The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
4.3 Connétable P.J. Rondel of St. John of the Minister for Economic Development regarding a projected cost range for the Hanger8 project:
As Members have been given a cost profile for the new police station and other major projects, will the Minister identify a project cost range for the Hangar 8 project to fully inform States Members and if not, why not?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean (The Minister for Economic Development):
Unlike major public sector capital projects such as the police station, the Hangar 8 project is a private sector development with no public sector financial input. Therefore, I am not at liberty to release any financial or commercially sensitive information.
- The Connétable of St. John :
Is the Minister telling this House, who are masters of all they survey, that he will not give us this information on the grounds of confidentiality yet he and fellow Ministers can give out confidential information about projects that we are ourselves committed to or going to commit ourselves to as I have already mentioned like the police station, et cetera? Are we dealing in the same world with projects? Is that what the Minister is saying?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
To be clear, what I am saying is that at this stage and in this forum, it is not appropriate to give commercially sensitive information. There is a process that can be followed should Members wish to investigate an arrangement such as this, a commercial arrangement, and that would be to refer the matter to Scrutiny and ask Scrutiny to have a look at it under the appropriate terms of confidentiality and such like.
- Deputy M.R. Higgins:
Can the Minister at least tell us what the estimated cost of the hangar is, the size of the hangar and the length of the lease that will be given for the ground that it is going to be built on?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
What I can tell the Deputy is that the existing cargo facility it is intended, subject to planning approval of course, to increase by around about 20 per cent and that would provide something in the region of about 55,000 square feet of hangarage space, the intention being to increase the capacity and services available at the airport to provide growth, job opportunities and so on.
- Deputy M.R. Higgins:
Following up the question about the length of the lease for the grounds, is it going to be 50 years, 100 years, or whatever?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
The exact details are still subject to negotiation and I cannot give any further details.
- Deputy J.H. Young:
Would the Minister confirm or otherwise that public expenditure is involved with this project and if so, would he confirm that there are in place proper tendering procedures and accountability arrangements to ensure that those decisions in respect of that contract are subject to property review?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
Yes, I can. In fact, a process has been followed to get to this stage as Members would expect; a process of expression of interest, a tender and a short-listing process. Of course, concurrently with that, the Property Holdings Department oversees such transactions as well.
- Deputy G.P. Southern :
When all the dealing is done and the deal is signed, sealed and delivered, will the Minister commit himself to come to the House and reveal the details of what is proposed for this particular project?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
As I have said, the available details for this particular deal will be available to the Scrutiny Panel should they wish to investigate it at a later stage. I cannot necessarily undertake that other details will be publicised at this stage.
- Deputy G.P. Southern :
Will the Minister commit himself to informing all Members of this House what the details of this proposal are and not just Scrutiny?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
Not at this stage.
- The Connétable of St. John :
The Minister mentioned job opportunities. Will he confirm that the job opportunities will be for local people and local people alone and we will not be bringing in a load of (j) cats to cover many of the jobs that will be required for servicing all the special aircrafts that supposedly we are going to be bringing in to this Island and possibly house here?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
I am pleased that the Connétable mentioned that. This is one area that the new operator is proposing, which is a facility for maintenance for largely heavy jets. This is a service that is not currently available at the airport. It is an opportunity for growth and I think it is potentially an exciting opportunity that we should embrace. The company itself is one of the largest if not, I believe, the largest corporate aircraft operator in the United Kingdom with a global network and that in itself brings further opportunities. As far as jobs are concerned, yes there will be on- Island jobs created for local people. I cannot guarantee at this stage that there will not be some expertise in the initial stages brought to the Island if that expertise is not currently available here but what it will do is it will produce local jobs for local people and that is really important.
- The Connétable of St. John :
The Minister mentioned there is a likelihood we will be bringing people in from off-Island. That being the case, what term contracts will they be and will they be fixed term contracts, i.e., if it is 5 years, it is 5 years and they go back and they cannot move off that job into some other part of industry. Secondly, will they be bringing their families so that we have to educate the children as well?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
The Connétable is jumping ahead a little bit. An application would need to be made clearly to Regulation of Undertakings and given the due consideration which each and every application for a business, new or existing, is given. In this climate, there is a very heavy emphasis on local employment and not, unless there is no other option or there is not available talent in the Island, to give opportunities for businesses to bring in people to Jersey. We want to ensure that we create job opportunities for locals and I would hope that the Connétable will be satisfied that when it goes to that process, that Regulation of Undertakings Law will provide the safety net and, if necessary, it will go to the Migration Advisory Group for further oversight and decision.
- The Connétable of St. John :
A final supplementary has come out of this. The Minister mentioned heavy jets. Is our airport designed to take heavy jets on our runway?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean:
They land every day but, in fact, what we are referring to here is business jets and so in that respect, it is heavy business jets as opposed to the large commercial ones I think the Connétable may be concerned about.