States must end secrecy

It remains to be seen whether the risk will materialise into an actual loss because the future relative positions of the pound and the euro are beyond certain prediction. But, in a sense, that is irrelevant to the fundamental points outlined in successive Scrutiny reports, first by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and again yesterday by the Public Accounts Committee.

Firstly, the States were explicitly told that there would be no currency risk, and that exchange rates would be fixed.

Secondly, the picture that emerges of a chaotic Treasury department lacking the necessary expertise to carry out its functions is also significant. For years, the department has been held up as an example of optimum efficiency. The States can no longer pretend that that is the case.

Thirdly, the picture that emerges of senior civil servants attempting to blame each other for what went wrong reveals not just a structural lack of accountability within the public sector, but also a culture in which people will not simply put their hands up and admit a mistake.

Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur’s response has been, in effect, to declare the matter closed, taking the view that yesterday’s Public Accounts Committee report provides nothing new. His additional statement of confidence in States Treasurer Ian Black is fair enough – everyone is capable of making errors of judgment and Mr Black’s past service suggests that the euro fiasco should not necessarily be a sacking offence. Further, the suggestion that administrative problems at the Treasury might be solved by throwing more resources at them is at least a debatable point of view.

What is not acceptable in the official response to fair criticism and public concern is the arrogant insistence that this is all a private matter, about which the public will be told just what it suits the Chief Minister’s department for us to be told.

The big issue is not competence or organisational detail. It is the accountability of politicians and civil servants.

Senator Le Sueur should lift the veil of secrecy over the disciplinary hearings that arose from the failure to fix the exchange rates for the project. If there are rules preventing him from doing so, he should change the rules.

While it is probably fair to shelter a junior civil servant facing minor internal disciplinary proceedings, it is simply unjustifiable to hide the details of hearings into how senior public officials contrived to put millions of pounds of public money at risk.