Give details of the number of times the sculpture called Flight has been moved, details of final destination and on whose instructions it was moved and has any new Shadow Board been involved in this issue

May I just raise one point? I am going to have to leave the Assembly before the end of Oral Questions. I am participating in the ceremony of the opening of Durrell. There is an oral question on the Order Paper - number 13 - from the Deputy of St. John, who is always very keen that I answer personally the questions that he puts forward. As such, it seems to me there are 2 options. Either the question is deferred or with the agreement of the Assembly I am more than happy to take the question first.

The Bailiff :

There are only 12 questions today, so there should be no difficulty completing the list, so do Members agree to allow the Deputy of St. John to pose his question first? Very well, Deputy .

2.1   Deputy P.J. Rondel of St. John of the Minister for Economic Development regarding the movement of the sculpture from the Airport Departures Hall :

I apologise to Members for jumping the queue on this one, but it is outside of my

control. Can the Minister give details of the number of times the sculpture called

"Flight" has been moved, giving each location, plus the time and cost for each move; would he also give details of its final location or resting place and state on whose instructions the sculpture was moved and clarify whether any new Shadow Board has been involved in this issue in any way?"

Senator A.J.H. Maclean (The Minister for Economic Development):

As part of the overall redevelopment plan of the airside departures hall, the "Flight" sculpture had to be removed to increase the concourse area. Since this time it has been kept in 3 secure storage areas; originally at the airport, subsequently a storage area belonging to Health and Social Services and currently one provided by Transport and Technical Services. The sculpture was moved with minimum inconvenience and at no direct financial cost to the airport to date. It has always been the intention of Jersey Airport that the sculpture be moved to an area where it can continue to be enjoyed by members of the public. We are therefore looking at alternative public locations around the airport where the sculpture can be sited. One of the options includes the public roundabout in front of the airport, which Members may have seen mentioned recently in the local media. Jersey Airport are in discussions with officers from Transport and Technical Services who maintain this public roundabout, as well as the Parish of St. Helier, to ascertain the feasibility of moving the sculpture to this location and what the likely relocation and future maintenance costs will be. The decisions on the movement were the airport management's. Members of the Shadow Board are aware of this initiative, but this is an operational matter and is not something of the Shadow Board have been asked to consider. Thank you, Sir.

1. The Deputy of St. John :

I am taken aback by the Minister's comments about no direct cost to date. That cannot be the case. Somebody will have been paid on a number of occasions to move this particular structure. Therefore, would the Minister tell us who, which department, and therefore how much labour was involved in the moves? A States department will have been responsible for moving it and therefore there must be a cost in labour.

All I can tell the Deputy is that to date the airport has not been invoiced for any charges in relation to the removal or storage of this particular item. Indeed there may well and I am sure there will be costs once a final resting place is found for it. Indeed those particular costs are yet to be finalised, but they will be available and I am happy to publish them at a later date when they are known.

The Bailiff :

I will come back to you, Deputy . Deputy Grouville ?

2. Deputy C.F. Labey of Grouville :

The Minister will recall that I have asked several questions about this particular sculpture, because I have been contacted by parishioners of mine. Does the Minister not feel that it is an awful shame that it was originally located in water and there was a

wishing well ... it was used as a wishing well at the airport and collected quite a lot of

funds for charity. Could he not look to reposition it in a similar situation in the future?

Senator A.J.H. Maclean:

I do understand the Deputy 's concerns and in many respects I share them. The commercial realities were that we had to move it from its original very central location for the redevelopment plans of effectively a £4.5 million redevelopment of the retail area, which has been very successful and increase average spend per passenger by 22 per cent, so commercially it was the right decision. As far as finding another location within the airport itself, a number have been considered, but it is a very, very large item and the view is that the central roundabout is the best place for it. The only other point I would mention, in terms of raising of charitable funds, there are various boxes and events that airport does carry out throughout the year and will continue to do so in order to give charities an opportunity to raise funds through access to the airport.

