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A decision made (24/08/2007) regarding: Town Park Project - Budget Transfers.

Subject:	Town Park Project – Budget Transfers
Decision Reference:	MD-C-2007-0049	Exempt clause(s):		N/A
Type of Report (oral or written):	Written	Person Giving Report (if oral):		N/A
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?	N/A	Report File ref:		JPD/4/13/08/07
Written Report – Title:	Town Park Project - Budget Transfers	Written report – Author:		James Dixon – Finance Director – Chief Minister’s Dept.
Decision(s): The Chief Minister approved the transfer of £925,000 capital budget from the Chief Minister’s Department to the Transport and Technical Services Department for the purpose of funding the town park.
Reason(s) for decision: To allocate budget responsibility for the Town park to one department - the Transport and Technical Services Department.
Action required: The CMD Finance Director to arrange the transfer.
Signature: Chief Minister			Date of Decision: 24 August 2007

Town Park Project - Budget Transfers.

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STATES TREASURY ITEM NO:

Chief Minister

town park project - budget transfers

Purpose of Report
The Minister is asked to approve a capital budget transfer of £925,000 from the Chief Ministers Department to the Transport and Technical Services Ministry in respect of the Town Park project.
Background
The former 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 Car Park Trading Account 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 Car Park Trading Account.
The project is to be managed by the Transport and Technical Services Department and a project group is in place.

Comments

Budgets allocated for the project currently site 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 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) - this sum being the ‘inflation’ uplift of £300,000 approved by the former Finance and Economics Committee.

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

The impact of these budget transfers and future allocations is as follows:

Source	Budget	Expenditure	Balance Available
Chief Minister’s Department	£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.

Recommendations
That the Minister approves the budget transfer of £925,000 from Chief Minister’s Department to the Transport and Technical Services Ministry.

Reason for Decision
To provide the Transport and Technical Services Ministry with the budget to undertake and be accountable for the Town Park project.

c:\documents and settings\parkerli\local settings\temporary internet files\olk4fa\mr town park budget transfers 070810 jpd.doc printed on 13/08/07 at 05:08 PM