:00:13. > :00:14.Six weeks late and now Guernsey's government is facing legal action
:00:14. > :00:17.over the airport runway redevelopment.
:00:17. > :00:27.Also in the programme: Fewer burglaries and fewer drink drivers
:00:27. > :00:30.
:00:30. > :00:36.Than the crime has come down. One in crime -- one in five crimes that
:00:36. > :00:38.we don't have in the space of two years.
:00:38. > :00:48.And despite being pumped full of taxpayers cash, ambitions for
:00:48. > :00:49.
:00:49. > :00:54.Work on Guernsey's airport redevelopment project is around six
:00:54. > :00:57.weeks behind schedule. That's according to a progress report out
:00:57. > :01:02.today. The island's biggest capital project has been plagued by bad
:01:02. > :01:05.weather and also seen the States conned out of millions of pounds.
:01:05. > :01:09.Today it emerged the Government is also facing legal action from an
:01:10. > :01:14.airport neighbour. Mike Wilkins reports.
:01:14. > :01:17.Halfway through the project and it's been a testing 12 months.
:01:17. > :01:22.First the rain arrived, causing significant delays. And then there
:01:23. > :01:26.was the embarrassing loss of more than �2.5 million to fraudsters.
:01:26. > :01:34.And now someone who lives near the airport is suing the States over
:01:34. > :01:39.alleged damages caused by the airport refurbishment project.
:01:39. > :01:43.have been involved in construction with a similar project but of a
:01:43. > :01:48.much smaller scale. The day after we bought the land, I've talked to
:01:48. > :01:52.the neighbours and told them what was going to happen and we
:01:52. > :01:59.compensated them on day one. We agreed compensation on day one.
:01:59. > :02:02.Nobody came round from the States to see us. The Public Services says
:02:02. > :02:07.it offered to cover the costs of Mr Birnie's rent and relocation while
:02:07. > :02:10.the work is going on. And that work is costing more than �80 million
:02:10. > :02:12.while the runway is moved further west to bring it in line with
:02:12. > :02:15.international safety standards. The Public Services Department has an
:02:15. > :02:24.emergency fund of �10 million and, due to project delays, has been
:02:24. > :02:27.forced to spend just under half of the money set aside. The project is
:02:27. > :02:34.behind but the project manager has told me he is content that it will
:02:34. > :02:40.finish on time and on budget. is my 37th each year in
:02:40. > :02:46.construction and I have never known a year like it. Whenever we did a
:02:46. > :02:53.whole now, the hole fills up with water. It adds that level of
:02:53. > :02:55.complexity that normally we wouldn't get throughout the whole
:02:55. > :02:59.There's been embarrassment, delays and now legal action. But despite
:02:59. > :03:02.this, those responsible claim the job will be done on time and on
:03:02. > :03:05.budget. The inquest of a seven-year-old
:03:05. > :03:08.girl, who died after being hit by a quad bike has recorded a verdict of
:03:08. > :03:11.accidental death. Mai-Lea Falla died in hospital following the
:03:11. > :03:15.collision in November. The inquest today heard that she'd been carol
:03:15. > :03:18.singing with a friend at the time of the accident. The police
:03:18. > :03:22.concluded there was nothing that the quad bike rider could have done
:03:22. > :03:26.to stop it happening. Crime in Jersey is falling,
:03:26. > :03:30.according to the latest figures released by police. Overall crime
:03:30. > :03:33.in 2012 was down 4%. There was also a significant drop in the number of
:03:33. > :03:37.burglaries, compared with the previous year and fewer drink
:03:37. > :03:43.drivers were caught on the Islands' roads. Gillian Martindale's been
:03:43. > :03:46.taking a look at the figures. Jersey Police have released their
:03:46. > :03:50.crime figures for 2012. Overall crime is down by 4%, which
:03:50. > :04:00.represents 168 fewer crimes committed over the last 12 months.
:04:00. > :04:01.
:04:01. > :04:06.But the man in charge says in two years they've cut crime by 20%.
