Chief Minister’s Office
Ministerial Decision Report
Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision FUNDING REQUEST
Purpose of Report
To enable the Chief Minister to accept non-recurring budget transfers of up to £177,166 in 2016, up to £177,050 in 2017 and up to £77,050 in 2018 to the Chief Minister’s Department revenue head of expenditure in respect of funding from the Economic and Productivity Growth Drawdown Provision (EPGDP) within Central Contingencies.
Background
Following review and recommendation by the EPGDP Officer Group, on Tuesday 26 July the Economic Policy Political Oversight Group recommended that the Treasury Minister should approve funding from the EPGDP within Central Contingencies in respect of proposals CMD 01 – Additional Funding for Data Protection and CMD 02 - Digital Jersey hub.
Funds will be spent in line with the business cases submitted but a high-level overview of each project and a summary of the timing of spend is detailed below:
CMD 01 – Additional funding for data protection
Proposal to:
- ensure the Island maintains EU adequacy in data protection by supporting the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) to respond to the increased regulatory requirements associated with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation;
- explore funding models that could enable the OIC to become self-funding; and
- pursue the economic opportunities the may derive from a differentiated data protection regime.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Total |
Data Protection Policy Officer | - | 37,050 | 37,050 | - | 74,100 |
Specialist Research | 60,000 | - | - | - | 60,000 |
OIC Senior Policy Officer | 40,000 | 80,000 | 40,000 | - | 160,000 |
OIC Administrative and IT Changes | - | 30,000 | - | - | 30,000 |
Total | 100,000 | 147,050 | 77,050 | - | 324,100 |
Funding will be allocated to the Chief Minister’s Department, which will have responsibility for ensuring that the project outcomes are achieved. Up to £190,000 will be incurred by the Office of the Information Commissioner, which will undertake some of the work required.
Part of the 2018 funding is contingent upon research planned for 2016 successfully identifying viable funding models for the OIC and/or economic opportunities linked to a differentiated data protection regime. The EPGDP Officer Group will determine whether contingent funding will be released when the outcomes of the research are known.
CMD 02 Digital Jersey hub
A programme of digital skills courses to address an identified digital skills shortage by expanding the digital workforce and enhancing the technical skills of existing digital employees. The request also includes initiatives to increase capacity within the Digital Jersey Hub for co-working, networking events, lectures and the delivery of skill courses.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Total |
Digital Skills Courses | 30,000 | 30,000 | - | - | 60,000 |
Digital Skills Zone | 32,366 | - | - | - | 32,366 |
Enhanced Co-working space | 14,800 | - | - | - | 14,800 |
Total | 77,166 | 30,000 | - | - | 107,166 |
Funding will be allocated to the Chief Minister’s Department, which will be responsible for ensuring the project outcomes are achieved. The Department will subsequently commission services from Digital Jersey.
Recommendation
The Chief Minister is recommended to accept non-recurring budget transfers of up to £177,166 in 2016, up to £177,050 in 2017 and up to £77,050 in 2018 to the Chief Minister’s Department revenue head of expenditure in respect of funding from the EPGDP within Central Contingencies for Data Protection and Digital projects.
Reasons 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.
Resource Implications
The Chief Minister’s Department revenue head of expenditure will increase by up to £177,166 in 2016, up to £177,050 in 2017 and up to £77,050 in 2018 and Central Contingences will decrease by the same amounts.
This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for 2016, 2017 and 2018 in the Medium Term Financial Plan.