The potential impact of climate change on the cost of maintaining the island’s coastal defences – which will become “more expensive” – was cited by a civil servant during a scrutiny hearing in which politicians examined plans to fund the government’s 25-year capital investment programme.
Phil Ashley, an acting group director within the Treasury Department, made the comments during a hearing with the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel yesterday afternoon.
The panel was questioning Treasury Minister Elaine Millar, who recently lodged regulations to amend the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019.
Climate change can have implications for our shoreline defences. Those defences will have to be expanded to meet the pressures of rising sea levels
Acting group director phil ashley
If approved, the restructuring will replace the existing consolidated fund with two new funds – the general revenue fund for day-to-day public services and the Jersey capital investment fund for infrastructure and major assets.
The latter fund will underpin the ‘Investing in Jersey’ programme announced by the government last year.
The 25-year initiative includes plans to invest in new homes, transport networks, water and drainage systems, coastal defences, schools, public spaces and other infrastructure improvements.
Panel vice-chair Deputy Lucy Stephenson asked how the criteria for “essential” capital spending was set out against “change and improvement” spending.
Mr Ashley replied: “We tried to be pretty robust in defining essential. So it’s about existing assets – quite objective, they exist or they don’t.”
He continued: “It’s about maintaining current service standards, it’s not necessarily about providing extra quality service or improved quality service to islanders.
“That will require some change to existing assets, potentially. You’ve got a school that needs to expand, you might extend that school, but it’s all framed around providing for a base service – we educate children – in an existing facility and then the maintenance of those assets.”
Mr Ashley also spoke about “responding to key macro trends”.
“Climate change can have implications for our shoreline defences. Those defences will have to be expanded to meet the pressures of rising sea levels,” he added.
“Sustaining them in the future will therefore be more expensive and there’ll be more, potentially. So they would become the ‘as is’ assets of the future.”
Last year saw plans for Jersey’s largest coastal defences project since the 1800s unveiled by the Infrastructure Department, which cited the coastline from La Collette to La Grande Charrière Slipway as the island’s “highest priority” area in need of enhanced anti-flooding measures.
The intended upgrades are focused on four zones stretching 1,700m; La Collette Gardens, the western and eastern sections of the Havre des Pas promenade and Grève d’Azette Beach.
