Senator John Le Fondré told the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel yesterday that the government originally went for one bidder and a different site, which was not revealed, but ‘unfortunately due to the circumstances’ they had to swap to another.
Cyril Le Marquand House, the government’s old headquarters, was announced as the preferred site for its new offices in mid-February. The project is to be overseen by Dandara.
Senator Le Fondré said a business case had been shared with the panel in December last year and they initially went for what he described as ‘bidder C’, but then had to change to ‘bidder A’.
The original preferred partner was appointed on 9 December and an ‘initial decision’ was signed in late January, he said.
The Chief Minister said ‘as we know for reasons that were not either of our making or under our control’ the decision had to be withdrawn, and they approved the reserve bidder and site of Cyril Le Marquand.
The numbers involved were the same as outlined in the full business case, he said, which is why the government was ‘able to switch it around so swiftly’.
Senator Le Fondré was responding to queries from Deputy Steve Ahier regarding the office accommodation project.
The government will lease the building for three years once completed, with an option to buy. It was claimed that having a new headquarters on the site would reduce the government’s office building requirement from 21 to six – saving around £7 million per year – and release sites for housing.
Senator Le Fondré said that ‘doing nothing will cost significantly more’, and that moving on the project would mean freeing up housing. He said that the decision was not driven by ‘producing housing’ but housing was a ‘benefit that comes through’.
The Chief Minister said previously the ‘new modern and fit-for-purpose building’ would reduce operational costs and ‘address the legacy of underinvestment in office accommodation for our employees’.
Construction is expected to be completed by 2024, subject to planning permission.
Prior to announcing the plans for the Cyril Le Marquand House site, a ministerial decision signed by Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis was published, and later withdrawn, indicating the government’s intention to take on a 25-year lease with LMN Jersey Investments Ltd at 31-41 Broad Street and 19-29 Commercial Street.
Separately during the hearing, Senator Le Fondré said ‘the reality’ was there would not be any change in Covid travel policy until the end of March, with all countries still being treated as red when it came to isolation and testing requirements. Any change would be dependent on factors including cases in other jurisdictions and the progress of the vaccine programme.
Responding to a question from panel chair Senator Kristina Moore, Scientific and Technical Advisory Cell chair Patrick Armstrong said there had been discussions already ‘about what we should do with our borders’, which was ‘clearly one of the most important areas we have to discuss’. Further discussions would take place in the advisory committee on Monday, he said, with a view to providing advice to ministers next week.
