Property jigsaw pieces start moving
DEALING with the hefty States property portfolio has been a slow burn project. It was unfortunately stifled at source last term when members got cold feet, and with it went the opportunity to not only make significant savings but also improve the lot of those using the different public services the buildings house. But with the need to cut costs pressing, action is finally being taken.
Already this year we have had progress in moving Education out of Grange Road House, with the first services vacating earlier this month.
Now housing staff are on their way from Frossard House to join their colleagues at Employment & Social Security in Edward T Wheadon House.
Income Tax will also vacate its Cornet Street offices in favour of Frossard House by the end of this year.
Investment is needed to make this happen and the words 'spend to save' have been heard.
Work on upgrading Frossard House is expected to cost some £1.5m. to £2m.
Allied to all this is a move to address the way the States thinks about its property use, with Policy & Resources actively reminding employees that there is a cost.
This moving around the pieces of the States property jigsaw is a crucial project.
When deputies get as nervous, as some are, about where they will find the 3% of savings needed this year, and the 5% earmarked in both 2018 and 2019, they can take some comfort in the opportunities provided by the £2bn.-worth of property assets.
They can take further comfort from the millions of pounds in opportunities that went begging under the financial transformation programme too.
Of course it is one thing vacating these premises, it is quite another deciding what their future should be and ensuring best value is gained for the taxpayer.
That requires a view across the whole portfolio, not the one-eyed glance taken in the past by departments that believed that they alone owned the bricks and mortar or land and then defending that with zeal.
We are finally seeing progress, but there remain challenges in delivery.
