Historical Child Abuse: Committee of Inquiry: Allocation from Central Contingency Funding

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A decision made 17 March 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2014-0021
Decision Summary Title:	Central Contingency Funding Request for the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse	Date of Decision Summary:		13th March 2014
Decision Summary Author:	Projects Director	Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?		Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written	Person Giving Oral Report:		N/A
Written Report Title:	Central Contingency Funding Request for the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse	Date of Written Report:		13th March 2014
Written Report Author:	Projects Director	Written Report : Public or Exempt?		Public
Subject: Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse – allocation of Central Contingency funding.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the allocation of up to £6,000,000 from Central Contingency (emerging items) to the States Greffe – States Assembly head of expenditure, for the purposes of funding the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse. The Minister further approved that this allocation should be transferred as follows in 2014:- A budget transfer of £1,300,000 in March 2014; The remaining allocation of up to £4,700,000 will be transferred on approval by the Treasurer of the States under a delegated decision(s) in tranches of up to £1,000,000 on request from the States Greffe Accounting Officer. The Greffier of the States is in agreement with the above proposed budget transfer arrangements with these being slightly different in 2014 from the approval given by the Council of Ministers in their meeting of the 10th July 2013.
Reason(s) for decision: Article 17(2) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that the Minister for Treasury and Resources is authorised to approve the transfer from contingency expenditure to heads of expenditure of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year. The States at its meeting on 6th March 2013 adopted, as amended, the proposition in P.118/2012 -Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse. In his lodged comments to P.118/2012 the Minister for Treasury and Resources recommended, that if the proposition were approved, that up to £6,000,000 be allocated from Central Contingency. Such an allocation would be required to follow the approved and published procedures for the Central Contingencies (R.10/2012).
Resource Implications: Central Contingency (emerging items) will decrease by £1,300,000 in 2014 and if approved by the Treasurer of the States under a delegated decision(s) will decrease by up to a further £4,700,000 in 2014. The States Greffe – States Assembly head of expenditure will increase by identical amounts.
Action required: Business Manager to advise the Financial Performance Reporting Manager and the Greffier of the States that this decision has been approved.
Signature:			Position: Senator P.F.C. Ozouf, Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:			Date of Decision:

Historical Child Abuse: Committee of Inquiry: Allocation from Central Contingency Funding

Treasury and Resources

Ministerial Decision Report

Central contingency Funding Request for Committee of Inquiry into Historical CHILD Abuse

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources (T&R) to approve an allocation of up to £6,000,000 from Central Contingency (emerging items) in order to fund the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse. The Minister is further requested to approve a non - recurring budget transfer from this allocation of £1,300,000 in March 2014, with the remaining allocation of up to £4,700,000 being transferred in 2014 under a delegated decision(s) by the Treasurer of the States in tranches of up to £1,000,000 to the States Greffe – States Assembly head of expenditure.

Background

The States at its meeting on 6th March 2013 adopted as amended, the proposition in P.118/2012, Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse. This approved the establishment of the Committee of Inquiry and its Terms of Reference.

The Minister for T&R presented his comments to the States on 4th March 2013, Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse (P.118/2012) – Comments. These provided estimates of the detailed costs of the Inquiry which would operate over two financial years – 2013 and 2014. The estimated cost was £6,000,000.

The Comments also stated,

“Should the States approve P.118/2012, it is recommended that up to £6,000,000 be allocated from the Central Contingency that Members approved in the Medium Term Financial Plan. Such an allocation would be required to follow the approved and published procedures for Central Contingencies (R.10/2012).”

This procedure requires that the Council of Ministers consider the request and make a recommendation taking into account the Department’s submission and the Treasurer of the States’ and Minister for T&R’s recommendations. The Council of Ministers recommendation was made at its meeting on the 10th July 2013. The recommendation was to approve the requested allocation from Central Contingencies.

The allocation of the funding was as requested by the Greffier of the States, as the Accounting Officer for the Committee of Inquiry, on the 3rd July 2013. This request to the Treasurer of the States was for the funds be allocated from Central Contingency as follows:-

2013 - £800,000
2014 - £3,000,000 (on 1st January 2014)
This with the proviso that the budget would be monitored and a further request for the release of the balance of the funds (£2,200,000) would be made to the Treasurer of the States, if necessary during 2014.

The Inquiry however was delayed due to the unfortunate circumstances of the elected chair (Mrs Sally Bradley QC) and as such the above allocations have been amended. The revised allocations are as follows:

Up to £6,000,000 in 2014, to be transferred as follows:-

 A budget transfer of £1,300,000 in March 2014;

 The remaining allocation of up to £4,700,000 to be transferred on approval by the Treasurer of the States under a delegated decision(s) in tranches of up to a £1,000,000.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister approve the allocation of up to £6,000,000 from Central Contingency (emerging items) to the States Greffe – States Assembly head of expenditure, for the purposes of funding the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse.

The Minister is further recommended to approve that this allocation should be transferred as follows in 2014:-

 A budget transfer of £1,300,000 in March 2014;

 The remaining allocation of up to £4,700,000 will be transferred on approval by the Treasurer of the States under a delegated decision(s) in tranches of up to £1,000,000 on request from the States Greffe Accounting Officer.

The Greffier of the States is in agreement with the above proposed budget transfer arrangements with these being slightly different in 2014 from the approval given by the Council of Ministers in their meeting of the 10th July 2013.

Resource Implications

Central Contingency (emerging items) will decrease by £1,300,000 in 2014 and if approved by the Treasurer of the States under a delegated decision(s) will decrease by up to a further £4,700,000 in 2014. The States Greffe – States Assembly head of expenditure will increase by identical amounts.

Report author : Projects Director	Document date: 13/03/2014
Quality Assurance / Review : Business Manager	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DSs, WRs and SDs\2014-0021 - Committee of Inquiry into Historical Abuse\WR - CoI into Historical abuse - Central contingency funding.doc

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