Jersey in Ireland: Questions for Election Candidates

http://www.independent.ie/business/aibs-jersey-chief-sacked-from-his-role-in-waterfront-enterprise-board-1429470.html

I missed this a few days ago, dated July 08 2008.

The Irish Independent reported that:

THE chairman of Allied Irish Banks (AIB) in the Channel Islands (CI) has been sacked from his position as chairman of Jersey's Waterfront Enterprise Board (WEB) over his role in a property project involving Harcourt Developments. Gerald Voisin, a former Jersey politician, was removed from his role on WEB after 22 members of the Jersey parliament voted that he should go because he failed to declare that he was chairman of the CI branch of AIB -- a subsidiary of AIB which is backing Harcourt as a preferred bidder in the development of a £330m financial services centre in St Helier called the Esplanade Quarter.

Regarding their reporting of the case, Terry le Sueur really does not come out of it very well.

All sorts of accusations were asserted during the three-hour debate last week in Jersey with some 22 politicians speaking out against his role on WEB. Mr Voisin released a statement to the media last week stating that he had no involvement with AIB in Dublin and its transactions with Harcourt and refused to step down but he was later asked to resign his position. Last week Senator Jim Perchard also stepped down stating that he did not want to "swim in murky waters". He said he thought that Mr Voisin's chairmanship in both companies was too much of a "cosy relationship". Support for Mr Voisin came from Treasury Minister Terry Le Sueur, among others, who said the timing of the proposition was wrong and would not be good governance.

It also mentions that the Harcourt development is going to be on-hold at least until the Irish hearing in October 2008, which if it takes eight weeks (it may not) would take us to December 2008! That is not counting how long the Nevada case may go on for either.

That means that it will be a new States (post-elections) that will be looking at the results of the "due diligence checks", which should be interesting. Candidates therefore should expect to be asked questions about the Waterfront (and its 1/2 million sunken road running costs).

Harcourt is embroiled in a court action in Dublin with three businessmen claiming that they have an ownership on property deals with the company in Jersey and London. The details of lawsuits against Harcourt in Dublin and one in Nevada have caused a political row in Jersey. Further due diligence checks are being carried out on the firm headed by Pat Doherty, before any development agreement will be signed. Harcourt is strongly defending the allegations against it and an eight- week hearing has been set aside to hear the case in October in the Commercial High Court.

Recent votes on the Waterfront

Waterfront Rescindment

Gerard Baudin's recent motion on the Waterfront - Esplanade Quarter, St. Helier - Masterplan - rescindment, was soundly defeated.

POUR: 9 CONTRE: 31 NOT PRESENT: 10 DECLARED AN INTEREST: 2
EXCUSED ATTENDANCE: 1

Below were the people supporting it. As at least one is an Chartered Accountant (in bold), we can be sure the matter will not just slip by next time with all the selective reporting that was given during the debate from the PwC and from WEB being sufficient.

Senator Stuart Syvret
Connétable Derek Frederick Gray
Deputy Gerard Clifford Lemmens Baudains
Deputy Judith Ann Martin
Deputy Geoffrey Peter Southern
Deputy James Gordon Reed
Deputy John Alexander Nicholas Le Fondré
Deputy Shona Pitman
Deputy Ian Joseph Gorst

Amazing that more did not support this, especially as the whole matter is held up anyway until the Nevada court action is decided, and a lot more investigation is done. Assurances will not be taken at face value in future! That trundles on with the next hearing due on the 21 July 2008. Watch this space. Harcourt are trying for a dismissal.

WEB Removals Part 1

Waterfront Enterprise Board Ltd - removal of States Directors and Chairman from office (a) in accordance with the provisions of Article 30(b) of the Articles of Association of the company, and having noted the resignation of Senator James Leslie Perchard as a Director on 11th June 2008, to remove all the remaining States Directors from office;

POUR: 8 CONTRE: 29 ABSTAINED: 2 NOT PRESENT: 10 DECLARED AN
INTEREST: 3 EXCUSED ATTENDANCE: 1

This was to remove sitting States members on WEB, who had clearly done a brilliantly poor job in sifting and validating any information they had, rather than just taking it at face value. Credit to Paul Routier for abstaining from a vote which could lose him his seat, shame on Jacqui Huet who did not do the same. Why James Perchard had resigned as a matter of principle and did not want other members to do so remains a mystery to me.

