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3.3 Senator S.C. Ferguson of the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding the publication of the accounts of all organisations which received public grants:
Given that the 2010 Business Plan required that the accounts of all organisations which received grants, including housing trusts, subject to de-minimis provisions, be published in the form of reports to the States, would the Minister explain why, mid- July, we have only seen the accounts of the utilities and advise when we can expect to see the accounts?
Senator P.F.C. Ozouf (The Minister for Treasury and Resources):
I have 8 total questions, I will be sharing the first 2 to my Assistant Minister Noel and the last one to Deputy Le Fondré.
Deputy E.J. Noel of St. Lawrence (Assistant Minister for Treasury and
Resources - rapporteur)
In our departmental business plan we committed to have a process in place by the end of June 2010. To that end we have asked all departments to ensure that they request accounts from grant-receiving bodies to be provided within 6 months of the year-end, which is a reasonable timeframe of what are typically charitable organisations. That is, at the earliest, at the end of June. It has therefore been a matter of only 2 weeks since you would have expected the accounts to be provided for the 2009 year-end, other than the utility accounts. The detailed list provided in the 2009 States accounts, a whole year ahead of the target date set in the Treasury departmental business plan, provide good information as to how grant money is spent and by which department. We have already spoken to the Senator to discuss the process for providing the accounts and we have suggested the Senator meet with us over the summer recess to determine the best way forward.
- Senator S.C. Ferguson:
I will meet with the Assistant Minister but I would ask that given the provisions were based on the Public Finance Law for the C. and A.G. (Comptroller and Auditor General) and given that tax accounts must be in by May, is July really unreasonable?
Deputy E.J. Noel:
For many of the bodies receiving funds the account year-ends are not necessarily 31st December and, as such, to be in the position that we are in now is perfectly reasonable, and I would just like to say, again, that we are willing to work with the Senator over the summer recess to ensure that we find a suitable solution.
Senator S.C. Ferguson:
I thank the Assistant Minister for his reply. Next Monday?
- Deputy P.V.F. Le Claire:
I wonder if the Assistant Minister can throw some light on the fact that the audited accounts of the Jersey Heritage Trust have not been available for the last year and a half at least. How is it that we are able to have propositions tabled to this Assembly to give them more money in grants totalling up to £400,000 when these have not been considered in the round? Can he throw some light on these issues please for us?
Deputy E.J. Noel:
I think that is more a question for the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture and not for the Treasury Department.
- Deputy P.V.F. Le Claire:
It is in relation directly to the fact that the question and this does arise I believe out of a supplementary. The Senator's question was: "Given that the 2010 Business Plan required that the accounts of all organisations which receive grants, including housing trusts, be published in the form of a report to the States, would the Minister explain, et cetera?" Now the Minister is obviously in a position to explain from this question, which mine arises from, and he is passing the buck to the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture.
The Deputy Bailiff :
The question is a proper supplementary, do you have anything to add, Assistant Minister?
Deputy E.J. Noel:
No, Sir.
Deputy P.V.F. Le Claire:
So the answer is pass the buck to the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture?
- Deputy J.A. Martin:
I am interested in the question and the answer. Including housing trusts, could the Assistant Minister tell me what form of grants housing trusts receive from the States because I am not aware of any?
Deputy E.J. Noel:
I believe that the only possible form of grant that the housing trusts may receive would be under the agreements that we have with some of the housing trusts to guarantee the amount of interest that they pay on loans.