:04:06. > :04:14.focused a lot more attention on intelligence led policing, on live
:04:14. > :04:17.stop criminals of which we have a few on One of those areas was
:04:17. > :04:20.burglaries. Last year the number of break-ins was reduced by 22%
:04:20. > :04:22.overall. There were 14% fewer break-ins of homes and 26% fewer
:04:23. > :04:25.burglaries of other buildings such as businesses premises. Police also
:04:26. > :04:31.made motor crime a priority and in 2012 more people were caught
:04:31. > :04:37.speeding, not wearing seat belts and using mobile phones. But fewer
:04:37. > :04:41.people were caught drink driving - that figure was down 15%. Mike
:04:41. > :04:45.Bowron wants to drive home the message of careful driving. I wish
:04:45. > :04:50.people would pay more attention to driving a tonne and a half of metal
:04:50. > :04:57.at 30, 40 miles per hour. When you pick your phone up, is it really
:04:57. > :05:00.necessary to make that call? The Police Chief said despite a �1
:05:00. > :05:03.million cut to his budget, he is managing to cut crime and Jersey
:05:03. > :05:06.remains a safe place to live. Guernsey's government began
:05:06. > :05:11.debating a major cost-cutting plan today designed to save the island
:05:11. > :05:13.tens of millions of pounds. It was the first opportunity the new house
:05:13. > :05:19.had to discuss the Financial Transformation Programme, or FTP,
:05:19. > :05:24.aimed at reducing spending by �31 million a year by 2014. Our
:05:24. > :05:27.reporter Penny Elderfield joins me now from our Guernsey newsroom.
:05:27. > :05:33.Penny, this is something the last States already signed up to -
:05:33. > :05:36.shouldn't this government just be getting on with it?
:05:36. > :05:39.Well, this plan for saving millions was something the last government
:05:40. > :05:43.created and it's a plan this States is at least trying to put it into
:05:43. > :05:47.action. But with a new government and new politicians, it was felt a
:05:47. > :05:50.debate was needed. To give a bit of background, when the States changed
:05:50. > :05:55.the tax system, it meant in order to balance the books savings had to
:05:55. > :05:57.be found. And the target of �31 million a year by 2014 was set.
:05:57. > :06:03.Today's debate was about this government reaffirming their
:06:03. > :06:08.support to the process and the challenges ahead. Are they on track
:06:08. > :06:11.to make the savings needed? They've managed to cut spending so
:06:12. > :06:15.far by around �10 million a year but the target was 18. So they've
:06:15. > :06:17.got some catching up to do. And one issue which was discussed today was
:06:17. > :06:20.the need for more accountability and more transparency moving
:06:20. > :06:30.forward, especially as the savings targets will be bigger, and the
:06:30. > :06:34.
:06:34. > :06:38.decisions more difficult. States will have to make a series
:06:38. > :06:42.of difficult tough decisions and give it is not clear who has
:06:42. > :06:46.accountability for developing those policies, advocating and publicly
:06:46. > :06:54.presenting them to the States, that would result in a chaotic
:06:54. > :06:57.arrangements which will make delivering the savings improbable.
:06:57. > :07:01.It was decided in future there should be a more detailed breakdown
:07:01. > :07:05.of the savings and cuts being made. What happens if the States don't
:07:05. > :07:08.give their backing to the plan this week? There isn't really a fallback
:07:08. > :07:18.option. There's a deficit in the States accounts and that money
:07:18. > :07:18.
:07:18. > :07:24.needs to come from somewhere. has been no plan be worked out. If
:07:24. > :07:28.we do not reduced expenditure, we have a Embedded deficit in our
:07:28. > :07:32.policies and the only alternative cure is to increase taxation. That
:07:32. > :07:35.is not an attractive option for anyone. And obviously proposals to
:07:35. > :07:44.increase taxes never go down that well with the public. And that's
:07:44. > :07:47.something that will no doubt come up as debate continues tomorrow.
:07:47. > :07:50.Thank you for joining us. It's a project that's had millions
:07:50. > :07:53.of pounds of taxpayers' money pumped into it. But the plan to
:07:53. > :07:56.roll out superfast broadband now faces yet more criticism. The
:07:56. > :08:00.telecoms firm JT has already come under fire in Jersey's States for
:08:00. > :08:07.the programme being behind schedule. And now there are fresh concerns
:08:07. > :08:09.about its reliability. Nafisa Sayani has been investigating.
