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At least five projects funded by a money pot aiming to give a boost to the covid-struck economy in 2021 have indicated they will not be able to hit the end-of-year deadline.
Two of those Fiscal Stimulus projects – understood to be upgrades to Oakfield Sports Centre and Springfield Stadium – have been approved by the Treasury Minister for an extra three months.
In a recent letter to Scrutiny, Deputy Susie Pinel said that she would likely approve the other three, which have also asked for an extension to next March, as she did not consider it “unreasonable within the wider economic context of the expenditure which should see the majority of the funds being spent in 2021”.
Express asked whether any further projects had indicated they would need an extension, but the Government declined to release this information. A spokesperson said a report giving an update on projects will be published at the end of August.
The proviso that all Fiscal Stimulus projects must be completed by the end of this year was part of a proposition that States Members backed last November.
Pictured: Treasury Minister Susie Pinel: ”Projects are still ’timely’ despite extensions”.
However, the Treasury Minister said that, despite the extensions, she considered that the ‘timely’ criteria for the projects had still been met and she did not need to report back to the Assembly.
The successful projects, which total £29.6m and will be funded by borrowed money, were announced in two tranches in April and June.
After the first tranche, backbenchers raised concerns about the high number of construction-based projects and the potential for overheating in that sector of the economy.
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