Senator Paul Francis Routier ABSTAINED
Deputy Jacqueline Jeannette Huet CONTRE
Senator James Leslie Perchard CONTRE

These were the only few voting to in favour of removing the States directors of WEB:

POUR
Deputy Robert Charles Duhamel
Deputy Alan Breckon
Deputy Frederick John Hill, B.E.M.
Deputy Gerard Clifford Lemmens Baudains
Deputy Geoffrey Peter Southern
Deputy Deidre Wendy Mezbourian
Deputy Sean Power
Deputy Andrew David Lewis

WEB Removals Part 2

Waterfront Enterprise Board Ltd - removal of States Directors and Chairman from office (b) to remove Mr. Francis Gerald Voisin as a non-States Director and Chairman of the company;

This presumably related more to the potential conflict of interest than badly briefing and misleading the States, because Tibbo and Crespel (the invisible other directors) remained (with their £10,000 per annum payments to do what? - provide rubber stamps?) and Steven Stephen Izzat (on his around £180,000 per annum payments).

POUR: 22 CONTRE: 15 ABSTAINED: 2 NOT PRESENT: 10 DECLARED AN
INTEREST: 3 EXCUSED ATTENDANCE: 1

These were the people who wanted to keep Mr Voisin (on his £30,000 per annum Chairman's job)

Senator Frank Harrison Walker
Senator Wendy Kinnard
Senator Terence Augustine Le Sueur
Senator Paul Francis Routier
Senator Michael Edward Vibert
Senator Philip Francis Cyril Ozouf
Senator Terence John Le Main
Senator Frederick Ellyer Cohen
Connétable Alan Simon Crowcroft
Connétable Michael Keith Jackson
Deputy John Benjamin Fox
Deputy Sarah Craig Ferguson
Deputy Guy William John de Faye
Deputy Anne Enid Pryke
Deputy Alan John Henry Maclean



(Note - all figures are in the public domain, in the WEB accounts.)

Election Year

1. Remember how they voted when it is your turn to vote!
2. Check to make sure you are registered (even if you sent in a form, it is as well to check)

O What A Tangled Web

How much information is there available about Web, the Jersey Waterfront Enterprise Board? You'd be surprised as to how hard it is to locate some of it. Here are my researches with comments:

The site:

http://www.jerseywaterfront.je/

has lots of colourful graphic renderings and maps, but I looked in vain for any sign of who was on Web, and precisely what its responsibilities or powers were. It is basically a PR job site. Perhaps some of the employees of Web are internet Web designers?

Searching around, I found that the following are directors of web and not States Members:

Mr. Francis Gerald Voisin (Chairman)
Jurat John Claude Tibbo
Mr. Peter Joseph Crespel

Their term of office expires on 20th August 2009

And I was wondering: do they get paid? How much? And how many hours do they have to put in (remembering Gerald Voisin is also Chairman of the local branch of Allied Irish Bank)

Looking on the States website, there is (if you dig down) a ministerial decision which gives some details on States Members.

The current States' Directors are Senator P.F. Routier, Deputy J.J. Huet, and Senator J.L. Perchard, who were appointed on 28th March 2006 for a three-year period expiring on 31st March 2009

http://www.gov.je/StatesGreffe/MinisterialDecision/ChiefMinister/2006/web+appointment+of+chairman+and+directors.htm?printfriendly=true

Where are the accounts available from?

First of all I found this - really not informative to the public!

http://www.gov.je/StatesGreffe/MinisterialDecision/ChiefMinister/2006/Watrfront+Enterprise+Board+Annual+and+Quarterly+Accounts.htm

In accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company 'Waterfront Enterprise Board Limited' (WEB), the company is required to prepare annual accounts, together with interim quarterly accounts, and to
forward these to the Chief Minister.

