Next States urged to get sorted so projects can be "efficiently commissioned and executed"

Sunday 26 January 2025

Construction firms are pleased that the States look set to agree a way forward for capital projects - but a spokesperson has reiterated that the delays experienced so far have definitely pushed the prices up.

The Guernsey Building Trades Employers Association welcomed the news that all currently approved capital projects are still viewed as "essential" by the States.

As reported by Express earlier this week, that means Policy and Resources is recommending all go ahead.

But P&R has said some will have to be completed over longer periods of time so the costs can be spread out.

HSC is set to ask the States to back plans to split its 'Phase 2' hospital modernisation work in two - with 80% to be funded now, and the remaining 20% of the work (focused on furnishings) to be funded at a later date. 

P&R has also set criteria for the work needed to Alderney's airport and runway, saying no more than £24million can be spent on the total project. That's £13m less than the cheapest contractor suggested when the agreed work went out to tender last year.

With other agreed projects also set to proceed - including work to modernise the Bridge, on flood defences, and the new post-16 campus - the GBTEA has said it "fully supports P&R recognising the vital importance of infrastructure in their Major Projects Review".

The GBTEA unsurprisingly agrees with the Review that "firmly concludes that investment is absolutely necessary, must continue and is an essential part of a healthy economy".

However, with P&R saying there was a £62m shortfall in paying for the agreed essential projects, the GBTEA is already warning the next States that it must get its affairs in order so the work can be paid for.

"It is critical that the next States moves forward urgently with tax reforms to address the already huge, and widening, funding gap," said the GBTEA.

P&R President, Deputy Lyndon Trott had warned that some of the island's agreed capital projects could be at risk because of the shortfall in funding caused by the States rejecting his plans to put income tax up to 22%.

Instead, the States went for a goods and services tax. That will not be introduced until 2027, meaning the shortfall in funding public services and infrastructure could escalate.

The GBTEA - which has represented employers within the construction since 1918 - said it fully supports he view of the Fiscal Policy Panel, which said "high quality and reliable public infrastructure is fundamental to economic prosperity".

"We are also in agreement with the letter from the Fiscal Policy Panel attached to P&Rs Review," said the GBTEA. "We fully support all the points raised by the Panel, which echoes much of what the GBTEA have been saying on this subject for years and validates that we say it not because of vested interest, but because it is in the best long-term interests of our community."

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