States Works annual sickness costs £320k

Figures in the annual report showed that 37 staff left in 2018, including two who had been employed for more than 80 years between them

A total of 40 new staff were taken on during the year, and by the end of December, 214 people were employed.

Sickness cost the States Works £322,000 last year, up from £272,000 in 2017.

But despite the costs incurred by staff sickness, there was good news overall.

‘Last year’s financial performance was extremely pleasing,’ said general manager Paul Lickley.

The asset receives no direct funding from the States and operates in the same way as any commercial business.

The report said that throughout 2018, States Works focused on seeking alternative revenue opportunities, including expanding waste and recycling collection services to more parishes and commercial customers.

Its accounts for last year showed an increase in revenue from £14,635,671 in 2017 to £15,605,924.

This meant it was able to contribute £1m. to the overall returns being made by the wider Trading Assets to the States of Guernsey as part of the States’ Medium Term Financial Plan.

Mr Lickley paid tribute to the staff in his comments on the report.

‘Many of the activities States Works undertake are essential to keeping Guernsey operating but are often carried out unbeknown to a lot of our customers, with our hard working staff operating at all times of the day,’ he said.

The report also highlights the various areas of responsibility which fall under its ambit, from day to day operational activities such as emptying cesspits, collecting waste and recycling and cleaning the roads and sewers to the provision of and emergency response resource.

This emergency response was put to the test in the early part of the year when Storm Eleanor and, not long afterwards, the ‘Beast from the East’ hit the island.

States Works staff worked around the clock with the emergency services and the airport to perform significant clean-up operation to ensure the island was able to function as normally as possible.

It also offers a land management service, and its staff are trained in propagation skills and cultivation as well as gardening, groundsman and greenkeeper services. The majority of its clients are other States departments.

Its service to the States is based on a five-year agreement, which ended in December last year but was extended for a further 12 months.

States Works’ commercial garage, one of the largest in the island, is set to be an area of expansion as it seeks to become the preferred provider of fleet management services across the States and work on developing this role is taking place this year.

But it is also looking to other potential opportunities that may come up, such as the bringing of a local version of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) test for private, commercial and public vehicles and which could see the garage providing vehicle inspections.

In the wake of the completion of the Waste Transfer Station at Longue Hougue, the company is preparing to take over responsibility for the future maintenance and operation of the facilities.

The report also records that there were 49 reported health and safety incidents last year, which is lower than the three year average of 78. Accidents leading to time off work, nine, were also down on the three year average of 15.

The main causes of accidents were slipping, tripping, falling, lifting and handling, the majority of these are non-reportable. The report notes that vehicle accidents have also fallen from the same period in 2017.

Over the year the report said that States Works demonstrated commitment and vision towards achieving its vision ‘to deliver a return in the best interest of islanders, by achieving sustainable growth as a well-respected and trusted service provider, whilst maintaining our unique island identity’.

This vision was reflected in the release of its 2018-2020 business plan during the year and set out how it intended to work towards a target operating model that will inform a longer term business plan and a benchmarking and efficiency review, due for completion this year.

Since many of its clients are operating under strict budgetary conditions, the management team has worked closely with both the States and its private clients to ensure their service expectations continued to be met and that frontline services were not affected by embracing smarter and more efficient processes and introducing technology to reduce unnecessarily manual processes.