This content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost. Let us know if you find any major problems.
Text in this format is not official and should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments. Please see the PDF for the official version of the document.
WQ.301/2024
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
BY DEPUTY I. GARDINER OF ST. HELIER NORTH
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 16th SEPTEMBER 2024 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 23rd SEPTEMBER 2024
Question
"Further to P.74/2023 (Increase in revenue expenditure for agriculture and fisheries), as amended, will the Minister provide a breakdown of the allocation of the £6.7 million funding allocated in 2024 identifying –
- each organisation which received funding;
- for what purpose each organisation received funding;
- what performance indicators, if any, are attached to each organisation receiving funding;
- how funding spend is monitored within these organisations; and
- whether there is any reporting on where and how funds are spent?"
Answer
a) It is not yet possible to provide a definitive list of organisations which received funding under the increased budget, as the majority of the funding is delivered via support schemes which remain open to applications. To date approximately 60 organisations have received funding, but it is expected that by year end up to 120 organisations will have received funding, and these will be reported in Q1 2025. At this point, the Minister will be able to provide a breakdown of the allocation of the £6.7 million funding allocated in 2024 with details relating to question parts (b) to (e).
b) The majority of funding is delivered from the Rural Support Scheme and Marine Support Scheme, which between them provide over 80 separately defined components, each with a designated purpose aligned with the provision of public goods'. Payments are made in recognition of the delivery of these goods. Aggregated data will be published in Q1 2025 to report on the outcome of the 2024 schemes and how the funding has been allocated across the components of each scheme
– this data is not currently available as the schemes remain active.
c) Performance indicators are themselves a direct function of the manner in which funds are dispersed: for example, payments for cover crops to improve soil health are directly related to the amount of area used for those crops – data can then be used for year-on-year comparisons. There are therefore over 80 performance indicators related to rural and marine support schemes. In addition, each organisation is obliged to provide financial returns to the Department, which enables economic performance to be monitored; accreditation under independent environmental and social audits are also pre-requisites for access to funding and these provide performance metrics for a range of integrated farm management components which can be assessed on an individual or aggregated and year by year basis.
d) In the majority of cases funding is directly related to the pre-defined delivery of public goods' or (for a small proportion of the budget) is directly attributable to investment projects' whereby funding is only delivered on receipt of evidence of project delivery. Provision of financial data also ensures funding is correctly recorded and recognised within the recipient organisation's accounts.
e) A full report will be issued in Q1 2025 detailing the outcomes (expenditure and aggregated data) for both rural and marine support schemes as delivered in 2024. The annex to annual Government accounts also normally include details of all grant payments made in any financial year.