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STATES OF JERSEY
STATES OF JERSEY BUDGET 2017: ALLOCATION OF FUNDS FOR PARISH INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Lodged au Greffe on 28th June 2017 by the Connétable of St. Helier
STATES GREFFE
2017 P.61
PROPOSITION
THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion
to request the Minister for Infrastructure to take the steps necessary to allocate the funding approved in the Draft Medium Term Financial Plan Addition for 2017 – 2019 (P.68/2016) for the payment of rates by the States in 2017 to Parish infrastructure projects.
CONNÉTABLE OF ST. HELIER
REPORT
The States of Jersey has agreed the principle of the payment of Parish Rates on public buildings, most recently in the debates on the States Strategic Plan and the Medium Term Financial Plan.
The Minister for Treasury and Resources attempted to achieve this on 14th December 2016, when he opened the debate on the Draft Finance (2017 Budget) (Jersey) Law 201- (P.113/2016). Article 16 of the draft Law, providing the mechanism for a revaluation of rateable values and, therefore, the prospect of a financially sustainable approach to the States paying rates, was approved by 22 votes to 17; however, Article 17, which would have allowed for the States' payment of rates to proceed in 2017, was defeated by 20 votes to 17. (The transcript of the debate on P.113/2016 is available on Hansard.) The States, on 23rd May this year, subsequently approved (by 38 votes to 2) my proposition Parish Rates: payment by the States of Jersey' (P.12/2017) requesting the Minister for Treasury and Resources to consult on and bring forward for debate proposals for the payment of Parish rates by the States in 2018.'
However, the fact remains that previous States' decisions to commence the payment of rates this year has left approximately £900,000 in the Department for Infrastructure ("DfI") budget, and both the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister for Treasury and Resources have told me that they believe they should be allowed to spend the money allocated for the States to pay rates in 2017 pro-rata amongst the 12 Parishes, in the same proportion as would have obtained if the States' payment of rates in 2017 had been agreed. While it could be argued that these funds should be released to the Parishes with no strings attached', to be applied to parish budgets as rates income in the normal way, I believe that the Ministers' offer is a sensible and pragmatic one, which is why I am seeking the States' approval of the principle that the funds allocated to DfI can be used to carry out a range of projects across the parishes. As far as the Parish of St. Helier is concerned, there are several projects which the Parish Roads Committee is keen to see started this year, including pedestrian safety improvements on Tower Road and the development of a Village Improvement Scheme' for Havre des Pas.
A breakdown of the sums to be allocated, provided by DfI, is as follows –
Parish | £ |
Grouville : | 3,386.78 |
St. Brelade : | 41,897.48 |
St. Clement : | 25,628.54 |
St. Helier : | 642,130.47 |
St. John : | 3,339.46 |
St. Lawrence : | 4,212.38 |
St. Martin : | 6,526.17 |
St. Mary : | 2,756.95 |
St. Ouen : | 5,027.93 |
St. Peter : | 8,926.62 |
St. Saviour : | 148,390.24 |
Trinity : | 7,737.46 |
Total: | 899,960.48 |
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P.61/2017
Financial and manpower implications
There are no financial consequences for the States arising out of this proposition; manpower requirements may arise in the DfI, depending on the Department's capacity to prepare and implement projects in the Parishes; however, these can presumably be managed following consultation between DfI and the individual Parishes concerned.