Property rationalisation to fund capital projects

SAVINGS on wasted States assets could help sustain the capital-spending plan over the life of this House. If the States this week approves the Budget, which includes a £10m. transfer to the capital reserve, the island will have £60m. to spend on major projects.

But those already in the pipeline are likely to exhaust this by 2008.

'There should be enough for the court, housing, the PEH site-development plan and the Education development programme as presented to 2008,' said Treasury and Resources minister Lyndon Trott.

'Whatever's in the melting pot of a substantial nature should be delivered, which includes some fairly diverse bits and pieces.

'Equally I'm confident that we can contain inflation, so I think we should be OK.

'But it's unlikely that anything new can come into the capital stream without various initiatives, including property rationalisation, which is a key piece of work.'

Deputy Trott said that the property work, which he was personally overseeing, was vital to the future of States spending plans.

He has said that thousands of pounds are being wasted each day from the inefficient use of States buildings.

'We have identified several properties which are not fit for purpose at the moment and it is difficult to imagine whether they would be particularly useful for anything the government may get involved in in the future.'

Chief Minister Laurie Morgan said that the property initiative was an exciting development.

'Because we didn't have a strategic property plan in the past, things have been allowed to drift in that respect,' he said.

'We probably didn't sell off properties when we might have and so didn't make it much easier to make decisions in the future.'