The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Steve Crocker, Minister of Transportation and Works:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this Honourable House today to inform colleagues about steps our government has taken to manage government assets more efficiently, which have led to considerable savings for taxpayers.

When we announced The Way Forward in 2016, we set out to reduce our building footprint by 40,000 square feet. By March 2017, we had surpassed that goal, saving taxpayers more than $1.6 million a year.

We then set a new goal to reduce leased office space by 10 per cent – or 77,750 square feet – by March 2018. We exceeded that goal as well, Mr. Speaker.

To date, we have reduced our leased space by more than 103,000 square feet since 2016. This equates to approximately $3 million in savings each year.

In continuing to exceed our goals, we have set our sights higher by committing to achieving a total 130,000-square-foot reduction of leased space in 2020.

In addition, government also set a goal to reduce its light vehicle fleet by 10 per cent. To date, 112 of 1,100 vehicles have been removed from government’s fleet since April 2018. This is anticipated to lead to approximately $500,000 in savings annually.

Finally, last month, our government announced a new contract for ferry services on the south coast of the island. The total cost of the five contracts will save taxpayers approximately $2.8 million annually.

These three actions combined, Mr. Speaker, will save taxpayers approximately $6.3 million a year, every year.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize we need to balance how we deliver services with being responsible to all taxpayers. The actions we are taking allow our government to deliver services while realizing substantial annual savings.

We will continue to find ways to optimize office space, identify vacant or underused space and review our vehicle fleet so that we can continue to find ways to deliver services more efficiently.

Thank you.