Capital Projects Decision Delayed

A final decision on which capital projects will go ahead in Guernsey has been pushed back to September.

It was due in July.

Deputies were to be asked which planned major building and infrastructure work should be scrapped, delayed or scaled back, after the States failed to agree how to plug the gap in public finances.

Policy and Resources now says politicians will debate the government's priorities then instead.  

They will be published next week in the Government Work Plan - described as a 'mid-term reset'.

The committee says that will help deputies choose what should be built and how it should be paid for.

P&R will then return to the States at the 27 September meeting with a revised Capital Portfolio, and set out how the island will afford it in the  Funding & Investment Plan.

Deputy Bob Murray, the Policy & Resources lead for the Government Work Plan said:

"The bottom line is we need to ensure we are only doing work that is genuinely critical, and that we can pay for that without completely exhausting Guernsey’s reserves and leaving the community vulnerable. That’s what the debate on these Plans will be about.”

So far, much of the discussion about the future of the near £500m projects in train has concentrated on a Heath v Education battle.

HSC has insisted phase 2 of the modernisation of the PEH must go ahead for the welfare of patients.

P&R had suggested this next phase should be put on hold indefinitely and the development of the post-16 campus at Les Ozouets prioritised.

The senior committee says the cost of these major projects is far more than Guernsey can afford without exhausting its reserves, but that borrowing is being considered 'as part of the overall solution'.

Treasury lead Deputy Mark Helyar says it is more important than ever to coordinated the overall work of government in the Government Work Plan, Capital Portfolio and Funding and Investment Plan.

"These are huge decisions on whether we can deliver our most essential priorities. This is about whether we can afford to do the ‘must-do’ work of Government as recommended by the Principal Committees of the States.”