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The Scrutiny Management Committee has launched an incredible diatribe against Education's transformation plans, which lack "vital information" and are used to "piggyback" other flawed educational projects.
"The Assembly rightly expects a high level of scrutiny of major capital projects and a fundamental concern for the Scrutiny Management Committee is that the case made in this policy letter fails to provide the required level of detail that would make effective scrutiny possible by the Assembly," said Scrutiny President Chris Green in the opening line of his committee's letter of comment.
"We believe the financial figures are, at best, indicative estimates presented with limited justification; this is particularly true of the proposed revenue savings," said Deputy Green. "The policy letter and supporting information does not provide the detailed financial data that we would have expected to be contained in a document of this type; specifically, we have significant concerns regarding the basis on which the anticipated financial benefits resulting from undertaking the proposed projects have been arrived at.
"The estimates of the costs associated with the major building projects strike us as little more than raw volume-based building estimates and are not based on detailed and agreed plans which relate to the purposes for which the proposed buildings will be used."
Pictured: One of Scrutiny's concerns over Education releasing such a high-level policy document is that any further scrutiny will be delegated to Policy & Resources rather than the States as a whole.
Education wants to extend the St Sampson's and Les Beaucamps sites, amalgamate the island's further education institutions and rebuild La Mare de Carteret Primary as part of its £157m. plans for one 11-18 school over two sites.
It is not only Education's flagship proposal that comes under scrutiny. Education's failure to decide whether La Mare Primary should be rebuilt as a two-form or three-school entry betrays "significant uncertainty over future primary school education policy".
"It appears the implications for other primary schools have not been considered in a strategic context despite significant public interest and concern that this potential rebuild could lead to the closure of other existing primary school facilities,' said Deputy Green.
"This Committee [also] considers that the inclusion of the proposals relating to the Digital Roadmap seem counter-intuitive when the Assembly has only recently approved the Future Digital Services Policy Letter and the resulting contractual relationship with Agilisys."
Going through the committee's many concerns, Deputy Green also states that:
In conclusion, Scrutiny expressed its concerns that the proposals lack sufficient detail to allow proper, effective consideration by the States this week.
"We believe there remains an absence of vital information; and, that most if not all of the proposals would benefit from further scrutiny by the Assembly, especially the individual project business cases relating to redevelopment of La Mare de Carteret Primary School, the Digital Roadmap and developing the Guernsey Institute. Therefore, we cannot offer Members any assurance about the proportionality and value for money of the proposed capital expenditure on the evidence presented nor on the feasibility or accuracy of the potential savings or ongoing costs.
"We conclude that inclusion of the other projects in the Policy Letter presents a potential impression of ‘piggy-backing’ on the 11-18 school/two colleges reorganisation. The risk is that in approving the whole programme, elements which would not have had the same priority as the 11-18 school/two colleges are also given approval. Importantly, this may then have the effect of pre-empting future capital spending in other areas which arguably may deserve higher priority."
Pictured top: Deputy Chris Green.
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