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A decision made (23.01.2009) to fund criminal case costs from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF).

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2009-0012
Decision Summary Title:	Budget Transfer – Court and Case costs		Date of Decision Summary:	21st January 2009
Decision Summary Author:	Loretta Outhwaite: Finance Director		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	Na
Written Report Title:	Budget Transfer – Court and Case costs		Date of Written Report:	21st January 2009
Written Report Author:	Loretta Outhwaite: Finance Director		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Budget Transfer – Court and Case costs
Decision(s): The Minister agreed to fund 2008 criminal case costs from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF) and delegated to the Treasurer the final approval of the necessary grants and budget transfers once final spend was confirmed.
Reason(s) for Decision: Court and Case costs exceeded the 2008 budget allocated to Court Department budgets by c£2.5m. The Council of Ministers had been made aware of this expenditure throughout 2008 by way of the quarterly financial reports and had indicated that the costs should be met from the COCF.
Resource Implications: A transfer of funds of approximately £2.5m from the COCF to the Court Departments and Home Affairs for 2008 only.
Action required: The Finance Director to action the necessary budget transfers and journals
Signature:		Position: Senator PFC Ozouf, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed: 23rd January 2009		Date of Decision: 23rd January 2009

Criminal Case Costs - Budget Transfer

Decision Summary

TREASURY AND RESOURCES MINISTER

Budget Transfer – Court and Case costs

Purpose of Report
1. The Minister is asked to agree in principle to fund approximately £2.5m criminal case costs from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF).
2. The Minister is asked to delegate final approval to the Treasurer once the 2008 spend is known.
Background
Court and Case costs are demand led by nature and the budgets existing in Court Departments are not always sufficient for in year costs.
Total Court and Case budget against spend is as follows:

Year	Budget (£m)	Spend (£m)
2002	4.5	6.2
2003	4.6	5.8
2004	4.7	3.4
2005	4.9	3.8
2006	5.0	5.5
2007	5.1	8.0
2008 Estimated	5.1	7.6

The 2008 Costs by Department are attached as Appendix A.
The significant spend in 2008 arises in the Judicial Greffe and is related to a small number of expensive cases The Finance Directors of the Departments will attend to provide details of their spend.

Comments
The Council of Ministers has been informed of the overspend in Court and Case costs throughout 2008 by way of the quarterly financial reports. The Council indicated that the COCF should be used to defray the 2008 overspend at the 2nd quarter report.
Another option is to fund this cost from Department underspends. It is not known what the financial positions of the Departments are, however the Departments will expect to carry forward underspends and there are other pressures on this funding if it becomes available.
The Attorney General is required to be consulted on expenditure from the COCF. He has confirmed that the COCF can be used to fund criminal case costs only. The balance on the COCF is currently £6.7m; in addition c£10m income has recently been received, where the case may be appealed.
The move toward GAAP accounting and the cessation of the COCF fund (as proposed by the C&AG) will force a review of funding methods for court and case costs.
The use of the COCF is appropriate as its income is derived from the proceeds of criminal cases.

Recommendation

That the Minister agrees to fund 2008 criminal case costs from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF) and delegate to the Treasurer the final approval once final spend was confirmed.

Reason for Decision
The COCF is an appropriate source of funds for this expenditure as its income is derived from the proceeds of criminal activity.

Loretta Outhwaite

Finance Director

Appendix A

2008 Estimated Spend on Court and Case costs


	2008 Budget	2008 Spend	Variance	2008 Forecast for Criminal Spend	2008 Forecast for Other cases
Judicial Greffe	1,807,400	3,478,511	2,671,111	1,147,909	2,330,602
Law Officers	2,295,325	2,481,263	185,938	1,520,238	961,025
Viscounts	304,000	134,523	-169,477	86,335	48,188
Bailiff	210,000	283,788	73,788	96,083	187,705
Home Affairs	500,000	1,247,591	747,591	456,327	791,264
	5,116,725	7,625,676	2,508,951	3,306,892	4,318,784

Total Overspend is £2.5m

Only Criminal Spend can be funded from the COCF.