Public Accounts Committee concerned over timeline for property management improvements
Scrutiny
31 July 2025
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is calling for a quicker and clearly defined commitment from Government to implementing recommendations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) regarding the publicly owned property portfolio.Earlier this year, the C&AG published a report into strategic property management, which made seven key recommendations and highlighted a number of areas of current work that should be prioritised by Government. These included implementing a policy framework to promote consistency in rental levels and lease terms across the Island’s property portfolio and ensuring recommendations made in previous C&AG and PAC reports on this issue continue to be addressed.
The PAC has welcomed the commitment to reviewing the findings made by the C&AG and carrying out the recommendations. However, the Committee has expressed its deep-rooted concern at the lack of strategic progress made in Government property management, despite nearly two decades of reviews, including its own 2021 Estate Management report. The executive response to the C&AG’s latest findings fails to provide the necessary clarity, ambition, and accountability needed to deliver long-overdue reform, while the timescale outlined is, in some cases, as much as 18 months.
The Committee wishes to draw particular attention to a statement made in the conclusion of the C&AG’s report which read:
‘A strategic focus for estate management has been very slow to develop since Jersey Property Holdings (JPH) was established in 2005. This is despite a range of internal and external reviews arriving at similar conclusions about the lack of strategic focus. The failure to develop and fully implement a strategic approach to property management is a concern which is likely to have had an impact across the States in both financial and non-financial terms which are impossible to assess. A vision and strategy are now in place but much remains to be done to deliver the cultural and other changes required to enable the States to demonstrate that their approach is strategic and aligned across the States of Jersey Group.’
The public estate in Jersey comprises 867 sites ranging from infrastructure assets to operational land and buildings. At the end of 2024, the value of land and buildings owned by the States of Jersey was more than £4 billion.
PAC Chair, Deputy Inna Gardiner, said: ‘Given the value of the Island’s estate, it is essential that it is being properly maintained with effective management and oversight.
‘A lot has been made in recent years about empty buildings, unused land and a lack of maintenance of some properties owned by the States and there are areas within the portfolio which are underutilised and should be given due care and attention to ensure the public is receiving value for money across the estate.
‘While we appreciate the C&AG’s recommendations have, largely, been agreed by Government, the Committee is deeply concerned that there does not appear to be much urgency in delivering on them. This is of particular concern given that there are several outstanding commitments which have been on the agenda for years. There has been a lack of progress towards fully implementing the Corporate Landlord Model, which was first suggested in 2005, while a number of the recommendations in the recent C&AG report are similar to those made in the PAC’s 2021 Estate Management review and remain outstanding despite being agreed.
‘As such, it is difficult for the PAC to be confident that value for money is being delivered in this area and the Government’s response and timelines proposed have not allayed those concerns.
‘Timelines for implementation are too long particularly given there are still outstanding recommendations from previous reports.
‘The PAC will therefore be following up with the Government’s Chief Executive Officer during its next Quarterly Public Hearing to ensure this important work remains high on the agenda.’
The full PAC comments paper can be read HERE.
