Guernsey States pauses capital projects until summer

Capital projects will be considered at a States sitting in the summer

All upcoming capital projects in Guernsey are being put on hold until a States debate this summer.

It follows the government's failure to agree on tax plans last month to deal with a budget deficit - estimated to be £100m by 2040.

Projects placed on hold include the Alderney runway, the next phase of the hospital project and the post-16 education campus.

The Policy and Resources Committee (P&R) has written to States members.

It has asked committees to review the scope of their existing projects.

Alternative funding, including borrowing, will also be considered ahead of a debate on the portfolio in July.

This could see proposals for projects to be paused, delayed, stopped or rescoped based on "strategic fit, affordability, deliverability and impact on related schemes".

The current planned capital project portfolio is set to cost a total of about £460m.

The capital portfolio was outlined in the Government Work Plan 2021-2025

Deputy Peter Roffey, President of both the Committee for Employment and Social Security and the States' Trading Supervisory Board, said: "I'm just as disappointed as P&R with the outcome to the tax debate.

"I think it was a failure of grown-up policy if you like.

"However, if the reaction is a blind 'let's slash and burn the capital development programme' then we're doing no favour to our children and grandchildren as this work is going to have to be done and if it's not done now, it'll be done further down the road and probably at more cost."

Follow BBC Guernsey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].