Treasury and Exchequer
Ministerial Decision Report
Reserve Funding for Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing and Essential Air Connectivity
- Purpose of Report
Allocation of Reserve funding to the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure for Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing and Essential Air Connectivity, and to rescind previous allocations made for the same purposes in MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006 respectively.
- Background
The Government Plan 2021-2024 provides £40 million as a Covid-19 Reserve within the General Reserve for Covid-19-related funding needs that cannot be met from existing heads of expenditure in 2021. The Government Plan also established the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure, which provides funding for a series of known Covid-19-related projects that were allocated funding through the Government Plan process.
The Minister allocated £955,000 to the CYPES Head of Expenditure in MD-TR-2021-0030 to enable investment in children’s mental health and wellbeing. The Minister also allocated £241,500 to the Economy Head of Expenditure to maintain essential air connectivity in MD-TR-2021-0006. Both Decisions are appended to this report.
To simplify reporting processes for all Covid-19 related expenditure in 2021 the decision has now been taken to consolidate all such expenditure on the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure. Accordingly, the appended decisions will be rescinded and a separate allocation will be made to the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure for the same amount and purposes.
- Recommendation
The Minister is recommended to approve the following allocations to the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure:
- Up to £955,000 to enable investment in the children’s mental health and wellbeing
- Up to £241,500 to enable essential air connectivity to be maintained
The Minister is also recommended to rescind MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006.
- Reason 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 Policy for Allocations from the Reserve, presented to the States Assembly as R.60/2021, sets the requirement for all allocations from the General Reserve (Covid-19) once approved by the States Treasurer to be referred for review to either the Council of Ministers or the relevant Competent Authorities Ministers and to seek comments from the Principal Accountable Officer (PAO) prior to submission to the Minister for approval.
The requirements for the Policy for Allocations from the Reserve were satisfied prior to the approval of MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006. Those decisions allocated funding from the General Reserve (Covid) directly to the departments who will be spending the allocation. In order to collect all Covid-related costs in one place this decision rescinds those previous allocations and places the funding within the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure. The Treasurer of the States, under delegation from the Principal Accountable Officer, will appoint the Directors General for Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES) and Financial Services and Digital Economy (FSDE) respectively as the Accountable Officers for the allocations.
- Resource Implications
The Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure to increase by a total of £1,196,500 being £955,000 for children’s mental health and wellbeing and the £241,500 for essential air connectivity. The General Reserve (Covid) to decrease by the same amount.
The decision to rescind MD-TR-2021-0030 and MD-TR-2021-0006 withdraws the previous increase to the CYPES Head of Expenditure by £955,000 and the increase to the FSDE Head of Expenditure by £241,500. These amounts will now be added to the Covid-19 Response Head of Expenditure.
The decision does not increase the total amount of funding agreed in the Government Plan 2021-24.
Report author: Head of Investment Appraisal | Document date: 14th April 2021 |
Quality Assurance / Review : Head of Financial Governance | File name and path: WR - Reserve Funding for CAMHS and Essential Air Connectivity |
MD sponsor : Treasurer of the States |