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.
5
1240/5(8589)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND RESOURCES BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 20th JANUARY 2015
Question
Given that on 9th December 2014 the Minister stated that he was not aware of "budgetary or financial problems likely to get in the way of the final delivery of Gigabit Jersey" and, following news from Jersey Telecom (JT) 5 weeks later that there may be a delay in the timely delivery of the Gigabit project due, in part, to the withdrawal of the deferment of £6m in the dividend payment, can the Minister assure the Assembly that there was no discussion during the 2-hour meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of JT of the potential for the £6m reduction in funding on JT's ability to deliver Gigabit, and publish the minutes of the meeting (redacted as necessary) to confirm this?
If not, will the Minister inform members why he did not broach the issue himself, given the decision of his predecessor on this measure contained in the 2015 Budget and his assurances that agreement on the issue had been sought and obtained with JT?
Will the Minister further issue a statement clarifying his understanding of, and agree to call a meeting as requested in my proposition (P.181/2014) on, all the issues involved in the delivery of Gigabit?
Answer
The Minister confirms that there were many elements of the Gigabit Jersey Project discussed during the meeting, which including the impact of any reduction in funding. As previously discussed in the States, the Minister does not intend publishing minutes of this meeting.
JT provided a full and detailed update on the Gigabit Project, in a private briefing to States members at the Pomme d'Or hotel on 19th January 2015. The members of the Board and Executive remained
afterwards to answer any additional queries that members had.
In regard to funding, the CEO has confirmed that the repayment of all or part of the £6m deferred dividend would naturally reduce the pool of funding available for capital expenditure (JT's capital expenditure is in excess of £20 million annually). This would therefore result in a re-prioritisation of JT Group investment programmes but not necessarily the Gigabit Jersey project, which is a clear priority.
JT has offered that, if are any States Members for whatever reason were unable to attend the briefing on 19th January, they are willing to set up separate sessions. To arrange this, please contact, Graeme Millar
(CEO of JT) by email at graeme.millar@jtglobal.com.