Problems at La Mare arrive too late
GIVEN that the schools at La Mare de Carteret passed their 25-year lifespan at the turn of the century and have been high on the agenda for redevelopment ever since, it is disappointing that the States will be under considerable time pressure over its decision in November.
After years of planning over a multi-million pound project, there should be no surprises and little division in States ranks at this late stage.
The unprecedented 10-page letter of objection from Treasury and Resources, which concludes that it cannot support the project, shows that States processes of oversight have failed.
After the disasters of the airport terminal, fire ring and harbour jetty, it had been hoped that government had learned its lesson and was getting in on the ground floor to manage projects through to the final stage and beyond.
The multiple checklists, models, traffic lights and value-for-money procedures are intended to eliminate risks and surprises.
For Treasury and Resources to object at this stage is like the teacher who tears up a student's project after months of work rather than telling them they were going down the wrong path right at the start.
Quite where the oversight ball was dropped is not easy to judge but Treasury must be questioning the wisdom of withdrawing its political members from the project board in June 'to avoid any possible conflicts and blurring of responsibility between portfolio and project roles'.
That left the project board with politicians solely from Education to oversee the senior civil servants they had appointed, plus one from property services.
With limited oversight, Treasury has been unable to insist that the areas that concern the department most were addressed long before the report was drawn up.
As it is, the States cannot present a united front and deputies will be asked to make a difficult decision with – according to Treasury – key pieces of information missing.
And to Treasury's evident dissatisfaction, there will also be late information coming in just weeks before a debate which Education says cannot be delayed without pushing the project on by a whole school year.
