Of the underspend, £12 million is to be allocated to ongoing projects within departments, such as the Jersey pupil premium, which provides funding for underprivileged students, and building a new IT system for Children’s Services.
Surplus funds are also to be spent on a climate-change risk assessment, Digital Jersey, online planning applications, data protection matters, a police inspection and
sports travel grants for clubs and associations.
A total of £5 million has been earmarked to support services in the Health Department, and surplus money will also be used to fund skills development in the retail and construction sectors, as well as to pay parish rates on States buildings.
A further £10.4 million of the unspent budgets will go into the States reserves and contingencies funds, some of which is planned to be used to fund the next stage of the restructuring of the public sector.
A statement released by the Treasury Department says that a number of projects are due to start – as part of chief executive Charlie Parker’s States reform programme – before the next Medium Term Financial Plan is debated in 2019.
‘Temporary funding is needed so work can start on modernising Jersey’s public services,’ it says.
