Philip Ozouf: Some Questions and Observations

Unanswered Question on Plemont

When he was supplying all that information about funding Plemont, was Philip Ozouf aware of the budget, and the projected deficit?

As readers may remember, money was channelled from the criminal confiscation fund to the police HQ budget, releasing money earmarked for that to go back to central reserves, and therefore available to help fund the purchase of Plemont.

There’s a gap of only about two weeks before his presentation of financing the purchase of Plemont, and the news that there is a shortfall in the States accounting. I find it hard to believe that came like a bolt from the blue, and he had absolutely no idea when he was sorting out the finance arrangements.

And why can’t he plug at least some of it by an extra transfer from the confiscation fund to the new police HQ build, and using that to feed some much needed funds back into the central reserves? After all, he has set a precedent!

Selling the Family Silver

The chances are the shortfall will be dealt with by selling off some of the States property portfolio, and perhaps shares in the electricity and water companies. This is not good business practice. It is a one off “get out of jail card”, and what happens when the same problem arises, and the funding has gone. We will not be passing “Go”, or collecting anything on the way.

Moreover, the steep price rises, and poor maintenance of infrastructure (certainly with regard to water utilities) in the UK show what happens. The consumer is secondary to the shareholder, and prices rise for shareholders to get better dividends. At the moment we can ensure a fair return, but not excessive, is made, and the infrastructure is not neglected. Do we really want the UK route?

Twitter

On twitter, yesterday morning.

Vote.je ‏@Voteje
The work of elected States members is divided into a number of areas. What do they do? http://bit.ly/1ozfm9e    #voteje

But if you clicked on this, you got the website:
http://www.vote.je/why-vote/what-states-members-do/

With a blank page!

Not particularly helpful, although Reg Langlois will probably have fun with it!

It now has been corrected by the time you read this, and instead of a blank page, something has tuned up, as Mr Micawber said.

Summer Break

A reminder that the summer sees less blogging and shorter blogging!