious benefits to a small jurisdiction such as Jersey to learning from others and not being at the cutting edge of such implementations. The Minister intends to adopt the standards implemented by the UK central government with a one year delay. Therefore it is the Minister’s policy that the Jersey FReM for 2017 will adopt IFRS in line with the UK FReM for the year ending March 2016.

As with the preparation of the initial JFReM, new standards introduced in the UK FReM may require some modification for the States of Jersey. The Minister intends to continue to consult the Comptroller and Auditor General and Audit Committee on all significant amendments to the JFReM before implementing them.

Summary of significant differences between the JFReM 2016 and JFReM 2017

The most significant changes in the JFReM 2017 are:

the adoption of IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement;
the format of the Treasurer’s Report, moving towards a performance report.

A full amendment record has been prepared and is included as Appendix 4.

Appendix 2 – Accounting Officers of minor departments

Under section 5.3.3 of the JFReM the Minister may exempt Accounting Officers of minor departments from inclusion in the definition of Directors for the States. There are specific disclosure requirements (principally remuneration disclosures and related party disclosures) which are applicable to those persons deemed to be directors. Directors are those who have responsibility for the organisation as a whole, which in a private company are the Directors of the company. For the States of Jersey it is deemed that Accounting Officers most closely equate to the Directors of a private company, but it is recognised that some Accounting Officers of minor departments would have less influence over the overall control of the States of Jersey. It has been decided that those who are accountable for non-Ministerial department budgets below £5 million do not have significant influence over the States of Jersey. For this reason the Accounting Officers for the following departments are excluded from the definition in 5.3.3:

Bailiff’s Chambers
Viscount’s Departments
Official Analyst
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
Probation and After-Care Service
Office of the Dean of Jersey
Comptroller and Auditor General

Appendix 3 – JFReM 2017 (attached)

Appendix 4 – Amendment Record (attached)

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