All areas of the unit’s work are likely to come under inspection, though it has most recently been connected with the tender process for the Fermain Cafe, which ended up in the Royal Court last week, and controversy over what appears to be a mishandled sale of Fort Richmond.
Scrutiny Management president Andy Sloan said that operations of the unit had been informally prioritised for consideration by his committee, which is due to formally meet next week for the first time to agree its plan of work for the next 18 months or so.
‘There have been enough curious cases for us to consider about the operation of Property Services that I believe a review and some transparency will be required for public trust to be restored,’ he said.
‘The public are asking questions on how it is making its decisions and how those decisions are in the public interest and I believe it needs a greater degree of scrutiny.’
Deputy Sloan said that he had not been influenced by any particular incidents and was also resisting pressure from various sources to look into long-gone incidents. Terms of reference for any property review were still to be agreed.
But he said of the Fermain Cafe court judgment. ‘A three-year stay of eviction must have been a message from the jurats about something and I want to make sure that we show that message has been received.’
States chief executive Boley Smillie commented at the conclusion of the court case, maintaining the States was right to pursue best value for the taxpayer.
‘I support this, but things have to be done in the right way and the right manner, and there is enough eyebrow-raising going on about how decisions are made and how they are implemented. The public needs to have confidence in the operations of its government.’
Scrutiny has just elected lawyer Charisma Lyall and accountant Mark Le Page as lay members of the committee. Both are former financial services regulators.
The committee is expected to stage its first public hearing of the political term before the end of the year, but no committee has been selected for questioning so far. Deputy Sloan said he was also keen to encourage a Scrutiny role during big policy issues, not just at their conclusion, and would be writing to main committees to suggest the prospect.
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