Policy & Resources has insisted the States Property Unit has become more efficient in recent years, something questioned by the President of Scrutiny.
Top officials and politicians told a Scrutiny hearing delving into how the public estate is managed said huge progress has been made to streamline and improve performance, but admitted it doesn’t work to specific or measurable key performance indicators.
But Scrutiny President Deputy Andy Sloan said there was no quantification on efficiencies so far or what will be delivered in the future.
“Unless there is a clear, consistent measure that you set out to achieve first, a lot of it is just qualitative,” he said.
P&R President Deputy Linday de Sausmarez said numerous public properties have been sold in recent years, and many services brought under one roof in administrative hubs such as Edward T Wheadon House.
She also said better value was being created out of a lower number of staff, a more consistent approach to maintenance, and a desire to improve energy efficiency.
Jason Moriaty, the States’ Chief Operating Officer, said it was “incredibly difficult to get standard benchmarking” and defended increased costs for the property unit in recent years.
It was noted that 88% of its staff are frontline workers, including hospital porters, housekeeping, laundry and maintenance staff, with the wage bill around £15m.
£7m is spent on utilities at public sites, with the maintenance budget increased to £7m in recent years.
Mark Ogier, Director of Estates, said the uptick in maintenance spending was due to historic underspending on the estate, and that the department has to “make difficult decisions all the time” on how to prioritise works across its portfolio.
He also said the decision to stop using glyphosate for weed control “has had an impact”, increasing the cost and time spent to maintain the public realm.
Statutory compliance obligations have increased “significantly” in recent years and are being delivered by a reduced number of office staff.
The Scrutiny panel questioned if internal rent should be charged for States properties, but Deputy Gavin St Pier, P&R Vice-President, said this is not being used and is a “matter of States priorities”.
Deputy Sloan said charging rent could create “more discipline and value for money”.