Chief Minister grilled over hospital U-turn and potential Ozouf comeback

Friday 26 May 2017

Discussions leading the Treasury Minister to rip up funding plans for the new £466 million hospital - the Island's largest ever capital project - only began as late as last Friday, it has emerged.

Chief Minister Senator Ian Gorst told Scrutiny in a tense quarterly hearing yesterday that discussions regarding a potential U-turn had taken place between himself and Treasury Minister Senator Alan Maclean on Friday and over the weekend – despite the proposition having been lodged five weeks previously.

The revelation drew shock from the Panel, who said that there had not been, “…one iota of an indication that there wasn’t a debate happening” during a meeting between Scrutiny and Senator Maclean last Thursday when he laid out his plan in detail to the Panel, and expressed concern that information may have been “withheld” from them.

Despite Senator Maclean describing himself as having “agreed” to withdraw the funding proposal in a statement rather than having taken the decision himself, Senator Gorst maintained that no one in the Council of Ministers or otherwise had “instructed” him to do so.

Pictured: Treasury Minister Alan Maclean said in a statement that he had "agreed" to withdraw the proposals, but claimed in a States sitting last week that he stood by his funding idea.

Deputy John Le Fondré commented: “On Thursday before the debate on the Tuesday, Treasury didn’t seem to be aware of any of this. The Treasury Minister says that he “agreed” - that does not infer that it was his willing decision. In practical terms, if the Council of Ministers suddenly changes its mind then Treasury has no choice but to make that decision. 

“[The email was sent] at 19:30 [sic] on Monday evening… That does not smack of considered discussions going on. The amendments were lodged some time ago… Are you telling me the Council of Ministers on this most critical of matters only started talking about it four days…before this critical debate?”

Senator Gorst added that the “majority” of Ministers had agreed with the step back at an “informal” Council of Ministers meeting on Monday morning – the day before the crucial funding debate was due to take place.

In the days following the eleventh-hour proposition withdrawal, of which members were informed via email at 19:11 on the eve of the debate, talk of a deepening rift in the Council of Ministers sparked by the Innovation Fund scandal and further fuelled by the hospital debate grew louder.

Video: Lost in the hospital funding debate? Express recaps where we're up to with getting a new hospital.

But Senator Gorst declined to comment on how strong the consensus had been at the Monday morning meeting, and indeed who had supported or rallied against the U-turn out of the Ministers present, who he recalled as being: Senator Maclean, Senator Paul Routier, Senator Green, Deputy Rod Bryans, Deputy Eddie Noel, Deputy Susie Pinel, Deputy Kristina Moore and Deputy Anne Pryke.

When asked who was in favour, he simply responded: “You need to ask them.”

When asked whether the proposal had been withdrawn on the basis of this “informal” meeting, Senator Gorst responded, “You know that’s not how it works. [There was consideration over time] and that culminated prior to the weekend and over the weekend and then on Monday. I absolutely think it was the right thing to do.”

Further justifying the decision, he lauded the Scrutiny Panel’s report, which argued that the £466 million sum to fund the new hospital should be taken from the Island’s ‘rainy day fund’ rather than Treasury’s proposal to borrow the money, and said that he would like to see Treasury find a solution using the “best of both proposals” instead. Those suggestions are unlikely to come forward until the final quarter of the year, however.

He also expressed apparent interest in the borrowing taking place in the short-term rather than over 30-40 years as had been previously agreed – an apparently out-of-the-blue revelation that appeared to stir concern among Panel members. 

Pictured: The Chief Minister said that there were "ongoing conversations" taking place regarding Senator Ozouf's potential return to Ministerial government.

Senior States sources had also suggested that Senator Ozouf had held some influence over discussions, having allegedly brought an alternative funding proposal in the days prior to the debate – something he denies.

But the Chief Minister told Express following the hearing that Senator Ozouf had not been present at any hospital-related discussions, stating: “I had meetings with Treasury on Friday not with Senator Ozouf. There’s lots of misinformation about these issues and some meetings in private that I’m not prepared to talk about.”

The Panel later touched upon Senator Ozouf’s “exoneration” in a report into ill-fated Innovation Fund, which may have lost £1.4 million of public money and for which Senator Ozouf was politically responsible.

While Senator Ozouf resigned in the wake of the scandal, Senator Gorst hinted yesterday at a return to frontline politics. He said that he would not confirm the move, but said that he was, “…having ongoing conversations.”

“I understand that feelings about Senator Ozouf run high for all sorts of reasons, but I have to rise above the personalities and ask people to do jobs that I think are in Jersey’s best interest. Senator Ozouf has got some excellent skills that I think could be better put to use in Jersey’s interest than where he currently sits.”