Guernsey post-16 campus funding plans rejected

Proposals to fund the building of a new post-16 campus were included for debate in the States' 2024 budget

Plans to borrow more than £100m to fund the building of a new post-16 campus at Les Ozouets have been thrown out.

A proposal from Deputies Sasha Kazantseva-Miller and Bob Murray to tax businesses more to pay for the borrowing was voted down by States members 16–24.

Guernsey’s Chamber of Commerce said this new “corporate levy could jeopardise Guernsey's financial credibility and governance reputation".

Education, Sport and Culture (ESC) President Andrea Dudley-Owen said the States should be "thoroughly ashamed" after rejecting plans to fund the project.

The decision means ESC's Transforming Education Programme remains unfunded, so no work on the project can continue.

Leaders in education locally have criticised the quality of the current facilities, while representatives of the construction industry have labelled the current building used for apprenticeships as “appalling”.

Deputy Dudley-Owen’s proposal for borrowing was also defeated by a 18–22 vote.

She said after the vote: “How can we be taken seriously by families wanting to move to Guernsey to make this their home [or] by local people who think the government has their best interests at heart? We can’t, we’re a joke.

“The hope for this island is very dismal.”

Proposals to force the Policy and Resources Committee to come back to the States with full plans on how the project before the end of March were debated later and rejected.

Analysis: John Fernandez, BBC Guernsey Political Reporter

Education’s plans for a new post-16 campus aren’t dead, but today’s decision means they remain on life support.

Critics have said those voting against these funding plans have only done so to derail ESC’s preferred direction of travel.

Those who stopped the funding - like Deputy Charles Parkinson - believe “what’s done is done” when it comes to the model of education.

But their concern centres on what this level of borrowing without an income stream will do for Guernsey’s financial reputation.

ESC is now in limbo, waiting for a future source of funding – with no sign that one will be forthcoming any time soon.

All the while, the buildings this new post-16 campus were due to replace fall further and further into disrepair, leaving the island’s students learning in facilities described as “appalling” by industry bodies.

And parents, students and teachers will be left scratching their heads wondering what happens next.