And finally, to the accounts. The last annual accounts are for 2006, and as we are now in 2008, that seems rather slack, especially when one considers the problems Web is facing. Do we know when the 2007 accounts will be available? 2009 perhaps?

http://www.gov.je/NR/rdonlyres/53AC82BF-ADF2-4046-82C3-AF4D470B1CBF/0/WEBReportAccounts2006nosignatures.pdf

Executive Director - Mr D Margason (Managing Director)

Non Executive Directors
Mr P F Horsfall C.B.E.
Mr F G Voisin (Chairman)
Jurat J C Tibbo
Mr P J Crespel
Senator P Routier
Deputy J Huet
Senator J Perchard

Mr D Margason resigned as Managing Director with effect from 3 August 2006.

Mr P F Horsfall CBE retired as Chairman on 20 August 2006. Mr F G Voisin retired as a Director on 31 March 2006 and
was re-appointed as a Director and as Chairman on 20 August 2006. Senator J Perchard was appointed as a Director
on 1 April 2006. Senator P Routier and Deputy J Huet were reappointed as Directors for a three year term of office
on 1 April 2006. Jurat JC Tibbo and Mr P J Crespel were reappointed as Directors for a three year term of office
on 20 August 2006. The Company Secretary, who held office during the year was Mr R Woolf.

Note that the Managing Director is now Stephen Izzat - I got that from the JEP story on the Waterfront, as I was unable to find any single States page on www.gov.je giving details!

The Remuneration Committee comprises the States Non-Executive Directors. The Remuneration Committee
makes recommendations to the Board regarding the remuneration of both Executive and Non-Executive
Directors and senior management and considers the ongoing appropriateness and relevance of the remuneration policy.

Now the fun stuff. Remember that Stephen Izzat is now Managing Director, and David Margason was only paid for part of 2006 (until he resigned in August). Also Gerald Voisin took over from Pierre Horsfall in 2006, so his payment is only partial. The States members don't get anything - until they leave the States and come back as non-executive directors like Mr Voisin! Jobs for the boys!

David Margason £131,927 (2006)/ £189,702 (2005)

Non Executive Directors
Pierre Horsfall £19,032 (2006)/£30,000(2005)
F Gerald Voisin £10,904 (2006)
John C Tibbo £12,000 (2006)/£12,000 (2005)
Peter J Crespel £10,000 (2006)/£10,000 (2005)
Paul Routier - - - - -
Jacqui Huet - - - - -
James Perchard - - - - -

Total £183,863 (2006)/ 241,702 (2005)

Curiously however, the accounts show elsewhere:

Directors remuneration £217,986 (2006)/ £298,112 (2005).

The difference is in supplementary amounts, such as pension, benefits in kind, paid mainly to the Managing Director. So he leaves with a nice final salary pension too.

Employees
£423,234 (2006) / £345,901 (2005)

That's quite striking - one wonders how many there are, and what precisely they do? Unfortunately, that is not available in the accounts, and would need a question in the States.

http://www.gov.je/StatesGreffe/MinisterialDecision/TreasuryResources/2007/waterfront+enterprise+board+tax+status.htm

But this is interesting too:

Subsidiary

On 14 July 2006 La Haie du Puits Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company sold a freehold residential property

On 14 July 2006 La Haie du Puits Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Waterfront Enterprise Board Limited, sold a freehold residential property for a consideration of £730,000 following refurbishment paid for by the former Managing Director. Under the terms of the then Managing Director's contract of employment, Mr David Margason was entitled to retain the balance of the consideration offered by the purchaser in excess of £600,000 after taking account of costs of £3,040 and accordingly La Haie du Puits Limited received £600,000 and Mr Margason received the balance.

That means that Mr Margason left with £126,960 - quite a golden handshake!

Lastly this note is of interest.

Tax Free Status

The Minister decided to exempt the Waterfront Enterprise Board (WEB) and its associated enterprise under Article 115 of Income Tax (Jersey) Law 1961 to extend to the profits generated insofar as the profits are expended wholly and exclusively to improve and extend public infrastructure and works for the good of the public of the Island.

