- The States’ Finance Centre is being built at the Esplanade and they are currently seeking tenants
- Other developers have criticised the project and said it will lose taxpayers’ money
- St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has questioned the need for Scrutiny to review the scheme
- Is the review necessary? Take part in our poll below
SCRUTINY’S review of the Jersey International Finance Centre is a ‘distraction’ that could put off investors, St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has warned.
Despite originally opposing the finance centre planned for the Esplanade car park, he has now called on all States Members to back the project, which is under review by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel.
And Mr Crowcroft has gone further and claimed that the scrutiny process is also under threat because panel chairman Deputy John Le Fondré has an ‘axe to grind’ over the Jersey Development Company’s scheme, after clashing for years with former Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf over the plans.
The Constable, who failed to convince the States to leave the Esplanade car park alone or turn it into a town park in 2011, said that he had had no real feedback from his constituents about the finance centre.
‘In the shake-up of the election and new ministers and panels John has risen and is chairing a Scrutiny panel.
‘He has the ability to undertake a review and has a lot of willing support from people with a vested interest in not seeing the scheme go ahead.
‘We are in danger of losing potential investors because people look at the finance centre and say it’s shrouded in political controversy and they don’t want to get into that. The sooner the Scrutiny review is completed the better.
‘I’m quite surprised that Scrutiny has had such support. There is a clear bias in terms of Deputy Le Fondré’s approach. His approach to the Esplanade Quarter has been negative, really, for years.
‘He’s not an impartial critic of the scheme. It’s not good for Scrutiny. Scrutiny should be impartial, but I think there’s a clear bias with Deputy Le Fondré, who I have a lot of time for as a States Member.
‘Other jurisdictions must be laughing at Jersey running a review into a project that has already been debated and approved by the States.’
Responding to Mr Crowcroft’s comments, Deputy Le Fondré said that the Scrutiny panel was not just one person.
‘The panel has four members and they agreed to do the review, and the panel is determined to do a good job of it.
‘Any individual views of individual members have to be assessed in the context of what the remaining members think.
‘We are trying to do our very best to assess the individual submissions and come to as good an opinion as we can based on the evidence we put together,’ he said.
Deputy Le Fondré went on to say that Mr Crowcroft had contacted him recently to ask if he was still able to make a formal submission to the review.
The Deputy recently wrote to Treasury Minister Alan Maclean asking him to postpone any building work until the conclusion of the review or until the JDC could prove it had tenants in place to fill 200,000 sq ft of office space. Senator Maclean is yet to respond.
There has seemingly been a rift between Senator Philip Ozouf and Deputy John Le Fondre since 2011, when the latter was replaced as Assistant Treasury Minister by Senator Ozouf, who was Treasury Minister at the time.
It followed a decision by Deputy Le Fondre to defy his superior during the Budget debate – where he supported an amendment to his former’s boss’s Budget to freeze GST at three per cent.
However, Senator Ozouf insisted at the time that Deputy Le Fondré was not ousted from the ministerial team for not backing him. Senator Ozouf said that the St Lawrence Deputy simply was not the best person to be his number two at a time when decisive action was needed to achieve unprecedented savings targets.
During the States debate in December 2010, the St Lawrence Deputy said that he had consulted businessmen and women, electors and those who had signed his nomination paper and had decided that it was right to delay the tax rise. ‘I would stress that this is not a decision I have taken lightly,’ he told States Members, several of whom described his stand as courageous.
Asked whether he had removed his assistant minister because of his actions in December, Senator Ozouf said that he would have changed his team anyway.
‘I was disappointed, of course. I would have preferred a unified Treasury team,’ he said. ‘I think it is right that we refresh our ministerial teams from team to time. ‘I am grateful for the contribution Deputy Le Fondré has made over the past five years.’ He added: ‘I have never had a problem with people disagreeing with me. I think that is a positive thing. I believe in vigorous discussion and that is what happens in the Council of Ministers and in my department.’
*The JDC wrote: ‘The JDC is in discussion with 13 prospective tenants that cumulatively have requirements for new accommodation totalling in excess of 330,000 square feet. These businesses require new offices within the next five years.’
The company has also said that the project will benefit the Island by creating state-of-the-art modern office space with large floor plates, buildings that receive natural light from all sides in a ‘flagship development’ that will promote the Island’s finance industry.
*Former chairman of Huelin-Renouf Shipping Roger Bale wrote: ‘The purpose of funds raised by taxation is not to do what the taxpaying private sector is able and willing to do for itself. The States must let the private sector take risks (and losses). The States will take 20 per cent of all profit without risk.’
*Andy Barnes wrote: ‘…why are the States getting involved with building on this site in the first place, when there are several property developers wanting to develop other sites along the existing Esplanade front and Commercial Street.’
*Dandara’s report added: ‘It is Dandara’s view that the proposed development does not in any way represent the best (indeed any appreciable) socio-economic value to the States of Jersey on behalf of the people of Jersey.
‘It is Dandara’s view that the proposed development actually represents huge risk (in financial terms) to the public good. It will not be a financial success and accordingly far from making a material financial contribution to the finances of Jersey of £50 million or more, as has been indicated, it will incur material financial loss estimated by Dandara at circa £74 million…’
*C Le Masurier Ltd submitted: ‘The Esplanade site provides office accommodation for 5,000 workers, which equates to 41 per cent of the total number of people employed in the finance industry, who are assumed to move out of their St Helier offices. This potential migration will leave vacant office buildings, some in the centre of town, which are unsuitable for conversion to residential use (many don’t have car parking and/or outdoor space and therefore they cannot meet planning law requirements on the required car parking provisions or more importantly, as its firmly policed, amenity space).
‘Thus the town office buildings will be virtually redundant, their value will drop significantly and St Helier will have a large vacancy rate. The capital value is being sucked out of St Helier and absorbed in the Esplanade. The effect on other town businesses, sandwich shops/restaurants/retailers, is substantial and this can be seen on the eastern side of town at Colomberie and Burrard Street which have all hugely declined.’
