Support for openness on pay-offs

So far, this newspaper’s attempts to secure details of pay-outs to former senior figures in the public sector have failed to bear fruit, but now a seasoned States Member is lending his weight to the campaign for openness.

Deputy Roy Le Hérissier has said that a formal inquiry might be the only way to establish what was paid to whom and in what circumstances. This could well be the way forward, not least because the freedom of information code – as opposed to a freedom of information law, which the Island still lacks – has so far failed to deliver the goods.

However, what Deputy Le Hérissier has to say about the secrecy surrounding supposedly top people’s pay-offs is as significant as his proposed course of action. He quite rightly says that it is outrageous that information about how large sums of the public’s money are disbursed can be kept secret from the public.

He also makes it clear that the recent cases of very substantial payments, though of obvious importance, are not necessarily at the heart of the matter. Correctly, he is concerned about the culture which has allowed the pay-off policy to become part of the way in which the Island’s public sector does business.

In addition to having the right to know how much has been spent on their behalf, but without their permission, Islanders should be made aware of the circumstances which lead to the payment of golden handshakes.

Currently, we see people who were drawing handsome salaries up sticks and depart with extra rewards, but we are unaware whether they have failed in their duties, have grown disillusioned with the Jersey way, or have simply decided to retire. In the absence of information, there is room to make the assumption that we have a system that in some cases rewards failure.

Meanwhile, Deputy Le Hérissier rightly pours scorn on the lame excuse that the disclosure of the scale of pay-offs would be an unwarranted invasion of the beneficiaries’ privacy. Having taken the money and run, thank you very much, those in receipt of more cash than the

ordinary taxpayer sees in years of hard work are unlikely to care too much

about publication of the details of their windfalls.