Education, Sport and Culture Department Report |
Subject: | Jersey Archive Extension: Feasibility Vote |
Exempt Clause: | | Date: | 16th October 2015 |
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Author: | Jeremy Harris, Assistant Director - Policy and Strategy |
- Introduction
The purpose of this report is to request funding of £60,000 from the Treasury to allow a feasibility study to be undertaken on the extension to the Jersey Archive. The project has been proposed for commencement in 2016 as part of the forward capital programme, and is listed in the Medium Term Financial Plan 2016-2019 approved by the States on 8th October 2015.
- Background
The case for a new archive repository is based on the importance of the role which the Jersey Archive plays to the Public Records (Jersey) Law 2002 and the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, and the serious shortage of storage space which threatens to compromise that role. Space is currently forecast to run out entirely in 2019. Without intervention, there is a danger that the States will not be in a position to comply with its legal obligations.
Consequently, the DfESC has strongly supported the case for a new store and in 2014 established a project group, comprising representatives of the DfESC, Jersey Heritage and Jersey Property Holdings. The group met on 29 August 2014, agreed the parameters of the project and the need to make a formal business case for the project to the Treasury. (A copy is attached for information as Appendix A).
- Next steps
The initial meeting of the project group confirmed that the Clarence Road site was capable of accommodating an extension of the size proposed (588 square metres, mirroring existing provision) but identified the need to undertake a feasibility study to explore how this storage capacity could best be provided on the site. Following discussion with the Treasury, it was agreed that an application would be made if the project were ultimately included in the MTFP.
Jersey Property Holdings has advised that the sum of £60,000 would be required to carry out a feasibility study.
- Recommendation
Since the project does appear in the MTFP, the Treasury is formally requested to release £60,000 from the Central Planning Vote, so that the feasibility work can be undertaken.
APPENDIX A
Business Case
Jersey Archive - Extension
- Overview of Capital Request
In 1992 the States voted to establish an archive service with suitable premises to house the archives (P.99/1992). The Jersey Archive in Clarence Road opened in 2000 following a grant of capital funding from the general reserve in 1996.
The Archive has operated successfully since 2000 but the adoption of the Public Records (Jersey) Law in 2002 and the additional demand which the Freedom of Information Law will create next year mean that storage space at the Archive will soon run out: the Archivist estimates that there will be no room to accommodate further records from 2019.
In spite of the impact of electronic record-keeping, it is not expected that paper records will cease to exist in the foreseeable future; consequently, there is a need to provide further storage space of an appropriate nature to hold valuable documents and to allow them to be accessed by the public upon request. Creation of an additional strong-room of the same size as the present one would provide more than 30 years’ future storage at current rates of deposit.
The DfESC included this project in the States Capital plan for 2017. A bid for £3.5m has been approved and included in the 2016 capital plan; a project group has been established accordingly. Funding for a feasibility study is now required to develop the scheme in greater detail and establish whether the current funding bid is realistic.
- States Strategic Plan Priorities and Department Business Plan Objectives
The Jersey Archive plays a key role in fulfilling the legal requirements of the Public Records and Freedom of Information Laws: it provides a service to receive, catalogue and store records, and to make them accessible to the public or for official purposes. The Archive building combines a storage facility with an appropriate environment in which to consult records.
Access to information is crucial to government and to public sector reform (objective 6 - States Strategic Plan 2012-2015), and it also informs sustainable long-term planning (objective 7). However, it is vital for all aspects of government; there is a statutory requirement for government to manage its public records, maintain them in appropriate form and to allow public access on reasonable request. It should also be noted that the relationship between the States and the Archive means that individual States Departments do not have to pay for the storage and management of their own documents once they are transferred from those departments to the central repository.
Apart from its relevance to the reform agenda and to FoI legislation, the Archive makes an important contribution to Jersey’s cultural life. It gives members of the public and historians access to materials about our shared past and this, in turn, leads to a range of positive outcomes including helping foster an understanding of our heritage, supporting educational projects and helping develop positive cultural links with other jurisdictions . This is crucial to a third States’ objective: the promotion of family and community values (objective 4), and to the development of pride in the Island. These are also themes of the States’ Cultural Strategy adopted in 2005.
The proposed Archive Extension also supports the Council of Ministers draft ‘Strategic Priorities 2015-2018’, published in January 2015, which includes the following objective under ‘Education’ –
• Objective 2.1: Reshape the Island’s curriculum to ensure that all Jersey’s children and young people understand the Island’s history, geography and culture
- Options that have been considered (Economic Case)
The Jersey Archive is a specialist facility, built with funding from the States of Jersey to store records under appropriate physical conditions and to allow them to be consulted by the public. Provision was made in the original design of the Archive for several strong-rooms but ultimately for reasons of cost it was decided to proceed with a single storage block.
