QUESTIONS about procurement are being asked after a JEP freedom-of-information request revealed that this year’s Liberation Day celebrations cost the taxpayer over £130,000.
The figure included £68,704 for the rental of two seven-metre screens from a non-Jersey provider, £18,977.40 on marquees and chairs, and £5,602.50 on bunting.
A local provider this week quoted the JEP between £10,000 and £20,000 for the hire of two seven-metre screens.
Deputy Inna Gardiner, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said the revelations fitted into a wider picture of procurement – how the government sources, acquires, and pays for goods and services – which is currently under scrutiny.
Meanwhile, the Bailiff’s Chambers, which is responsible for organising the event, justified the spend, saying that it required a “significant level of production management” and specialist technical expertise to create an experience which lived up to the public’s high expectations.
“We work incredibly hard to deliver a very professional service that Islanders deserve,” explained Steven Cartwright, chief officer of the Bailiff’s Chambers, before adding that his department had negotiated the production company down to £68,704 for their services.
The celebrations and re-enactment are a key event that happen on 9 May every year to mark the day that Jersey was liberated from German Occupation.
Hundreds of Islanders gathered this year for the procession from the Royal Square to Liberation Square followed by a service of thanksgiving and the re-enactment of Force 135’s arrival.
The cost of putting these celebrations on also included £5,187.04 for staff and £32,927 on associated costs, bringing the total to £131,697.94.
And the FoI request clarified that the States police did not deploy officers specifically for the celebrations and any police presence was covered by standard police resourcing arrangements.
Reacting to the news, PAC chair Deputy Gardiner said she would be asking whether the Bailiff’s Chambers had completed a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether purchasing a screen would be more cost-effective than renting one every year.
“We have several events over the year, so perhaps we would use it more,” she explained. “On top of this, we need to be looking at how we are putting packages together and procuring for individual events to see if there is a cheaper or more effective way of putting them on.
“Of course, we would like to have a celebration, it is important, and it creates a great atmosphere on the day, but there are several questions I will be asking about how we are reusing and recycling bunting from year to year, for example, and whether all non-ministerial departments have the same processes for procurement.”
She added that the revelation was “interesting timing” considering that the Public Accounts Committee launched a review into procurement last month.
Mr Cartwright said: “It is a hugely complicated event which requires a significant level of production, including two large screens of that scale for the volume of people we have on site.
“It’s not as simple as buying a screen, because there are issues of maintenance and storage to consider, as well as technology. It would be out of date on the day that you buy it. It would be extravagant to buy something like that and not utilise it properly.
“We use a very specialist company that can deliver the high standard that Islanders deserve. I’m not saying I don’t have faith in local providers, but if we failed to deliver, there would be more criticism on the matter of our failure from a technical perspective than of the cost.
“There is a great expectation both from the politicians and the public and if we mess up Liberation Day, people will know.”
Mr Cartwright added: “We have an agreement with the individual that works for us, we negotiate and go through that contract to check what we need, what we are being charged for, to make sure that’s a fair and sensible public spend.”
He also confirmed that the Bailiff’s Chambers were only using local providers for the Royal Visit on Monday 15 July.
