Refurbishment of the Jersey Arts Centre (FOI)

​Request

R.63/2024 State of the Estate 2023 was presented in April 2024 by the Minister for Infrastructure.  On page 24 the report states:

"Current and Planned Projects

The Opera House and Arts Centre are both in the current capital programme and works are underway to re-refurbish these facilities."

A

Please advise the amount of the total budget in the current capital programme for the refurbishment of Jersey Arts Centre?

B

The year in which the budget to refurbish Jersey Arts Centre is included in the Government Plan.  On page 8 the report states:

"A full condition survey was carried out on the operational buildings in the Public Estate in 2023 and the early findings of that survey are set out below. The building condition survey concentrated on the structure and decoration of buildings and examined 40 main elements, which in turn were sub-divided into some 100+ sub-elements under which all deficiencies were recorded. 

Assessments for condition surveys have been conducted in accordance with industry and RICS guidelines and the full detailed reports at property and element level will be available in early 2024."

Please advise what did the full condition survey conclude was the initial high level condition grading for Jersey Arts Centre.

C

Please provide the full condition survey detailed report for Jersey Arts Centre at property and element level.

​On page 10 the report states:

"A survey of the assets within buildings was undertaken and completed in 2022 and over 18,391 assets have been surveyed and graded on a total of 126 sites and 251 buildings.

The specified assets have been tagged using a unique barcode and undergone a visual inspection which was graded A-D and the data imported to the Concerto property management asset database against a site, associated at Room level.

The ongoing result of this survey is being used to undertake a repair/replacement programme and will allow Property Holdings to calculate the lifecycle of an asset. It is being used to prepare for future funding requirements."

D

Please advise if an asset survey been undertaken for Jersey Arts Centre for assets such as doors, electrical, heating systems, fire alarm and fire suppression systems, fuel installations and lifts, and, if so, please provide the grading and survey results.

Response

A 

It is important to note that the Jersey Arts Centre (JAC) is leased by Jersey Property Holdings to the Jersey Arts Centre Association (JACA) on a full repairing lease, which means that the JACA, as tenant, is responsible for the cost of all repairs, maintenance, and insurance for the property. 

As far as a capital works project surrounding the refurbishment of the Arts Centre goes, the State of the Estate 2023 referred to a fiscal stimulus grant that was earmarked for the JAC but not implemented. Since the change of Government in early 2024, the capital works programme is under review and has not yet been finalised. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

B

The high-level survey commissioned by Jersey Property Holdings as landlord focussed on the structure and envelope of the building, which returned a B/C condition rating, or 3.1 out of 5.

C

The condition survey commissioned by Jersey Property Holdings is not a detailed condition survey of the JAC, but a high-level survey focussed on the structure and envelope of the building. This service identified maintenance works to the pitched roof within four years, and the flat roof within eight years. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

D

Because the JAC is leased to the JACA on a full repairing lease, a complete detailed asset survey for the JAC has not been commissioned by JPH. 

If the JACA, as tenant, conducted such an asset survey in the recent past, the information has not been shared with Jersey Property Holdings as landlord. Therefore, this information is not held, and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.