Ozouf defends 'personal' spending on States card

Friday 30 June 2017

Books, flights, taxis, medical expenses, clothes and an iPad - one of Jersey's most high-profile Ministers has had to repay more than £11,000 spent on his States purchase card, some of that for personal items, Express can reveal.

Over a period of at least three years, Senator Philip Ozouf repeatedly used the States card to pay for expenses such as media subscriptions, Uber taxis, flights and travel for guests, books, computer equipment and clothing – with the bill going straight to the taxpayer. Those expenses were later refunded.

According to the government regulations (clause 2.2.1.3) for the use of a States purchase card, “…misuse of the card will result in the card holder facing disciplinary action, e.g. cardholders must not under any circumstances use their purchase card to fund personal expenditure.” These rules apply to civil servants, but it is widely understood that ministers are expected to follow the same.

Between 2014 and 2016, the former Treasury Minister, and Assistant Chief Minister responsible for financial services, spent £52,745.74 on his States card, with more than a fifth of that – £11,454.69 – used to pay for goods and services, many personal, which he later refunded.

Senator Ozouf denied that the expenses were 'personal' and told Express that the purchases, which included clothing, books and a new iPad, were "legitimate business expenditure" and that many of the purchases had been made on his States purchase card rather than his personal card when his own was not working while abroad. He also added that some flights purchased on behalf of his partner had been done on his States credit card, "...because actually you're allowed to do that."

The information has been published this afternoon, in response to a request by Bailiwick Express under the Freedom of Information law. 

In 2014, the then Treasury Minister spent nearly £800 on travel agencies and tours, a £48 restaurant trip and £32 on fast food. But by 2015, the expenditure had increased by over 600% to £5,585.84 and then £5,085.21 the following year.

Purchases varied over the years, ranging from minor iTunes expenditure to book buying. In October 2015, Senator Ozouf bought himself ‘The Joy of Tax’ and David Cameron’s biography on his States card. 

In 2016 he spent £480.95 on an iPad at IQ.

Hundreds of pounds’ worth of personal flights and taxi travel were charged straight to his States card, many of those flights were for an anonymised guest. 

Taxpayers also footed the bill for his medical expenditure, with a combined total of nearly £500 spent on a visit to the opticians and medical supplies in August 2016. 

In a recent media interview, the Senator claimed that he may have also used the card for a designer haircut, and a riverboat cruise, but the details of the expenses published today have mostly been collected into generic headings (e.g. Travel), so this is impossible to confirm.

The documents did show, however, that Senator Ozouf had spent £135.53 on clothes at ‘Pink Trading’, which Senator Ozouf said were bought in an “emergency” when he had to spend an unexpected extra day in Rwanda. He added that the previously-mentioned haircut charged to his States credit card had been done at a specialist salon to deal with a hair condition.

The information also appears to confirm that it was Senator Ozouf that signed off and paid for a controversial £4,050 private jet flight for the Estonian Ambassador in November last year on his States purchase card so that Jersey could be seen to be a “good host.” 

But part of that flight was refunded in three to four days, according to the ex-Minister, so no interest had to be paid in the interim. Some refunds made were said to have come following an ‘error’, in which the Senator apparently accidentally used the States card for personal buying.

He commented: "I’ve represented Jersey as the Treasury Minister, as a Minister for Financial Services and Digital tirelessly and honestly for a number of years, and am obviously one of the biggest travellers of the States. When you’re travelling, you have to meet expenditure, which is legitimate business expenditure and you have to pay for it. I’ve often found myself in situations where I have had to pay for legitimate business expenditure in cash, credit cards that’s acceptable in the jurisdiction that is actually working, and so on."

The former Minister repeatedly described himself as "frugal", stating: "There’s an expression: “A Jerseyman and his money are not easily parted.” I must have inherited that gene."

“Other people would have just bought [an item] and charged it to business expenditure. As a States Member, I get a salary and I get a £4,000 expense allowance so I will choose to - not all States Members do that – but I do have a practice that I do think it’s not income, it’s actually expenses. So I will put some of my expenses into that category or just choose to pay them myself. But it’s not right to say that there’s £12,000 of personal expenditure,” Senator Ozouf said.

Questions also remain over some of the purchases as part of the remaining £41,291.05 that wasn’t paid back – including money spent on hotels and flights, despite the fact that States regulations mean that all travel must be pre-authorised by an accounting officer and booked through the States official system (HRG). 

“If, taking into account the traveller’s reasonable needs, the cheapest available room night is not being booked there must be good reason to justify the more expensive option,” the Financial Directions for civil servants governing travel state.

Hotel and travel bookings without the use of HRG can only be made “in exceptional circumstances.”

Nonetheless, Senator Ozouf’s travel receipts show a number of non-refunded high-value flights and stays booked on his own card. In November 2014, he splashed out on a £647.22 stay at a prestigious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Qatar. He argued that it would have been “impossible” to stay elsewhere, as he was a speaker at an event there. 

Senator Ozouf told Express that he was unhappy with the way in which the system recorded his expenditure, and that categorisations including “fast food” were not reflective of his expenditure: “These categorisations are not clear and insufficient for giving proper disclosure and transparency in an FOI world, and they need to be changed.”

He added that he will publish, “...every line of [his] expenses]” within the coming days on his blog.

It's known that the details of Senator's Ozouf use of his States' purchase card for personal expenses were known to, and discussed by, Ministers before the recent Vote of No Confidence in the Chief Minister, which saw Senator Ozouf removed from his newly-restored post of Assistant Chief Minister just ten minutes before the States meeting began. 

The Chief Minister’s Department are yet to confirm how much interest may have been accrued on the card and whether Senator Ozouf will be subject to disciplinary action.