Property upgrades to cost States £10m… and maybe £10m more

Tuesday 20 November 2018

Making all States buildings accessible for disabled islanders will cost at least £10million, the Director of the States £1billion property portfolio has warned, as he suggested politicians had “no understanding” of the impact on the public purse when they passed the new Disability Discrimination Law.

Under the law, owners of publicly accessible properties will be expected to make “reasonable adjustments” to make them accessible for those with long-term physical or mental impairments by 1 September 2020.

If they fail to do so, they could be ordered to pay up to £10,000 in compensation for “discrimination” by a tribunal.

But the Director of Jersey Property Holdings, which manages the majority of public buildings, has hinted that the States may struggle to comply with their own law.

Pictured: The Disability Discrimination Law officially came into force on 1 September 2018.

In a hearing before a panel of politicians tasked with reviewing the management of the £1bn portfolio following a damning report by the government spending watchdog Karen McConnell, he warned that the financial implications of introducing the law may not have been fully considered.

Describing the new legislation as a “curve ball”, Ray Foster said: “The Discrimination Law is quite interesting because having a law that was developed by people looking at the island but not really looking at the public sector and the impacts on the public sector, we came very late into the process when the law was relatively fixed. So there was no understanding of what the financial implications would be to the public… What we do not want to do is set a law and then not be able to comply with it.” 

He explained that the cost of becoming compliant would set the States back at least seven figures at “possibly £10million plus.”

Mr Foster added, however, that this spending on accessibility adjustments wouldn’t necessarily cover the full “backlog” of work needed on States properties.

“In terms of backlog maintenance, we are again £10 million plus, possibly more. It depends on where you want to get your buildings to, whether you want to get them compliant or whether you want to improve them to be high-quality, high-performing buildings,” he said.

It is unclear at this stage, however, where this funding would come from.

The Chief Minister recently revealed that there was a forecast £30million blackhole in States finances – something currently restricting other pending matters, such as settling a pay dispute with public sector staff. 

A spokesperson for the States told Express that Jersey Property Holdings was still working to figure out how to move forward with meeting the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Law since it was officially brought into force on 1 September this year. 

So far they said that “Jersey Property Holdings has undertaken a sample of States of Jersey properties to understand the likely extent of the requirement.”

They added: “A detailed audit is planned for 2019 to develop a prioritised and costed programme of work that will be submitted for approval. The new requirements are being incorporated into ongoing refurbishment and planned maintenance of States buildings.”

The news comes shortly after one 'Blue Badge' islander revealed their sometimes "humiliating" experiences struggling with accessibility around the island, and similar concerns from a care worker.