Allegations mount over States Treasurer's resignation

Tuesday 15 July 2014

Jersey's Chief Minister has confirmed that a pay off agreement has been reached with the Island's Treasurer, whose resignation has just been announced.

Its emerged that Laura Rowley actually tendered her resignation on the 1st July, but it was only officially announced yesterday, with just days to go until the announcement of the 2015 Budget. Speaking in the States Chamber, Senator Ian Gorst said that the States Employment Board (SEB) had agreed a new policy for paying senior staff who resigned, and, "...the agreement reached with the Treasurer is well within the policy of SEB, and meets the contractual obligations".

Senator Ian Gorst moved to quash a series of rumours when questioned for nearly twenty minutes by States members, and repeatedly denied that the resignation was due to tensions between Ms Rowley, and the Treasury Minister Senator Philip Ozouf, possibly over the presentation of the forthcoming budget, and whether or not it would show a deficit.  

Deputy Sean Power asked the Chief Minister if he was concerned by what he called the "attrition rate" of "...senior management positions in Treasury, including the Controller and Auditor General, two previous Treasurers and interim Treasurers, the head of Property Holdings, the head of waterfront development, all within the last four years". 

Senator Gorst maintained that each person had resigned for their own reasons, and that the equivalent length of service for similar positions in the UK was between three and five years. He said Ms Rowley returned to the UK simply to be closer to her family, and there were no links with other Treasury departures.

He went on to defend her performance record at the Treasury, and said that showed the Treasurer and the Treasury Minister worked well together, rather than there being any disagreement which triggered her departure. 

But Deputy Mike Higgins went on to ask: "Would the Chief Minister care to comment on the strong rumour going around that one of the reasons for the resignation was a disgagreement between the Treasury Minister and Treasury over the presentation of the (States) Accounts, and whether it would show a deficit or not?"

Senator Gorst said he couldn't listen to every rumour, and States Members should respect the official reasoning she had given for her departure. 

Ms Rowley will continue working for another couple of weeks, including delivering the Budget on Friday.