States’ developers demanded millions in damages if reports leaked

Thursday 16 July 2015

Fear of leaks led to the States-owned developers demanding politicians sign a non-disclosure agreement with damages clauses worth millions of pounds before handing over evidence for a review.

The States of Jersey Development Company made the extraordinary demand of a clause imposing personal liability of “many millions of pounds” on the politicians on the Scrutiny panel, its staff and the clerks at the States Greffe.

Panel chairman John Le Fondré – who says the final report of his panel could still be weeks away – says that they refused to sign the agreement with the damages clauses, and that the SOJDC backed down, and they are slowly receiving some information on a confidential basis.

But he says that they have had to do a deal with the developers that even though some of the sensitive documents will be handed over, politicians will never be allowed to see them. Instead, the Scrutiny panel’s independent expert advisers will be the only ones allowed to see the reports.

Deputy Le Fondré said: “The panel is extremely frustrated by the challenge and denial of access to crucial documentation, particularly when they are directly relevant to determining whether conditions laid down by the States in establishing States of Jersey Development Company have been complied with.”

After years of delays and missed deadlines, work on the Waterfront finance centre has finally begun – amid protests and objections from campaigners – after UBS signed a lease for part of the first of a planned six buildings.

Construction work – by local firm Camerons – has started, with Planning permission already in the bag and the tenants eager to move into the new building. UBS, who have been in Jersey for more than 30 years, employ around 200 staff in the Island, and are expected to take two floors of the building.

The six-block financial services centre with around 470,000 sq foot of office space – or around six-times the size of the football pitch at Wembley Stadium – was first given the green-light by politicians in 2008.

Since then various dates about work starting have come and gone, and the project has also shrunk, with plans to lower the road running from the underpass and build on top of it delayed.

The original completion date given to the States was between 2015 and 2018.

In April last year, it was announced that RBC – the main tenant that office developers have been looking to secure – had chosen to move to a new Dandara building on the Esplanade, not to the States’ Waterfront office scheme.