St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft and St Helier Deputy Judy Martin have both quit the Public Accounts Committee amid the controversy surrounding Deputy Andrew Lewis.
Mr Crowcroft said that the PAC chairman was in a ‘state of denial’ and his continued fighting of allegations that he lied to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry and States Members had made it ‘impossible to work with him’.
Deputy Lewis stepped aside from the panel while PPC carried out its investigations. The two resignations mean that St John Constable Chris Taylor is the only States Members currently sitting permanently on the committee. Mr Taylor said yesterday that if the vote of censure is successful, then he too would resign if Deputy Lewis does not.
The panel’s planned reviews, including one into Members’ expenses and another into Liberation Day spending, have effectively been put on hold as the panel does not have enough people sitting on it to continue its function.
Deputy Lewis was found by the inquiry to have ‘lied’ that he saw a Metropolitan Police report justifying the suspension of then police chief Graham Power during a 2008 States sitting when he was Home Affairs Minister. He had in fact only seen extracts of the report in a letter from acting police chief David Warcup.
The Privileges and Procedures Committee, which oversees States Members’ conduct, has lodged a vote of censure – effectively a motion to publicly admonish a Member – against Deputy Lewis. The St Helier Deputy has denied any suggestion that he lied and has claimed that key points he raised with PPC were not mentioned in the committee’s report.
Mr Crowcroft, who had been acting chair of the PAC, said: ‘I was planning on continuing in my caretaker role up until the first States meeting but what has tipped the balance for me were e-mails Andrew Lewis sent to States Members taking issue with the PPC findings.
‘He is in a state of denial about what has happened and is going to continue to fight this. My position is untenable while the chairman is continuing in this manner. He is continuing to circulate one-sided criticisms of the former police chief and appears to be taking the view that the ends justify the means.
Mr Crowcoft added that he expected the spending watchdog would also face a vote of no confidence due to Deputy Lewis’ role of chairman and that had he remained on the panel he would have found himself in the position of ‘having to vote against my own committee’.
Deputy Martin, who sits on PPC but did not take part in the investigation into Deputy Lewis, added that recent PAC meetings have been dominated by discussions about Deputy Lewis rather than ‘the important work we should be doing,’ she said.
Both Mr Crowcroft and Deputy Martin have said they enjoyed working on the panel and would be willing to sit on PAC under a new chairman. Mr Crowcroft added that he had not ruled out putting himself forward as a future chairman.
Deputy Lewis was unavailable for comment.
The vote of censure against Deputy Lewis is due to be debated on Tuesday 12 September.
