WW1 Centenary Anniversary Events: Funding Allocation from Central Contingency

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A decision made 24 February 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2013-0120
Decision Summary Title:	Centenary Anniversary of WW1 – revenue allocation from Central Contingency (one-off)		Date of Decision Summary:	20th February 2014
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Financial Planning		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Centenary Anniversary of WW1 – revenue allocation from Central Contingency (one-off)		Date of Written Report:	20th February 2014
Written Report Author:	Head of Financial Planning		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Allocation of funding from Central Contingency (one-off) for the events associated with the Centenary Anniversary of WW1.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the allocation of up to £465,000, comprising of estimates of £167,000 in 2014, £92,000 in 2015, £206,000 in the period 2016 to 2018 from the Central Contingency (one-off) to various departments as required, as per Appendix 1 of the attached written report, for the events associated with the Centenary Anniversary of WW1. The funding is to be drawn down at the request of the Accounting Officers for the various departments and the budget transfers will be actioned upon approval by the Treasurer of the States by delegated decisions.
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 or insurance fund of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year. On 21st February 2014, the Council of Ministers (CoM) agreed to make available from the Central Contingency for One-Off Items the funding of £465,000 which had been identified as necessary for the events associated with the Centenary Anniversary of WW1.
Resource Implications: Upon approval by the Treasurer of the States by delegated decisions, the Central Contingency (one-off) to decrease by up to £465,000, comprising of estimates of £167,000 in 2014, £92,000 in 2015, £206,000 in the period 2016 to 2018, and the revenue head of expenditure for the various departments involved to increase by identical amounts, as per Appendix 1 of the attached written report, in the corresponding years. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current Medium Term Financial Plan 2013 to 2015.
Action required: Head of Decision Support to notify the Head of Financial Planning and the Acting Finance Director - Corporate Group that this decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator P F C Ozouf, Minister for Treasury & Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

WW1 Centenary Anniversary Events: Funding Allocation from Central Contingency

Treasury and Resources

Ministerial Decision Report

Centenary Anniversary of WW1 – revenue allocation from Central Contingency (one-off)

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve a 2014 request for contingency funding from the Central Contingency (one-off) to various Departments as per the schedule at Appendix 1 for costs associated with the events to commemorate the Centenary Anniversary of WW1 from 2014 to 2018.

Background

The Bailiff’s Consultative Panel have set up an Officer Working Group in order to develop the plans to commemorate the Centenary Anniversary of WW1. There has been much liaison with UK government officials to obtain and understand fully the programming arrangements in the UK and to draw any parallels for Jersey, as well as consultation locally with external groups and individuals to consider options, select and develop plans and agree responsibilities.

Options included a book project; theatre in education initiative; public exhibition; various ceremonials; an educational programme of visits; lunchtime talks by the Société Jersiaise; plug-in research opportunities; a digital memorial; archive website; Film Society series and creative writing/artistic opportunities.

Members agreed that the starting point for any arrangements should be at the declaration of war and that an appropriate ceremonial occasion ought to be developed accordingly, namely 4th August 2014.

Members of the Panel agreed that the programme options had been well thought through and represented a diverse range of opportunities for the local community. Finding local links to WW1 was important so that any programme was developed with a Jersey accent while closely monitoring events being planned in the UK.

Members asked that these events were made as accessible as possible to the public and agreed that the national scale of the event and its exposure to media reporting would help with its momentum, including at a local level. Members also suggested that the Jersey Militia (Field Squadron) should be involved as there was undoubtedly some links with service men who served during the WW1 period, possibly through Jersey Company known to have existed at that time.

It was noted that Jersey was already involved at official level for the anniversary of the occasion of the D-Day landings. It was also suggested that enquires should be made of Guernsey to see what was being proposed in terms of community arrangements there, and to keep a close link with the MoJ which could advise the Island on any developments in the UK.

The Bailiff’s Consultative Panel have agreed the list of events and have recommended that the schedule and indicative costings be forwarded to the Minister for Treasury and Resources (T&R) in order that an appropriate funding source be considered. The Minister for T&R identified the source of funds as being from Central Contingency, which requires Council of Ministers (COM) approval.

On the 18th December 2013 COM considered the funding request to make available from the Central Contingency for One-Off Items for an amount of £465,000 which had been identified as necessary for the events associated with the Centenary Anniversary of WW1. At that meeting, a number of Ministers asked that certain variations to the planned programme of events be considered.

