Budget transfer from Contingency Funding to Department for Children, Young People, Education and Skills: On-Island Social Worker Degree

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A decision made 3 August 2018:

Decision reference: MD-TR-2018-0099
Decision Summary Title:	Contingency Funding to the Department for Children, Young People, Education and Skills for locally delivered Social Work degree		Date of Decision Summary:	23rd July 2018
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:	Contingency Funding to the Department for Children, Young People, Education and Skills for locally delivered Social Work degree		Date of Written Report:	23rd July 2018
Written Report Author:	Head of Decision Support		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The transfer of up to £65,000 in 2018 and up to £156,500 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Department for Education revenue head of expenditure to fund franchising of delivery of a Social work degree on-Island.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the transfer of up to £65,000 in 2018 and up to £156,500 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Department for Education revenue head of expenditure to fund franchising of delivery of a Social work degree on-Island. The Minister also approved a permanent increase of 2.6 FTE within the Education Department.
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 or the insurance fund of amounts not exceeding, in total, the amount available for contingency expenditure in a financial year. The current Contingency Allocation Policy (published as R.110/2017) sets the requirement for all allocations from Contingency over £100,000 to be considered by the Council of Ministers prior to submission to the Minister for approval. The Council of Ministers approved this allocation at its meeting of 4th July 2018. £90,000 in each of the years 2018 and 2019 has previously been allocated by the Minister for Treasury and Resources in MD-TR-2017-0090 from Contingency to the Health and Social Services Department for On-Island social work training. That allocation will be used together with the funding allocated by the current decision to deliver this training on-Island. To comply with P67/1999 which charges the Minister for Treasury and Resources to regulate the number of persons that may be employed by the States.
Resource Implications: The Department for Education revenue head of expenditure to increase by up to £65,000 in 2018 and up to £156,500 in 2019 and Central Contingencies to decrease by identical amounts. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Medium Term Financial Plan 2016 to 2019. The £221,500 in total is proposed to be drawn down in 2018 and 2019 but the amount for each year may be varied without exceeding the total amount for the two years There will be a permanent increase of 2.6 FTE in the Education Department. The Council of Ministers noted that the increase in cost for 2020 would be included in a separate growth bid for 2020 onwards.
Action required: The Head of Decision Support to advise the Finance Director – Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department that this decision has been approved.
Signature:		Position: Deputy Susie Pinel Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Budget transfer from Contingency Funding to Department for Children, Young People, Education and Skills: On-Island Social Worker Degree

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Treasury and Resources

Ministerial Decision Report

Contingency Funding to the Department FOR EDUCATION for locally delivered Social Work degree

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve:

the transfer of up to £65,000 in 2018 and up to £156,500 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Education Department revenue head of expenditure to fund franchising of delivery of a Social work degree on-Island; and
a permanent increase of 2.6 FTE within the Department for Education.

Background

The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (IJCI), (July 2017), identified the need to recruit and retain Social Workers. This is a fully-costed proposal to bring Social Work training to Jersey through a five-year franchise arrangement with the University of Sussex (UoS).

Without this investment in the development and implementation of a Degree in Social Work recognised by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), there is little chance of having residents of Jersey trained as social workers. There is a chronic shortage of social workers in the island’s workforce and an over reliance on short-term contracts and locums. Given the context of the findings of the Independent Jersey Childcare Inquiry and the ageing population of Jersey, there is clear evidence that well qualified Social Workers with a commitment to working on long-term solutions to the care of young and elderly members of our island population are a requirement if the mistakes of the past are to be avoided. The costs of this proposal are an investment in the training infrastructure of the island’s social workers which can only lead to a more efficient and effective service for the future.

The project requires funding of £686,600 from 2018-2022 for course development and co-delivery with UoS broken down as follows: £135,000 (2018), £222,500 (2019), £212,400 (2020) and £116,700 (2021). For 2018 and 2019 £90,000 per year has already been allocated from Contingency, so the net requirement is for an additional £506,600 over 5 years. There is a further requirement of £116,000 for the training of practice educators and £240,000 as a bursary scheme for off-island work placements and training. There is the potential to attract corporate sponsorship for placement bursaries which will reduce this cost in the longer term. The costing is based on an annual recruitment of 12 students paying a fee of £9,225 which will be funded from the Higher Education Student Finance budget. Funding requirements beyond 2019 will be addressed in the next Medium Term Financial Plan. From 2022, it is anticipated that the course will be self-sufficient and funded entirely through tuition fee income.

This proposal will ensure that the States of Jersey will have:

A minimum of 12 locally trained and qualified Social Workers on an annual basis with the first graduates available to join the workforce from July 2022;
A Social Work Degree Course delivered by a top class and highly experienced UK University; and
An island-based training team of lecturers and practice educators who, between 2018 and 2022, will be fully trained and experienced to deliver a Channel Islands based Social Work Degree programme for the future.

Approval of this decision will enable Sussex University and Highland College the necessary lead in period to recruit staff and advertise for students ahead of an autumn 2018 start date.

Recommendation

The Treasury and Resources Minister is recommended to approve:

the transfer of up to £65,000 in 2018 and up to £156,500 in 2019 from Central Contingencies to the Department for Education revenue head of expenditure to fund franchising of delivery of a Social work degree on-Island; and
a permanent increase of 2.6 FTE within the Department.

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

The current Contingency Allocation Policy (published as R.110/2017) sets the requirement for all allocations from Contingency over £100,000 to be considered by the Council of Ministers prior to submission to the Minister for approval. The Council of Ministers approved this allocation at its meeting of 4th July 2018.

£90,000 in each of the years 2018 and 2019 has previously been allocated by the Minister for Treasury and Resources in MD-TR-2017-0090 from Contingency to the Health and Social Services Department for On-Island social work training. That allocation will be used together with the funding allocated by the current decision to deliver this training on-Island.

To comply with P67/1999 which charges the Minister for Treasury and Resources to regulate the number of persons that may be employed by the States.

Resource Implications

The Department for Education revenue head of expenditure to increase by up to £65,000 in 2018 and £156,500 in 2019 and Central Contingencies to decrease by identical amounts. This decision does not change the total amount of expenditure approved by the States in the Medium Term Financial Plan 2016 to 2019.

The £221,500 in total is proposed to be drawn down in 2018 and 2019 but the amount for each year may be varied without exceeding the total amount for the two years

There will be a permanent increase of 2.6 FTE in the Department for Education.

The Council of Ministers noted that the increase in cost for 2020 would be included in a separate growth bid for 2020 onwards.

Report author : Head of Decision Support

Document date : 23rd July 2018

Quality Assurance / Review :

Director of Financial Planning and Performance

File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2018-0099 - C34 Contingency funding for Education for Social work training

MD sponsor : Director of Financial Planning and Performance