Explaining why he has decided to step down, John Hamon, the chief operating officer of the States-owned property provider, describes a government which has ‘lost its way’ and has ‘perhaps a more sinister side’.
A culture of fear prevents others from speaking out or questioning decisions for fear of recrimination, he claims.
And he said that Andium Homes was being prevented from getting on with its important work by the government, with its business plan, accounts, loans, funding strategy and other important decisions being held up.
Some of those decisions, he added, related to rents, sales, the Affordable Housing Gateway and keyworkers, but have been ‘long-grassed in the Housing Policy Development Board’.
‘We appear to be stymied whichever way we turn,’ he says in the letter, a copy of which has been anonymously leaked to the JEP.
Mr Hamon, who started his career with the States aged 18 and has worked in the public sector ever since, adds: ‘I am so terribly sad that it has come to this. The disrespect that we have been shown as a board is unforgiveable and totally unjustified.’
Among his complaints is that his salary has been unfairly scrutinised, particularly by politicians and civil servants, which has led to five years of uncertainty and threats – the last nine-and-a-half months of which he describes as ‘absolutely intolerable’.
Last year, Mr Hamon and Andium chief executive Ian Gallichan were subjected to a storm of criticism when it emerged that their salaries had risen from, in Mr Hamon’s case, £120,000 in 2016 to £141,000 in 2017 and, in Mr Gallichan’s, from £150,000 to £189,000.
In his resignation letter, which is dated 30 August and is believed to have been sent to his fellow board members, Mr Hamon says he has spent years feeling uncertain about what level it may be set at in future, and whether some money would need to be repaid, despite having signed an employment contract and having strong legal grounds.
‘The ongoing issues have dramatically affected my wellbeing, caused untold damage to my family and is absolutely no way to treat a conscientious, talented and hard-working individual that has given so much,’ he says.
‘I am quite frankly amazed at the ongoing interest in the amount I am paid, in particular by politicians and senior civil servants. My pay is in no way excessive when compared to many equivalent roles. Indeed, it is amongst the lowest when compared to other States-owned companies and those in the private sector. We have all seen massive amounts paid to newly imported interims within the States sector, yet it is my pay that occupies minds. All I can conclude is that it is because I am Jersey born, with 30 years’ experience that I am being singled out. I fear I am not alone in this.’
He adds: ‘It has become obvious to anyone with any interest in local affairs that the Government of Jersey has completely lost its way. The leadership is non-existent leading to complete stagnation, with review after review from consultants, policy boards, and practically any other device in order to avoid making a decision. Into this mire has stepped new civil servants that are clearly now in control and setting the agenda.
‘There is perhaps a more sinister side to Jersey’s new government. The new culture seems to lack integrity and is dictatorial in nature. It is now dawning on Islanders that the passing of the new States of Jersey and Public Finances laws concentrating most power in the hands of the chief executive of the States of Jersey is a massive mistake and needs to be reversed.
‘Until this is done, there will continue to be a culture of fear amongst many in the public sector to speak out or question decisions for fear of recrimination. What we have now is a concentration of power in the hands of the few, the employment of many with little or no local knowledge and a culture that leads to nothing other than procrastination. The lack of vision and strategy is breathtaking and as the coming months unfold, I am sure we shall see the unravelling of a system that is simply not sustainable and has lost its way.’
- To read Mr Hamon’s letter in full see page 8 of today’s JEP
