Skip to main content

Finance Law Delegation Report for the 6-month period to 31st December 2019

The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.

The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.

 

STATES OF JERSEY

r

FINANCE LAW DELEGATION REPORT FOR THE 6-MONTH PERIOD TO

31ST DECEMBER 2019

Presented to the States on 28th February 2020 by the Minister for Treasury and Resources

STATES GREFFE

2020  R.15

REPORT

  1. The administration of the public finances of Jersey

In accordance with the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 ("the 2019 Law"), certain matters are required to be reported to the States twice-yearly by the Minister for Treasury and Resources ("the Minister").

This report summarises all decisions made during the 6-month period to 31st December 2019. Where decisions have not previously been published, this is due to one of 2 reasons –

The  decisions  were  exempted  under  the  Freedom  of  Information  (Jersey) Law 2011; or

The  decisions  were  taken by the  Treasurer of the States under delegated authority from the Minister.

  1. Reporting on decisions

The areas of administration which are to be reported on are as follows –

Borrowing and lending;

Budget transfers; and

Carry-forward of revenue balances.

  1. Borrowing and lending
  1. Jersey Student Loan Scheme

During the 6-month period to 31st December 2019, no new loans were guaranteed by the States under the Jersey Student Loan Scheme.

P.53/2007 – Student Loans for higher education – guarantees was debated by the States Assembly on 6th June 2007, and a maximum outstanding limit of £10 million for an unlimited time period was approved.

  1. Infrastructure investments

During the 6-month period to 31st December 2019, no new loans were approved.

  1. Housing Development Fund

During the 6-month period to 31st December 2019, one new loan was approved by the Minister for Treasury and Resources –

MD-TR-2019-0092 approved a loan of £17,640,000 for basement works (initial Piling and Ground Slab Works) at La Collette low rise.

MD-TR-2019-0108 extended the repayment period for Loan 11 (Ann Street Brewery) to 31st December 2020.

The net value of loans outstanding from the Housing Development Fund increased from £152,731,714 at 30th June 2019 to £215,559,223 at 31st December 2019.

  1. Other loans

During the 6-month period to 31st December 2019, no new loans were approved by the Minister for Treasury and Resources.

  1. Budget transfers

Article 58 of the 2019 Law states that the provisions of the previous Law, as they have effect immediately before the 2019 Law came into force, continue to apply to money received, expended or otherwise handled by or on behalf of the States during the financial year in which this Law came into force.

Articles 17 and 18 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 ("the 2005 Law") permit contingency expenditure and variations between heads of expenditure with the approval of the Minister.

Budget transfers under Articles 17 and 18 of the 2005 Law are reported on the following basis –

transfers from contingency expenditure to heads of expenditure

transfers between revenue heads of expenditure

transfers between capital heads of expenditure

transfers between revenue and capital heads of expenditure

transfers between revenue and capital heads of expenditure where the transfer is required in order to comply with accounting standards.

All transfers between departments vary the budgets of individual departments, but are net nil in total.

  1. Transfers between contingency expenditure and heads of expenditure

Transfers  between  contingency  expenditure  and  heads  of  expenditure  during  the 6-month period to 31st December 2019 are shown below –

 

Department

£

Purpose

From –

To –

Central Contingency

Various Departments

443,087

Costs associated with the 2019 Voluntary Release (VR) and Redundancy Scheme – see MD-TR-2019-0059.

Central Contingency

HCS

up to 845,000

To fund the Hospital Site Review and Site Selection – see MD-TR-2019-0065.

Central Contingency

GHE

500,000

MD-TR-2019-0069 allowed sums previously approved for demolition to be used for essential maintenance works.

 

Department

£

Purpose

From –

To –

Central Contingency

Various Departments

up to 2,066,500

Additional funding requests for 2019 – see MD-TR-2019-0070.

Central Contingency

CYPES and HCS

4,081,670

To cover the recurring cost associated with the additional 2018 and 2019 Pay Award in respect of Teaching Assistants, and to cover the 2018 recurring costs and 2019 Pay Award for Nurses and Midwives – see MD-TR-2019-0075.

Central Contingency

States Assembly

211,000

To meet the costs of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry Panel's return to Jersey – see MD-TR-2019-0085.

Central Contingency

Various Departments

185,938

Costs associated with the 2019 Voluntary Release (VR) and Redundancy Scheme – see MD-TR-2019-0086.

