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A decision made 21 February 2011.

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2011-0012
Decision Summary Title:	Transport and Technical Services Department 2011 Budget Transfers from In-Vessel Composting Capital Project to Revenue Head of Expenditure		Date of Decision Summary:	3rd February 2011
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Decision Support		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Transport and Technical Services Department 2011 Budget Transfers from In-Vessel Composting Capital Project to Revenue Head of Expenditure		Date of Written Report:	3rd February 2011
Written Report Author:	Decision Support Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Transport and Technical Services Department (TTS) 2011 budget transfers from the In-Vessel Composting capital project to the TTS revenue head of expenditure.
Decision(s): The Minister for Treasury and Resources approved a budget transfer of £2.4m from the TTS In-Vessel Composting capital head of expenditure to the TTS revenue head of expenditure.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 15(1)(a) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that all or any part of the amount appropriated by a head of expenditure may, with the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, be used for the purposes of another head of expenditure.
Resource Implications: The TTS In-Vessel Composting capital head of expenditure to decrease by £2.4m and the TTS revenue head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount. This decision does not increase the total amount of expenditure approved by the States.
Action required: Head of Decision Support to inform the Head of Financial Performance Reporting and the Acting Finance Director of TTS that the transfer has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Senator P F C Ozouf, Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Transport and Technical Services Department: Capital to Revenue Projects Transfer - Approval of Treasury and Resources Minister

Treasury and Resources

Ministerial Decision Report

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT 2011 BUDGET TRANSFERS FROM IN-VESSEL COMPOSTING CAPITAL PROJECT TO REVENUE HEAD OF EXPENDITURE

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve a request made by the Transport and Technical Services Department (TTS) to transfer £2.4m from the In-Vessel Composting capital head of expenditure to the TTS revenue head of expenditure.

Background

In 2006, a budget of £4.549m was allocated to TTS for the development of an enclosed composting facility – the In-Vessel Composting capital head of expenditure (C2682).

At the time of developing the Solid Waste Strategy, enclosure was believed to be the most appropriate means for managing the odour issues at the unenclosed windrow compost facility. Following extensive consultation, review and assessment, it has been established that enclosure is not the best option both operationally and financially. To date £0.5m has been spent on this capital project.

The preferred option is now an unenclosed green waste facility. It is expected that the capital costs for this project will be £1.65m, resulting in unspent budget within the In-Vessel Composting capital head of expenditure of £2.4m.

3. Use of Unspent Monies (Permanently Disposing of Stored Asbestos)

TTS has previously unsuccessfully bid for capital allocation for the permanent disposal of asbestos which is currently stored in over 200 ex-shipping containers at La Collette. The Department has continually highlighted this as a funding pressure and has identified the risk of an asbestos breach owing to not having a safe long term asbestos disposal process on the Department’s risk register.

During 2009 and 2010, the roof of containers storing the asbestos collapsed due to severe corrosion, although the contents remained bagged and there was no risk to the public. At the time the containers were repaired as an interim measure, although it is expected that these incidents will occur on a more frequent basis in the near future as there are many more containers with a similar age profile. In addition to this, the bags used to wrap the contents and prevent fibres being released to the atmosphere are not believed to be stable in the presence of sunlight, which could lead to bag failure if not identified at an early stage.

A number of options have been considered in a recent feasibility report and the Department is currently awaiting planning permission following the outcome of an Environmental Impact Assessment and Statement which determined that the favoured long term disposal strategy was to transfer the stored asbestos from the containers into a mono-cell at La Collette. All of the Statutory Regulators are fully supportive of the proposal and have been included in the decision process.

As the containers’ condition will continue to deteriorate, funding is sought to purchase 200 replacement containers and process the existing stored asbestos in as short a timeframe as possible (12 months) whilst the new asbestos mono-cell is being constructed. The Department would like to use part of the underspend on the In-Vessel Composting capital project to fund this project. The expected costs for the works are estimated to be £1.85m.

4. Further Use of Unspent Monies (Funding the Liquid Waste Strategy)

If the above is agreed, £0.55m will remain unspent, and as the aging Sewage Treatment Works requires significant financial investment, the case is set out below for the use of the remaining unspent funds.

Feasibility work on the development of a Liquid Waste Strategy has been undertaken during 2008 and 2009 to the point where a draft green paper has been issued for stakeholder consultation in the Spring of 2010.

This sets out the investment needed to replace the aging Sewage Treatment Works, upgrade the treatment technology to meet higher environmental and health demands now required by legislation and to maintain and improve the drainage infrastructure network to an acceptable standard.

Substantial and timely investment of capital funding is necessary to avoid deterioration of the assets to the point where they become critical and to avoid environmental or health regulatory enforcement action.

Further work to develop the strategy past green paper stage can not continue unless a funding stream is identified to fund the continued development of this strategy. It is proposed that the £0.55m is used to develop the strategy up to white paper stage and submission to the States.

5. Recommendation

The Minister for Treasury and Resources is recommended to approve a budget transfer of £2.4m from the TTS In-Vessel Composting capital head of expenditure to the TTS revenue head of expenditure.

6. Reason for Decision

Article 15(1)(a) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 states that all or any part of the amount appropriated by a head of expenditure may, with the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, be used for the purposes of another head of expenditure.

7. Resource Implications

The TTS In-Vessel Composting capital head of expenditure to decrease by £2.4m and the TTS revenue head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount. This decision does not increase the total amount of expenditure approved by the States.

Report author : Decision Support Officer	Document date : 3rd February 2011
Quality Assurance / Review : Head of Decision Support	File name and path: l:\treasury\sections\corporate finance\ministerial decisions\dss, wrs and sds\2011-0012 - tts 2011 budget transfers - in vessel composting - lmr\wr - tts 2011 budget transfers - in vessel composting - lmr.doc
MD Sponsor : Treasurer of the States