Committee of Inquiry: Historical Child Abuse (P.118/2012) – comments

STATES OF JERSEY

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY: HISTORICAL CHILD ABUSE (P.118/2012) – COMMENTS

Presented to the States on 4th March 2013 by the Minister for Treasury and Resources

STATES GREFFE

2012   Price code: B  P.118 Com.(2) (re-issue)

COMMENTS

The Minister for Treasury and Resources has particular responsibilities under Standing Order 150 "Committee of inquiry: remuneration and expenses". These are set out below,  along  with  his  comments  on  the  financial  and  manpower  implications contained in P.118/2012.

1. Responsibilities  under  Standing  Order  150  "Committee  of  inquiry: remuneration and expenses

Standing Order 150 states –

Committee of inquiry: remuneration and expenses

The Minister for Treasury and Resources may give directions as to –

1. the remuneration (if any) of a member of a committee of inquiry;
2. the expenses that a committee of inquiry may incur; and
3. how such remuneration and expenses are to be funded.

The following comments are intended to inform States members of the steps that will be taken under this Standing Order. Should the States approve the Proposition, the Minister  for  Treasury  and  Resources  will  at  the  appropriate  time  issue  formal directions.

2. Financial and manpower implications Estimated Cost

An  initial  estimated  cost  of  £6 million  was  identified  by  the  Chief  Minister's Department. This was produced with some assistance from Verita, who have previous experience of similar Inquiries. Further validation work has since been undertaken by the States Greffe and States Treasury.

The detailed estimates are attached at the Appendix.

In  summary,  the  estimates  include  provision  for  the  following  areas  of  potential expenditure –

• Pre-Inquiry costs relating to recruitment of Chairman and Panel
• Remuneration for Panel members (plus travel, accommodation and subsistence)
• Management and administrative support to Panel and Inquiry
• Legal and specialist support to the Panel and Inquiry
• Accommodation (including fit out, furniture, equipment and rental)

• ICT  systems  (including  Document  Management  and  storage, Recording, Transcription) with associated IT support
• Transcription costs
• Document research (including Document Officer and support from Jersey Archive)
• Legal  support  costs  to  witnesses,  individuals  named  and  relevant organisations
• Communications
• Contingency.

By their very nature estimates have to be based on assumptions, and this is the case here. The main assumption is that the actual Inquiry itself will be for one year. Other key  assumptions  relate  to  the  number  of  witnesses,  named  individuals  and organisations to be interviewed. Allied to this is the level of legal support (and costs) that will be required to support those individuals and organisations.

These estimates will be reviewed when the Chairman and Panel are appointed and their  approach  to  the  conduct  of  the  Inquiry  confirmed.  The  £6 million  estimate includes a contingency provision of £1 million recognising that there will inevitably be changes/developments as the process develops.

However it is considered essential that there is a clear indication given at the outset on both the likely timescale for the Inquiry and the Budget available.

Risks clearly exist for increased costs, should the timescale of the Inquiry be extended for whatever reason. This needs to be recognised and managed appropriately.

The  financial  and  manpower  implications  also  identify  that  the  £6 million  cost estimate does not include officer time in departments which have dealings with the Committee  of  Inquiry  and  which  may  lead  to  "backfill"  costs.  At  this  stage  the expectation is that Departments affected will be required to meet such costs from within their existing budgets.

Funding the £6 million

Should the States approve P.118/2012, it is recommended that up to £6 million be allocated from the Central Contingency that Members approved in the Medium Term Financial Plan. Such an allocation would be required to follow the approved and published procedures for the Central Contingencies (R.10/2012).

Management of the £6 million Budget

The £6 million would be allocated to the States Greffe as part of the States Assembly head of expenditure. The Accounting Officer would be the Greffier of the States and financial management support would be provided through the existing States Treasury arrangements.

Management of the Budget would be required to comply with all aspects of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 and all relevant Financial Directions.

If approved, the Inquiry would operate over 2 financial years – 2013 and 2014.

It  is  expected  that  expenditure  will  be  contained  within  the  £6 million  allocated. Ongoing  forecasting  will need to  be  undertaken  as  part  of  the regular  budgetary controls procedures.

The Minister for Treasury and Resources intends, after having received formal advice in the usual way from the Treasurer of the States, to issue directions under Standing Order 150 to the Committee of Inquiry. The Directions will cover budgetary limits, financial procedures and reporting.

APPENDIX

_____________________________________________________________________ Re-issue Note

These  comments  are  re-issued  because  the  second  page  of  the  Appendix  was inadvertently omitted from the original publication.