Select a region
A former Chief Minister who came under fire for the cost of a short-notice visit to Rwanda during her tenure is pushing for all Ministers to regularly publish details of their external meetings and costs of trips abroad.
Deputy Kristina Moore this morning lodged a proposition, due for debate in mid-November, which requests that the Chief Minister updates the 'Codes of Conduct and Practice' for Ministers and Assistant Ministers before the end of the year.
The additions would require details of all external ministerial meetings to be published monthly in arrears, and details of all ministerial "off-island travel" – including the costs incurred – to be published within 30 days of return to the island on the Government website.
Announcing the proposals on social media, Deputy Moore said that "efforts to improve transparency and accountability continue".
Efforts to improve transparency & accountability continue.. I’ve just lodged a proposition asking ministers to publish regularly their diary so we can see who they have met with & travel costs. @StatesAssembly https://t.co/kYwtE8ykor
— Kristina Moore (@Moore4Jersey) October 11, 2024
In the report accompanying the proposition, she explained that "openness" constituted an "important part of building trust in government" and referred to low voter turnout and civic engagement in the 2022 election.
"Efforts should be made to turn this around and transparency can assist in raising levels of public trust and engagement," said Deputy Moore.
She continued: "There is a level of public interest in the activities and engagements of elected representatives, and the publication of ministerial diaries would provide helpful insight in this area.
"The public should be able to see when and with whom meetings take place – this would allow a greater visibility of how Ministers spend their time, whilst also negating any perceived element of secrecy.
"Members of the media and the public often question the amount spent by Ministers on travel and it makes sense to share this information on a regular basis to again be more transparent."
Pictured: Deputy Moore was ousted from her role as Chief Minsiter following a vote of no confidence in January.
She said her proposition aims to correct an omission of the need for publishing ministerial diaries in the current code, which does have a brief section outlining that travel and expenses should be published "as soon as it is practicable".
Deputy Moore referred to ministerial codes from the UK, the European Commission, and the Isle of Man, which detail similar rules.
The cost of ministerial travel – and the Government's at-time unwillingness to publish it – has often led to scrutiny from the press, the public, and other politicians.
Deputy Moore herself came under fire for a decision to travel with two officials in business class to Rwanda for the 'Women Deliver' conference at a cost of over £13,800 to the taxpayer.
That revelation came in response to a written States question from Reform Jersey leader Sam Mézec, when he was a backbencher.
More recently, the response to a request submitted under the Freedom of Information Law found that Housing Minister Sam Mézec, Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat, and a senior officer from the States Greffe flew to one of the most remote islands in the world – St Helena – for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's British Islands and Mediterranean Region conference at a cost of over £10,900.
Long-awaited reports detailing ministerial travel and spending for the 12 months to the end of June 2023 are still yet to be released nearly two years after their expected publication.
Reports were originally due to be published in early 2023. However, due to major issues with the finance part of the Government's new IT system, officials said they would instead be released in May and June. However, this was then pushed back as resources had to be diverted to deal with the IT problems.
Express was then told that islanders would have to wait until the end of July to discover details of Ministerial travel and expenses from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.
Ministers provided Express with a statement in August 2023 which said the ministerial travel report would be published in September 2023.
Despite the extensive delays in publishing the reports with the latest spending stats, Cabinet Office officials said that Ministers are still "committed to putting more information into the public domain on how public money is spent".
This was due to include details on every trip Ministers and Assistant Ministers have taken in their first year in office. But that government is now no longer in office.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.