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WQ.491/2019
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE BY DEPUTY S.M. AHIER OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 12th NOVEMBER 2019
Question
Will the Minister advise the Assembly –
- how many properties owned by the States of Jersey are being used by Government departments;
- how many properties are currently being rented to accommodate Government departments;
- how much rent is being paid for each of the properties listed under (b); and
- in light of the intention to accommodate Government departments in one building, how much money it is estimated would be saved per year by having such a purpose-built One Gov building' for Government departments?
Answer
- Government departments currently occupy 28 main sites, 12 of which are owned by the Government and 16 of which are privately-owned. The 12 Government-owned sites have multiple uses, such as Peter Crill House, which is primarily a medical site, but also houses offices. This question is ambiguous, as we might include, for example, schools used by Children, Young People, Education and Skills to provide education or day care centres used by Health and Community Services to provide care. These examples have not been included in this list.
- The Government currently leases 16 office buildings; nine of which are solely floors or parts of buildings, as opposed to whole buildings. The attached table names the 16 offices and their locations and the Government departments occupying them.
- The total rental paid out for these 16 properties is £3,354,703.17 a year. The rentals and licence fees paid for each individual office are deemed to be commercially confidential and are not being provided.
- An outline business case is currently being prepared which will detail the savings, and which will be announced after the work has been formally signed off by the Council of Ministers. I am confident that the proposal will reduce both capital costs and running costs, by reducing the scale of our office estate. I expect it also to provide Government employees with fit-for-purpose office space – which will enable them to work more effectively – and to enable us to vacate a number of sites, the sale of which will generate revenue and enable them to be put to other uses, such as, potentially, much-needed housing.