Camilla Black, who has been working for the past 18 months as a consultant on the ‘strategic finance review’ ordered by chief executive Charlie Parker – and held five UK-based interim positions in the four years before being employed by the States – has been given a standard States contract this month. Her new job title is ‘group director of finance transformation’, which puts her on the second-to-top rung of the new public sector hierarchy, one below the eight directors general who report directly to Mr Parker.
During her first six months in the Island, when she was paid the £1,350-a-day rate, Ms Black’s interim employment could have cost the taxpayer as much as £174,000.
After that point, since April 2018, her fees have not been disclosed because she then negotiated what has been described as a confidential ‘sole trader’ contract with the States. Such arrangements, the JEP has learned, sit outside of the scope of the Island’s freedom of information legislation and can therefore be kept secret.
A spokeswoman for the States press office said that the ‘overall cost’ of this sole trader ‘arrangement’ translated to less than £1,350 a day but that the exact amount would not be revealed to the public.
The justification given for this was that Ms Black had negotiated her terms directly with the States’ procurement team, which gave her the same confidentiality cover as multinational businesses that tender for States projects.
The refusal to provide more information on Ms Black’s contractual arrangements comes after a landmark ruling by the Information Commissioner to overturn the States’ attempts to keep the details of Mr Parker’s employment contract secret following an FoI request from the media.
However, even when its release was forced following the commissioner’s ruling, Mr Parker’s contract was still not published in full, as States officials had redacted two sections, including one presumed to contain key details of the deal he would receive if he leaves his post.
Ms Black, who will now be earning an annual salary of up to £140,000, was one of the four initial interim consultants to join the States in the three months prior to Mr Parker’s arrival in January 2018.
The other three were Anna Daroy (operations), who has since left the States, Jacquie McGeachie (HR), who is due to leave the States next month, and Stephen Hardwick (communications), who has not been made a permanent member of staff but has had his temporary contract extended by a further year.
All three also began work for the States on day rates of between £1,200 and £1,400, before they were put on the payroll in 2018.
In the time period between the arrival of these interims from the UK in autumn 2017 through to the end of January this year, the States paid for 854 return flights for interim employees at a cost of £133,000.
Three other appointments announced at the same time as Ms Black’s were Steven Mair as group director of performance, accounting and reporting, Alison Rogers as director of investment appraisal and business management, and Mark Grimley as group director of people and corporate services.
