Deputies refuse to give Education £26m. to maintain facilities

There was wide acceptance that Education, Sport & Culture would need to spend some money on school and college buildings over the next few years following the de-funding of its £130m. re-organisation plan for secondary and further education.

But many members criticised Policy & Resources member Bob Murray for asking for approval of such a large sum of expenditure through a late Budget amendment.

‘Many members over many months have asked ESC what its plan B is, should funding not be found for the education project,’ said Deputy Yvonne Burford.

‘No specific details of any such plan have been forthcoming from the committee, but here we have P&R seemingly coming forward with one on its behalf.

‘Astoundingly, we’re being invited to authorise £26m. on the basis of a handful of bullet points.’

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Deputy Andrew Taylor was uncertain how the figure had been calculated.

He recalled that it was absent from a recent policy letter from P&R which included all capital spending necessary over the next few years if deputies voted not to go ahead with ESC’s reorganisation plan.

Deputy John Dyke was uncomfortable voting for the £26m. maintenance plan before ESC had been given more time to consider its options. He wondered whether the committee might secure a majority in the Assembly if it returned with an alternative interim reorganisation to develop the Guernsey Institute at Les Ozouets but retain the Sixth Form Centre at Les Varendes.

The text of the amendment claimed that ESC members had been consulted, but two of them, Andy Cameron and Sue Aldwell, revealed they had not seen it before it was submitted.

‘Agreeing to this funding before the ESC committee has time to discuss the contingency plan or the financial requirements of financing that plan would seem to be extremely poor governance,’ said Deputy Cameron.

He and several other members were concerned that the amendment could result in ESC having enough funding to move the Sixth Form Centre to La Mare de Carteret indefinitely.

‘La Mare de Carteret being used for the sixth form for longer than two years was absolutely dismissed by consultants as being ridiculous and an extremely costly solution,’ he said.

‘£26m. just plucked out of the air – this really needs a separate policy letter. This amendment is the cart before the horse – a quick and dirty plan with built-in scaremongering.’

Deputy Adrian Gabriel agreed that a policy letter was required from ESC and regretted being presented with an amendment as ‘an overnight, knee jerk reaction’ from members frustrated at the ‘depressing and embarrassing’ position in which the States found itself.

Deputy David De Lisle was even more critical. He said what was needed was not an amendment to provide ESC with many more millions of pounds but the committee’s resignation, because it was ‘not up to the job’.

Deputy Marc Leadbeater claimed that the figure of £26m. was ‘pie in the sky’. Deputy Tina Bury urged ESC to move ‘beyond crisis mode’ and ‘respond rather than react’ to its latest defeats.