3. Deputy M. Tadier of St. Brelade :

I am concerned that the Minister seems to have changed his answer to the Deputy of St. John. Initially we were told that there were no direct financial cost to the airport and then a moment later we were told that there will be costs to the airport and that they simply had not been invoiced yet. Could the Minister confirm which is the case and why we were initially told that there were no direct financial costs, when it seems that once the invoices come in there will be direct financial costs to the airport?

Senator A.J.H. Maclean:

No, what I said was there are no direct financial costs that have been invoiced to the

airport at this stage. That was in direct response to the question. I further stated that

there will be a cost at some point once the final location of the sculpture is decided upon and in fact there have been some very constructive discussions with the Parish of St. Peter and Transport and Technical Services in order to find a suitable resting place and indeed to mitigate some of those costs that may well be shared between other parties, indeed sponsorship is also an option that is being considered. The

Constable of St. Peter has been very helpful in this particular area. I have already had

discussions with him. So that will mitigate some of the potential costs that will be considered.

To clarify, the final answer then is that there will be direct financial costs to the airport, which is not what seemed to be being conveyed in the initial answer given by the Minister.

Senator A.J.H. Maclean:

I just repeat the question again. I answered directly the Deputy of St. John's question:

"Has there been any cost to date?" The answer is: "No." "Will there be some future costs?" "Yes, there are likely to be some future costs. Some of those will be mitigated, we hope, by sponsorship and in co-operation with other parties such as the Parish of St. Peter ."

The Bailiff :

Deputy Le Hérissier and then the final question from Deputy of St. John .

5. Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier of St. Saviour :

Would the Minister not agree that the continual traffic obstruction caused by the lack

of a proper right turn into a commercial premise - to wit a garden centre - is

preventing people from reaching the roundabout on time at the airport [Laughter] and thereby appreciating the sculpture?

The Bailiff :

Deputy , I feel that even you know that that one is a bit off the subject. [Laughter]  

Very well, then final question, Deputy of St. John.

6. The Deputy of St. John :

I am far from happy with the response I have had to date. If the Ministries across the board are all telling us they are short of funding, could the Minister please give details why his officers have not chased-up the departments concerned who moved the statue on 3 occasions, 3 different departments being involved, including his own? There must be officers from his own department who were involved in the move. Why have these funds not been identified within the various departments, including his own? Because there must be a rolling account of the sum that has been spent by his own team. Will he please answer that? How much is that figure being spent within his own officers and staff at the airport?

Senator A.J.H. Maclean:

I have already said to the Deputy of St. John, we do not have a figure in relation to any costs undertaken so far. I clearly cannot answer on behalf of other departments

that have carried out the work, such as Transport and Technical Services. I think, to be frank, we should focus on the fact that this particular sculpture was moved as part of a £4.5 million redevelopment of the retail area. Indeed any associated labour costs with moving it are very minimal in the overall scheme of the very successful

development we have seen at the airport, which has increased retail spend per average passenger by 22 per cent. It has been a success and really the Deputy is looking at areas that at this stage we do not have any further detail on and are therefore not relevant.

7. The Deputy of St. John :

How is the Minister running his department if he cannot keep his finger on the pulse

of the small items that are being spent, let alone the big items? [Laughter]  Will the

Minister in future make sure he keeps an eye on all areas of his budget?

Senator A.J.H. Maclean:

I am very happy that both myself and my Assistant Minister who has responsibility for the airport and the harbours have our fingers very much on the pulse of expenditure and I am very satisfied, as I have said, with this particular project which has seen a 22 per cent increase in average spend. It has been hugely successfully. It is a £4.5 million redevelopment and the Deputy , with all due respect, is dealing in the minutiae of a few hundred pounds probably or a few thousand at best.

The Bailiff :

Very well. Then we will come next to question 1, which Deputy Lewis will ask of the Minister for Economic Development. Deputy ?