2015 Budget, reduce contingency allocation to Freedom of Information by £1 million, will this impact negatively.

1240/5(8467)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER

BY CONNÉTABLE OF ST MARY

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2014

Question

The 2015 Budget Statement contains a proposal to reduce contingency allocation to Freedom of Information by £1million and gives the following explanation -

"In order to get ready for enactment of the Freedom of Information Law in 2015 a significant amount of the allocated budget was set aside for the recruitment of staff to work through department policies and procedures. The recruitment of these staff members has proved to be difficult with the levels of knowledge and experience available, which has meant that departments have had to use existing staff and knowledge. An element of the budget allocated to Freedom of Information could, therefore, be returned to the consolidated fund."

Will the Chief Minister advise how the amount of this proposed reduction was identified, including identifying the departments consulted?

Is the Chief Minister confident that this proposal will not impact negatively on the long awaited implementation of the Freedom of Information legislation?

Answer

The original allocation of £4.788m for the implementation of FOI was reviewed and through prudent management of the delivery programme it was felt £1m could be saved by the end of 2015.

The Corporate Management Board, when considering the reprioritisation of funds to meet the new revised income tax forecasts, acknowledged that they will manage with the revised allocation to meet requests made under the new Law.

Due to the good progress that has been made within the departments and what has already been delivered, the implementation of the law is still on track for January 2015.

The final Regulations for the Law are currently being drafted and will be lodged in time for the new Assembly to approve, together with the Appointed Day Act for January 2015