Minister: "Move States workers to one building to cut costs"

Thursday 23 April 2015

Ministers are planning on a “significant investment” of millions of pounds in a new major office site to reduce the number of buildings they use and create millions of pounds worth of savings.

But they are not considering a move to the Waterfront, and are instead looking at potential town centre locations.

Treasury Minister Alan Maclean says that ministers have discussed the idea, and are now awaiting a report from property experts on whether the numbers stack up.

His comments come after he revealed a plan for £60 million in staff savings, £35 million in department cuts and £35 million from a new health charge to fix a deficit in public finances expected by 2019.

Although he would not discuss potential sites – apart from saying the Waterfront was not part of the discussion – it’s understood that the options could include the existing Post Office site in Broad Street and the Royal Bank of Canada building due to be vacated soon.

Senator Maclean said that the move would be a significant capital project, but that it would create a more productive and efficient public sector.

He said: “Personally, I think it’s critical. It’s critical to modernisation of the public sector, and driving out cost and improving productivity.

“It will change the organisation dramatically. It will mean improved service delivery and reduced cost by making what could be a fairly significant investment.”

He said that instead of 23 different locations, the States could reduce down to three or four, and save money doing so.

Asked about the location, he said: “We’re not talking about the Waterfront. It’s not something that’s being debated. The previous Office Strategy had a central town location as one potential – there are a couple of others.”