Who sees Minutes of the Waterfront Enterprise Board? The States Members, obviously, but how well do they communicate this to the other States members to keep them informed about what is going on. How many staff do they employ? What exactly do these staff do? How many hours do the non-executive directors put in? What exactly are their responsibilities? Does the new managing director, Mr Stephen Izzat also have severance deals as part of his contract? If you find out, post a comment!

O what a tangled WEB they weave!

Curious Omissions on BBC Radio Jersey

Am I the only one, I wonder to have noted the discrepancy between the BBC radio Jersey news coverage of the Waterfront saga, and their web page news at

www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/news

The broadcast coverage has been extensive, but on the web news there has been little or nothing.

A few days ago, we had Jim Perchard's resignation from Web (Waterfront enterprise Board), citing a possible conflict of interest in the position of Gerald Voisin, the chairman of Web.

Now we have the censure motion by Geoff Southern, which is mind-boggling for the way in which it mentions the controversy:

"Senator Walker has already apologised to the House for giving it information regarding the project that he believed to be true, but which he subsequently discovered was not. "

It is almost as if they are leaning over backwards not to mention Harcourt Developers by name, or the fact that the information was to do with the denial of a lawsuit against Harcourt, and which was found to be true. Really, it tells the average reader less than nothing about the matter, and one has to wonder why. Read it (see below) and ask if the average reader in the UK could tell what all the fuss was about, or indeed anything of import.

Could it have something to do with the fact that the broadcast programmes are local in scope, but the web pages are part of the national BBC news coverage, and someone, for whatever reason, doesn't want details of the matter made too widely known?

I don't see necessarily some deep conspiracy, but more an editorial policy of fence-sitting, especially where Ministers in the States are concerned.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/jersey/7457320.stm

Chief minister faces censure vote

Jersey Chief Minister Frank Walker is facing censure for not providing the States with accurate information about plans for a new financial quarter.

The application for censure is being brought by Deputy Geoff Southern.

He believes States members were "seriously misled" during the debate on the development of the new Esplanade quarter in St Helier.

If Deputy Southern's application goes ahead, Senator Walker will face a censure vote in the House.

Esplanade quarter

In 2004, before becoming chief minister, Senator Walker narrowly defeated another vote of censure.

He had been accused of pressuring planning authorities to approve an infill site on a friend's land in Trinity.

Deputy Southern brought the latest application for censure because, he said, members were not given full and accurate information about the Esplanade quarter masterplan and in particular its economic impact.

He claims two "vital" documents were withheld from States members.

The esplanade development includes plans to submerge a dual-carriageway and build several thousand feet of office space and living accommodation.

It will link St Helier's waterside area with the rest of the town.

Senator Walker has already apologised to the House for giving it information regarding the project that he believed to be true, but which he subsequently discovered was not.

The Developers of Jersey

I read the piece from the JEP article "Gerald Voisin, chairman of the Waterfront Enterprise Board - which is charged with overseeing the site's development - said that the Waterfront was being developed for the people of Jersey." The developers of Jersey would be nearer the mark than the people of Jersey!

A park, or massive overdevelopment of square and rectangular boxes of steel and concrete (sorry, iconic buildings that are world class!). I know which I'd sooner have. It is so maddening that a deaf ear is turned to this offer which, even if it is motivated by self-interest, would provide a much needed "green lung" for St Helier.

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Jersey Evening Post

Bigger offer for land on Waterfront
By Andy Sibcy


A BUSINESSMAN says he is prepared to increase his £1 million offer to buy land on the Waterfront to save Jardins de la Mer as a public park and give it to the Island.

Stuart Weaving, whose penthouse home overlooks the Waterfront, says he and his friends could raise a significant sum if someone would only name a price. In 2005, he offered £1 million for a strip of land next to the park, but says his offer has all but been ignored.

The multi-millionaire, who made his fortune in publishing, textile mills, exhibition halls and other interests, is concerned that not enough space has been set aside for free public use on the Waterfront. He therefore wants to buy a strip of land next to the existing park to increase its size and make sure developers do not build on it.

Gerald Voisin, chairman of the Waterfront Enterprise Board - which is charged with overseeing the site's development - said that the Waterfront was being developed for the people of Jersey.



Published 19/6/07