Central Contingency

COO

up to 490,000

Costs of the Cyber Security Programme initiation phase – see MD-TR-2019-0091.

Central Contingency

CYPES

1,400,000

To fund the increased costs of Higher Education Funding in 2019 – see MD-TR-2019-0116.

Central Contingency

Various Departments

743,977

Costs associated with the 2019 Voluntary Release (VR) and Redundancy Scheme – see MD-TR-2019-0117.

Central Contingency

OCE

up to 1,146,000

To fund the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (by means of a grant from OCE) – see MD-TR-2019-0118.

Central Contingency

T&E

43,993

Costs associated with the Historic Abuse Redress Scheme.

Central Contingency

CYPES

70,000

Actions to address IJCI recommendations – Accredited Training in Systematic Practice for Children's Services staff.

Central Contingency

CYPES

174,125

Actions to address IJCI recommendations – to fund the recruitment and retention of Children's Social Workers.

Central Contingency

SPPP

100,000

Actions to address IJCI recommendations – to commission a review of domestic law to support the Council of Ministers in making a decision on UNCRC incorporation.

Central Contingency

SPPP

902,390

Actions to address IJCI recommendations – various.

 

Department

£

Purpose

From –

To –

Central Contingency

CYPES

204,000

Actions to address IJCI recommendations – to fund practice improvement work for all Children's Services staff.

Central Contingency

CYPES

Up to 90,745

Actions to address IJCI recommendations – Voice of Jersey – Youth Assembly Project (Jersey Youth Connect).

  1. Transfers between revenue heads of expenditure

Revenue transfers during the 6-month period to 31st December 2019 are shown below –

 

Department

£

Purpose

From –

To –

HCS

CYPES

2,002,000

Agreed transfer of Children's Services budgets – see MD-TR-2019-0098.

  1. Transfers between capital heads of expenditure

Transfers between existing capital heads of expenditure during the 6-month period to 31st December 2019 are shown below –

 

Department

£

Purpose

From –

To –

None

 

 

 

  1. Transfers between revenue and capital heads of expenditure

Transfers between revenue and capital during the 6-month period to 31st December 2019 are shown below –

 

Department

£

Purpose

From –

To –

JHA Minor Capital

JHA revenue

up to 191,700

To fund the recruitment of 6 Police Officers and 4 Police staff.

  1. Transfers between revenue and capital heads of expenditure where the transfer is required in order to comply with accounting standards

The States of Jersey adopted International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as interpreted by the Jersey Financial Reporting Manual ("JFReM") from 2012 as its framework. Under IFRS, expenditure that meets the definition of capital expenditure must be capitalised. The following transfers show the movement between capital and revenue required to align the budgeting treatment of expenditure with the accounting treatment, in order to comply with IFRS.

IFRS transfers between revenue and capital during the 6-month period to 31st December 2019 are shown below –

 

Department

£

Purpose

From –

To –

Refurbishment of Sandybrook Capital

HCS Revenue

28,806

Reclassification of spending as revenue.

Eastern Cycle Network Capital

GHE Revenue

87,835

Works in relation to infrastructure improvement works on land not owned by the Government of Jersey.

Road Safety Improvements Capital

GHE Revenue

55,608

Works in relation to infrastructure improvement works on land not owned by the Government of Jersey.

COO Capital

COO Revenue

up to 8,949,588

Expenditure was in the majority for the research and discovery phases of IT projects which should be classified as revenue expenditure.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

 

CCA

Community and Constitutional Affairs

COO

Chief Operating Office

CMD

Chief Minister's Department

CYPES

Children, Young People, Education and Skills

DfI

Department for Infrastructure

GHE

Growth, Housing and Environment

HCS

Health and Community Services Department

IJCI

Independent Jersey Care Inquiry

SPPP

Strategic Policy, Performance and Population

T&E

Treasury and Exchequer

  1. Investment performance

The Public Finances Manual requires Treasury and Investment Management to prepare a  performance  report  for  all  Government  of  Jersey  funds  and  present  it  to  the Government of Jersey in a  timely  manner for inclusion in the  6-monthly update delivered by the Minister for Treasury and Resources to the States Assembly.

Investment performance for the second half of 2019 will be reported in the Annual Report and Accounts, which are currently subject to audit and will be published shortly.