Government Notes GSD’s Discovery That Pipes Can Burst - 329/2026

HM Government of Gibraltar notes the GSD's latest attempt to convert a burst pipe within the Leanse Place building into a grand political argument against the Government's policy of improving office accommodation for public servants.

The Government is grateful to the GSD for drawing public attention to the fact that pipes within any building may, from time to time, burst.

Burst pipes can happen despite best efforts, and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, even in buildings where the Government is a tenant.

Indeed, the Government has published images of the Department's previous premises at Sir Joshua Hassan House, where maintenance issues also arose. This may assist the GSD in understanding that plumbing problems are not exclusive to offices leased by the Government, but are instead a relatively well-known feature of buildings containing plumbing.

This caused an unfortunate but unavoidable temporary disruption to the Department's services, which were paused for only one day on very conservative health and safety grounds. The issue was dealt with promptly and services resumed thereafter.

The Government can confirm that the costs will be paid by the landlord.

What the Government cannot accept is the GSD's attempt to suggest that a burst pipe in a building that houses several Government departments somehow proves that relocating public servants to improved office accommodation is financially unsound. This is rather like arguing that because a lightbulb fails in a school, education policy has collapsed; or that because a tyre punctures on a new road, the road should never have been built.

The GSD has made clear that it opposes the Government's policy of improving office infrastructure for public sector workers. The Government does not. Many public servants were previously working in outdated and unsuitable premises. This Government believes they deserve modern, safe and fit-for-purpose working environments.

This policy has delivered urgently needed upgrades, often through agreements secured at significantly below market rates. It has improved working conditions, supported staff morale, and contributed to more efficient public services.

The Chief Minster, the Hon Fabian Picardo KC MP, said: "The Government congratulates the GSD on its discovery that buildings with pipes may sometimes experience plumbing issues. Unfortunately for the GSD, this does not amount to a coherent critique of the Government's office accommodation policy.

"A burst pipe is not an economic argument. It is a burst pipe.

"If they want to talk finances, the GSD should know that the costs are being met entirely by the landlord.

"The GSD is perfectly entitled to oppose better working environments for public servants if that is its position. But it should at least try to support that position with arguments that bear some logical relationship to the policy it is attacking.

"The Government will continue to invest responsibly in modern, safe and suitable working environments for public servants, and in better services for the public."