The GSD has replied to the Government's statement regarding the Gibraltar College of Further Education and have questioned the progress of the College's Europa Point site.

A statement from the GSD follows below:

After almost 15 years in Government, people are increasingly tired of hearing the GSLP  fall back on what previous administrations may or may not have done more than a decade ago. What the public wants to hear about is the present, and how the Government is  dealing with the issues it is responsible for today. 

Opposition MP Atrish Sanchez notes: “Nothing in the Government’s response to our press  release on the state of the College of Further Education addresses its failure to manage the  deteriorating condition of the building while delays to the promised new College continue.  Instead, students, families and staff affected by the very poor state of the building are once  again met with the familiar and predictable response of shifting blame back to the GSD,  despite the fact that the GSLP has now been in power for over 14 years. That approach no  longer convinces anyone, particularly when clear commitments are simply not being met.  Quite frankly, it is dismissive of those directly affected.” 

The Government now claims that the new College is “firmly on track”. It is difficult to see  how this can be the case. The College was promised in the 2019 GSLP manifesto, yet it  was not until June 2023 that plans were submitted and subsequently approved for a  mixed-use development, including the College, at the Cross of Sacrifice site. Just four  months later, the GSLP–Liberal manifesto included images of what the new College would  look like, stating that it was scheduled to open no later than September 2025. 

Shortly after this, the community was informed that the location of the promised College  would change and move to Europa. Despite planning approval having been granted, and  concerns raised during the planning process, there has been very little visible progress  at the site. The reality is that the Europa site remains largely empty. 

This inevitably raises the question of whether Government Ministers have even visited  the site themselves, or whether “firmly on track” is simply another phrase being used to  mask further delay. At this point, claims of progress appear to exist only in statements,  not on the ground, and no amount of co-ordinated spin can hide that reality.