There is now a need for additional storage to ensure that records remain accessible to the public on the same site. Since the site is owned by the States and it appears likely that it can accommodate expansion consistent with the original design, it is not regarded as practical to consider an alternative to enlarging the Clarence Road building.
- Management Case
The delivery of the scheme will be overseen by a project group comprising representatives of the Education, Sport and Culture Department, Jersey Property Holdings and Jersey Heritage which operates the Archive. Subject to the availability of funds, a feasibility study will be carried out and this will yield a detailed timetable with project milestones.
- Financial Analysis – costs to main department and any other departments
The capital costs of the scheme will be available on completion of the feasibility study (estimated cost: £60,000). Efforts will be made in the design to optimise energy-saving technology to minimise utility costs. It is not predicted by the Jersey Archive that the creation of additional storage will have a significant revenue implication on its operation. The main additional revenue cost will be heating, and this cost is not anticipated to be particularly significant, given the proposed use and design of the building. The building will be designed to minimise heat loss, and will not, for example, require lots of windows. It is proposed that the additional building’s heating requirements should be met by solar panels that will be installed as part of the capital project. Once installed, the running costs for the panels will be negligible.
The Archive is currently in discussion with the States over the need to consolidate existing temporary staff posts funded as part of measures to address the requirements of FoI legislation; however, there are no additional staff costs associated with the expanded storage.
The indicative capital cost is £3,500,000 and this figure will be validated as an outcome of the feasibility study, however the anticipated cash flow (assuming an 18 month contract period) would be as follows:
Capital Costs | |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017+ |
Feasibility Vote | | 60,000 | | |
Planning Vote | | 300,000 | | |
Construction | | | 2,000,000 | |
Construction | | | | 1,060,000 |
Retentions | | | | 80,000 |
- Commercial Case
It is envisaged that the feasibility work would be completed by the end of 2015 to permit building works to commence in 2016 for completion in 2017.
- Successful outcome
The success of the project itself is to be gauged from provision of space to allow the Jersey Archive to continue to receive and store public records thereby allowing it to comply with the requirements of FoI and Public Records legislation.
- Unit/Asset number of identified disposals
Not applicable.
- Impact of NOT progressing the Capital request
If funding is not available to increase storage at the Jersey Archive, it is predicted that capacity will be exhausted in five years’ time. This means that after 2019 the Archive would not be able to accept further records even though it has a legal obligation to do so. In practice, therefore, there would be a requirement to rent storage space for records elsewhere; this would also incur additional ongoing staff costs in accessing those records and would inevitably mean delays in making the information available.
- Related Projects
There are no related capital projects but it should be noted that additional revenue funding has been provided to the Jersey Archive to prepare for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Law to engage staff to help in the cataloguing or public records, reflecting the importance of the Archive’s work to compliance with the Law. The present capital project provides additional physical space to store and care for those records and to allow them to be accessed.
- Other dependencies
The project is dependent on capital funding and on Planning permission for development on the Archive site.
- Identification of Key Risks
There is a risk that Planning permission may not be forthcoming; however, the feasibility study will take into account Planning policy as it affects this part of St Helier.
There is a risk of a project over-run but appropriate controls will be introduced by the project group
There is a risk that an increase in Archive before deposits will result in current capacity being reached earlier than 2019; however, data from the Archivist and Records Officers would allow mitigating measures to be taken.
- Overall timescales and key milestone dates
Timescales and milestones are dependent upon the results of the feasibility study. The DfESC wishes to complete this in time for the forthcoming MTFP.
- Project Roles and Sign off (Suggested)
Title | Accountability | Signature and Date |
Responsible Budget Holder | Accountable for delivery on time and on budget | Capital Projects Manager, Jersey Property Holdings Date …………………….. |
Sponsoring Department | Accountable for delivery on time and on budget | Director of Estates, Jersey Property Holdings Date …………………….. |
Finance Director (Department) | Sign to vouch that this project is the optimum value solution and will accord to all relevant Financial Directions and that the supporting detailed information has been prepared. | Finance Director, ESC Department Date …………………….. |
Finance Director (Sponsor) | Finance Manager, Jersey Property Holdings Date …………………….. |
Accounting Officer (Department) | Sign to confirm that this project is the optimum value solution and has been prioritised against existing services. | Director, ESC Department Date …………………….. |
Key Stakeholders/End user sign off | Have end users been consulted to ensure their requirements/future planning have been met/considered? | Assistant Director, Policy and Strategy, ESC Department Date……………………… |
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