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A “significant backlog” of maintenance on States-owned entities which needs to be carried out in the next two years has been identified in the latest report on the condition of the Government estate.
Published last week, the 'State of the Estate 2023' report sets out how the Government is meeting the objectives on the condition of their estate, and how their 867 sites performed last year.
A full condition survey found that 19% of the properties were marked as C ('fair'), meaning it shows "major defects and/or not operating as intended".
A total of 7% were marked as D ('poor') signifying "significant wear, damage, or dysfunction" and that "repairs or restoration may be necessary to bring the item or property to an acceptable standard".
Pictured: The grading of the sites, according to the condition survey.
Following the condition survey, the report stated: "A significant backlog maintenance requirement has been identified that needs to be undertaken in the next two years."
It added that in the longer term, the anticipated ten-year maintenance will require additional budget to cover future maintenance costs.
The amount needed to clear the backlog is "currently beyond the current annual property maintenance budget" and "will need to be addressed in future Government Plans and the longer-term capital programme", the report continued.
The total annual Jersey Property Holdings maintenance budget in 2023 was £7 million, with Education and Health sites accounting for just over 70% of the total spend.
According to the report, the total budget has fallen in real terms since 2015 when the annual budget was £8.5 million. By taking in the effects of inflation over the period, the 2023 budget has fallen by £5 million per annum in real terms since 2015.
The report said: "Inflationary pressure is currently quite significant, and this continues to have a direct impact upon the cost of materials, transport and construction for both maintenance and capital programming."
The report said that to address this shortfall, an ongoing piece of work is looking to move "legacy maintenance budgets" to Jersey Property Holdings.
The introduction of "priority grading" will also enable the current limited resources to be allocated to condition deficiencies based upon core business needs.
"This principle of priority based on business objectives will provide for the more efficient investment of resources to drive the maintenance decisions," the report said.
Pictured: A breakdown of the States estate.
The estate comprises a total of 867 sites, with a total site area of 9.8 square kilometres, which represents 12% of the total island area.
The last full valuation of the estate was conducted in 2022 and was valued at £1,006,231,150 which includes the car park trading fund, valued at £47,580,750.
The total income received across the property estate in 2023 was £9.1m, with Jersey Property Holdings receiving £5.4 million, of which £2.4m was received as recharges and so the net total income to JPH was £3m.
Elsewhere in the report, it was revealed that one disposal and eleven acquisitions of property took place in 2023.
The South Hill offices site was sold to the States of Jersey Development Company for housing development.
Of the 11 acquisitions in 2023, six were gifts to the public, mostly related to footpath and road-widening initiatives.
The most significant purchases were related to the New Healthcare Facilities Programme and the total 2023 expenditure on all new acquisitions was £17,719,000.
Pictured: The Office Accommodation Programme is due to be completed this summer.
The report found that the Government of Jersey offices are "generally not fit for purpose, inefficient and not considered to be an effective workplace environment".
The inefficiencies relate to the fact that there is currently "a greater provision of office accommodation than is necessary" and that teams are "dispersed across several buildings leading to operational challenges".
Construction of the new office on the old Cyril Le Marquand Government office site began in 2021 and is expected to be completed by summer 2024.
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