Ministerial Response - Government Plan 2023-26 Review - Minister for Home Affairs

Findings

Comments

15

Discussions  about  the  transitional arrangements  relating  to  line management, facilities and processes, for  the  Office  of  the  Superintendent Registrar (OSIR) are ongoing, and the OSIR will continue to operate with the support of Customer and Local Services until  31st  December  2022.  The additional  £207,000  of  funding  from 2023 onwards will support additional staff at the OSIR for undertaking the registrations function. No funding has been allocated for software changes.

Correct.

16

The  Government  Plan  2023-2026 funding allocated to the States of Jersey Ambulance Service addresses staffing, equipment  and  governance  concerns raised by the will make provision for 13 additional full time equivalent frontline staff.

Correct

17

The  States  of  Jersey  Ambulance Service commenced a formal Demand and Capacity Review which is due to complete by the end of 2022.

Correct

18

The funding allocated to the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service as part of  the  Proposed  Government  Plan

Correct

Findings

Comments

2023-2026 will fund firefighter training and, also, an increase in the number of firefighters  (at  various  levels  and ranks), with a recruitment campaign to start in early 2023.

19

Staff  costs  historically  reduced  the spending  capacity  of  the  non-staff allocation  available  to  the  States  of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service.

Whilst it is the case that staff costs make up the majority of spend in the Fire Service, it is not strictly  the  case  that  this  necessarily  reduces capacity for non-staff spend.

The Service has in recent years faced pressure on its budget arising from both staff and non-staff costs,  i.e.,  some  non-staff  spending  has  been constrained by other non-staff spending, which has been deemed a higher priority.

20

The funding allocated to the Combined Control Room will be used to fund staff training and implement a management structure that will be guided by a new Service Level Agreement.

Correct

21

The  timetable  for  the  extend  and replace  strategy'  of  the  TETRA Extension project is likely to continue through to 2029 and 2030.

Correct

22

The States Assembly has agreed that the States of Jersey Police has an agreed establishment  number  of  215  police officers,  however,  due  to  previous efficiencies this target has not been met. The  additional  revenue  funding  of £500,000 per annum for each year of this Government Plan will support the employment of more police officers to bring the force up to the requirements.

Correct. This was agreed when the Assembly gave its  assent  to  the  2020-2023  Government  Plan which included investment in the States of Jersey Police to increase officer numbers to 215.

23

The additional revenue programme for Victim  Support'  will  provide  longer term  investment  funding  into  the services provided to victims of crime.

Correct.

25

The  £144,000  of  Value  for  Money Savings target for the Department of Justice and Home Affairs has not been allocated.

Correct

This has been allocated as part of the JHA 2023 budget, but has not been allocated to individual Services, in terms of known savings plans.

Findings

Comments

26

The  £117,000  of  Value  for  Money Savings target for the States of Jersey Police has not been allocated.

It has been included in the budget for the States of Jersey Police, however there are not currently any savings plans within the service.

27

The  major  project  to  develop  a  new joint  Ambulance,  Fire  and  Rescue headquarters has been delayed because of  a  wider  estate  review  and  the previous States Assembly decision to review  the  current  Fire  and  Rescue headquarters  site  for  a  new  town primary school.

Correct

32

A potential location for the future Army and Sea Cadet headquarters has been identified  and  the  project  has  been progressed  with  initial  planning  and design,  involving  consultation  from cadet leaders. The location of the new Army and Sea Cadet Headquarters will be announced in early 2023.

Correct.

33

The new Firearms Range has received planning  permission,  however,  at  the time of the Panel's hearing only one bid had been received for the building and delivery of the project. In addition to providing the Police with a site to train and  use  long  arm  weapons,  the  new facility  could  be  used  by  other Islanders.

Correct

34

The  Firearms  Range  will  be  solely funded  out  of the  Criminal  Offences Confiscation Fund.

Correct

35

Clarification  is  required  about  the funding  of  the  Dewberry  House  – Sexual Assault Referral Centre Estates project  from  the  Criminal  Offences Confiscation Fund for 2023.

Page 58 of proposed GP23-26 notes SARC is paid for out of Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund. Further clarification is included in response to the Panel's recommendation below.

36

Prison  Improvement  is  underway  at H.M.  Prison  La  Moye  in  various phases.  Works  will  continue  beyond 2023  and  further  funding  will  be required. Plans include using parts of the prison estate as a space for the wider community  and  workplace  hub'  for Government employees.

Correct

Findings

Comments

37

Clarification  is  required  about  the funding  of  the  Prison  Improvement Works  from  the  Criminal  Offences Confiscation Fund for 2023.

Page 58 of proposed GP23-26 notes this is to be paid for out of Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund. Further clarification is included in response to the Panel's recommendation below.

Recommendations

To

Accept / Reject

Comments

Target date of action/

completion

9

The Council of Ministers should identify funding for the maintenance of the current States of Jersey Ambulance Service building, as plans and location for replacement Headquarters are yet to be determined.

MHA

Accept

The Minister has asked officers to work closely  with  colleagues  in  Jersey Property Holdings in order to establish an appropriate programme of works for the Ambulance Service building.

15

The Minister for Home Affairs should announce the site and publish the plans for the new Army and Sea Cadet Headquarters as soon as possible in 2023. With a view to long term recruitment, the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Children and Education should explore ties with the cadet services to ensure that there are sufficient opportunities to connect cadets with the range of community service occupations and career opportunities.

MHA

Partial accept

The  Minister  is  committed  to announcing plans for the Sea and Army Cadet  Headquarters  as  soon  as  it  is appropriate to do so.

The recruitment into all of the Island's Cadet forces is a matter for the Cadets, but the Minister for Home Affairs stands ready to support this in any way.

16

The Minister for Home Affairs should clarify the cashflow from the Criminal Offences

MHA

Accept

The discrepancy noted by the Panel is as a result of the transfers from the COCF

Recommendations

To

Accept / Reject

Comments

Target date of action/

completion

Confiscation Fund (£1.8 million) in 2023. This relates to the 2023 funding for the Firearms Range (£1.7 million), Dewberry House (£2.8 million) and the Prison Improvement works (£2.985 million).

and the project budgets themselves being accounted for differently.

The amounts for the projects included in the Government Plan for 2023 are the monies required to complete the projects on a cash flow basis. As the projects have developed,  they  have  been  subject  to reprofiling  across  the  years  to  better reflect the pattern of planned spend.

Monies  have  been  transferred  in previous years, according to the previous profiling.

The transfer from the COCF which is detailed on page 74 is required to provide additional monies in accordance with the reprofiling.

It  remains  the  intention  that  these projects will be funded from the COCF in their entirety.

17

The Minister for Home Affairs should ensure that Islanders and community groups, where appropriate, can use the new Firearms Range facility.

Accept

It  has  always  been  the  intention  that, subject to the training requirements of the States of Jersey Police, the range will be made available to the community for use.

18

The Minister for Home Affairs should explore opportunities for adding solar panels to H.M. Prison La Moye as part of future improvement works at the site.

Accept

The Minister will ask the project teams to explore the feasibility of this for future phases.