:08:09. > :08:15.Gigabit Jersey, the world-leading project to offer superfast internet
:08:16. > :08:20.speeds all over the island. Well, that's the plan. But after �20
:08:21. > :08:23.million of government investment, is it delivering? When fibre is
:08:24. > :08:26.rolled out in your area, JT will come into your house, they'll
:08:27. > :08:29.remove your copper telephone line and replace it with a fibre cable
:08:29. > :08:35.which comes into your house here, they'll then plug your telephone
:08:35. > :08:39.line into it and this is where you'll get your broadband. And the
:08:39. > :08:44.company says it'll bring big benefits. On the Gigabit Jersey
:08:44. > :08:46.website, it explains: Whereas copper can have limitations, fibre
:08:46. > :08:55.is designed specifically to send and receive vast amount of
:08:55. > :08:58.information, i.e., the speed you buy is the speed you will obtain.
:08:58. > :09:01.We're running a speed test at this house which should get two
:09:01. > :09:05.megabytes. But as you can see, the speed that they're actually getting
:09:05. > :09:08.is much less than what they're paying for. The BBC has spoken to
:09:08. > :09:12.four different call operators at JT, all of them told us it was
:09:12. > :09:18.impossible to get the advertised speed, and at best, we'd get 90% of
:09:18. > :09:23.that. Another JT customer told me he's signed up for a 100 megabyte
:09:23. > :09:27.connection but is only getting 49. That's like buying a pint of milk
:09:27. > :09:29.that's only half full. The competition regulator says if
:09:30. > :09:39.customers regularly notice a difference bigger than 10%, they
:09:39. > :09:42.need to take it up with the telecoms company. On fibre, it
:09:42. > :09:45.ought to be possible for the provider to be much more confident
:09:45. > :09:47.about precisely what speed customers get, so if there is a big
:09:47. > :09:49.divergence between what they're receiving and what they've been
:09:49. > :09:53.promised, it's important for customers to raise that with the
:09:53. > :09:56.operator and if they're not satisfied, to raise it with us. But
:09:56. > :10:00.JT argues even with the increased reliability of the fibre network,
:10:00. > :10:03.there are still uncontrollable factors that limit the speed.
:10:03. > :10:06.guarantee a service into the premise, and then depending on how
:10:06. > :10:09.the service is carried and the end termination of equipment, could
:10:09. > :10:12.mean across the air to a device which is working at a lower speed,
:10:12. > :10:18.it could mean the sharing of devices which are vying for speed
:10:18. > :10:23.at the same time. These all affect people's perception of service.
:10:23. > :10:26.That's work we have to carry out as we go through this process: to make
:10:26. > :10:30.sure we are very clear on our website of what a particular
:10:30. > :10:34.service can bring. The super fast broadband project should be
:10:34. > :10:37.complete by 2016 - and promises to make Jersey a world-leader. But for
:10:37. > :10:47.some customers, just getting what they've been promised and paid for
:10:47. > :10:53.
:10:53. > :11:02.We would like to throw this open to shoot. Tweet us your thoughts. If
:11:02. > :11:08.you have been affected. Let's turn our attention to the weather
:11:08. > :11:13.our attention to the weather forecast. Quite a blustery day
:11:13. > :11:20.today. A little bit quieter overnight and also a bit drier.
:11:20. > :11:25.Towards dawn, you might see a few showers. Fairly light and fleeting
:11:25. > :11:29.and becoming mainly dry later. Also tomorrow, will see a change as
:11:29. > :11:34.thicker cloud approaches from the South West. We are between weather
:11:34. > :11:39.systems so it is generally drive. Later, we see this line of cloud
:11:39. > :11:46.and this line of shower was coming in. It will be around first thing
:11:46. > :11:50.tomorrow morning. A new area of low pressure down here brings us wet-
:11:50. > :12:00.weather as we move into fried egg. Tonight, some clear skies,
:12:00. > :12:00.
:12:00. > :12:04.temperatures dipping into minimum - - single figures. A south-westerly
:12:04. > :12:11.wind the stock tomorrow, we wake up to a few brief morning showers.
:12:11. > :12:15.Then, some sunny spells. By the evening, we will start to see some
:12:15. > :12:25.patchy light rain coming up from the south. 11 degrees so still
:12:25. > :12:27.
:12:27. > :12:37.relatively mild. There is our coastal waters forecast. Times of
:12:37. > :12:46.
:12:46. > :12:50.And for our surface, the wave is pretty big tomorrow. Surfers. As
:12:50. > :12:54.removing to Friday, will see some more persistent rain. Showery rain
:12:54. > :12:58.into the afternoon, perhaps a little bit brighter with a
:12:59. > :13:05.scattering of showers. The big change will be dropped in the
:13:05. > :13:11.temperatures. Saturday, cold northerly winds. Goodbye for now.