The Chief Officer, Bailiff’s Chambers has now had the opportunity to make contact with those Ministers and explore the variations and further ideas they might have regarding the Island's WWI Centenary Anniversary arrangements. A summary of these discussions is included for information as Appendix 2.

On the 21st February 2014 COM re-considered and approved this funding request.

3. Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve the allocation of up to £465,000, comprising of estimates of £167,000 in 2014, £92,000 in 2015, £206,000 in the period 2016 to 2018 from the Central Contingency (one-off) to various departments as required, per the schedule at Appendix 1, for the events associated with the Centenary Anniversary of WW1. The funding is recommended to be drawn down at the request of the Accounting Officers for the various departments and the budget transfers are recommended to be actioned upon approval by the Treasurer of the States by delegated decisions.

4. Reason 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 or insurance fund of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year.

5. Resource Implications

Upon approval by the Treasurer of the States by delegated decisions, the Central Contingency (one-off) to decrease by up to £465,000, comprising of estimates of £167,000 in 2014, £92,000 in 2015, £206,000 in the period 2016 to 2018, and the revenue head of expenditure for the various departments involved to increase by identical amounts, per the schedule at Appendix 1, in the corresponding years. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States for the period of the current Medium Term Financial Plan 2013 to 2015.

Report author : Head of Financial Planning	Document date : 20th February 2014
Quality Assurance / Review : Head of Decision Support	File name and path : L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DSs, WRs and SDs\2013-0120 - Centenary Anniversary of WW1\WR - Contingency Funding for Centenary Anniversary of WW1.docx
MD sponsor :Treasurer of the States

APPENDIX 1 – Proposed schedule of events 2014-2018

Appendix 2 – Summary of discussions between Ministers and Chief Officer, Bailiff’s Chambers

1. Minister for Health and Social Services - the Minister has been advised that the external enquiry she had received regarding the matter of possible unmarked war graves being present within the grounds of the Crematorium had in fact been received some months prior by the Bailiff's Chambers/Anniversaries Officer Working Group, subsequent to which enquiries had been made and advice provided as to how the matter might be better researched in order to document the position. The matter of research has since remained with the enquirer and should the matter materialise into something substantively documented, then a commemorative plaque and commemoration to mark the graves could be included in the programme of events; it was agreed that this request should be determined and, if justified, commemorated accordingly. This possibility has been accounted for in the funding request considered by Council of Ministers on 18th December 2013, and appears at line 11 of the matrix (Appendix 1) of the Council of Ministers report - "Memorials and other significant ceremonial events" - budgeted in the total sum of £25,000 for the period 2014-2018.

2. Minister for Housing - the Minister has received an approach regarding an initiative to acknowledge all volunteers from Jersey who have served in the armed forces. This was not intended to be WWI specific but rather to represent those who had served in all wars across the ages. This recognition might tie in with an existing day of recognition, such as Remembrance Sunday or Armed Forces Day, subject to further exploration and documentation. It has been suggested that some form of commemorative plaque in honour of those who served be commissioned. The Minister has already made some early enquiries of the Jersey Field Squadron and the Governor's Office in connection with this initiative and the next step would be for it to be reviewed by the Anniversaries Officer Working Group. The Minister would provide the contact necessary for the matter to be further explored. As in the case of No. 1 above, this possibility can be accounted for in the funding request considered by Council of Ministers on 18th December 2013, and appears at line 11 of the matrix (Appendix 1) of the Council of Ministers report - "Memorials and other significant ceremonial events" - budgeted in the total sum of £25,000 for the period 2014-2018.

3. Minister for Social Security - the Minister has been informed that the proposed local school trips to battlefields would be an education led project with benefits to the wider learning community in secondary schools as well as those who go on the trips themselves. The trip arrangements and funding mechanism has been based on similar UK Government arrangements in place in the UK. Education/the schools would determine a fair selection process for those seeking to go on the trips and there would be a full programme of pre and post trip events in the school environment to the benefit of a much wider audience of pupils. This initiative has been costed to include both the fieldtrip and wider school environment activities and is accounted for in the funding request considered by Council of Ministers on 18th December 2013, and appears at line 7 of the matrix (Appendix 1) of the Council of Ministers report - "Battlefield visits for secondary school students" - budgeted in the total sum of £195,000 for the period 2014-2018.

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