Ozouf’s States credit card use “unduly casual” - but didn’t break the rules

Wednesday 07 March 2018

A former top politician - who faced a Police investigation into his States' credit card use following a complaint from the former States Chief Executive - has been cleared of breaking the Ministerial Code of Conduct. Instead, his use of the card has been described as “unduly casual.”

Senator Philip Ozouf’s expenditure was put under scrutiny by the Police and Commissioner for Standards Paul Kernaghan CBE, who is tasked with reviewing States Members’ conduct, following a complaint by John Richardson in October last year, shortly before his departure from the States.

The Senator later referred himself to the Commissioner for Standards in November after the Police cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing.

The probes came after the extent of the Senator’s spending over three years, which included books, clothes, medical expenses and an iPad, was revealed in a Freedom of Information request made by Express.

The original response stated that the Senator had spent thousands of taxpayers’ money on his States credit card – around £11,000 of which needed to be repaid, as it was deemed to be for personal (not official) use. But States officials yesterday published revised figures, saying he had in fact spent £62,628.04 and paid back £8,211.92.  The Senator claimed that many of the items were not personal, but legitimate expenses, which he was entitled to charge and repay. 

Pictured: The revised Freedom of Information request, detailing Senator Ozouf's spending.

The Commissioner for Standards’ report into Senator Ozouf’s spending focused on two transactions highlighted in particular by Mr Richardson: flights with a Caribbean airline worth £362.76 and a £82.00 stay at the Gatwick Airport-based Hampton Inn hotel.

In response to questioning, Senator Ozouf explained that the holiday booking was a “mistake” due to “problems with his iPad”, which held details for both his personal and States credit cards. While the Commissioner accepted this explanation, he suggested that the requirement to enter the security code on the back of the card “should have alerted him to the official status of the card he was using for this personal transaction.”

“Thus, I feel he was unduly casual in his approach, but I do not feel that his actions amounted to a breach of the relevant codes,” Mr Kernaghan explained.

Senator Ozouf, who labelled himself as an “experienced traveller”, said that his hotel booking was a “precaution” amid concerns about the weather to ensure that he could return to Jersey on time to “prepare for the impending crisis of the Jersey Innovation Fund” and meet with Rwandan delegates.

“I booked the £82 hotel at Gatwick at the States rate on the States Card to do whatever it took to get to Jersey. I was ‘on duty’ for this period. My concerns were proven correct. After having stayed at Gatwick I learnt there had been travel chaos on the M25. Even though the Minister had arrived, there was a delay in some members of the Rwandan delegation getting to Jersey. I did get to Jersey on time and the visit was a huge success,” Senator Ozouf said. Mr Kernaghan accepted this explanation.

Pictured: Commissioner for Standards, Paul Kernaghan CBE.

In his concluding remarks, the Commissioner said that “Senator Ozouf’s response to my questions portrays an extremely busy individual” and that he did not “consciously [seek] to abuse his position by utilising public funds.” 

He wrote: “It is sometimes said that if you want something done, look for a busy man or woman. Public service is fortunate when it can engage the interest and participation of busy and committed men and women. However, the public have an absolute right to expect elected members to handle scarce public resources with care and due attention.” 

Speaking to Express this morning to respond the to Commissioner's report, Senator Ozouf commented: "The Police and the Commissioner for Standards and Jessica Simor have all been appropriately robust on me, but I think they’ve given me a fair hearing. And I have to say I think the Commissioner for Standards report does speak of the man that was being investigated - he was "unduly casual", but he was unduly busy, and I made a genuine mistake. Mistakes happen, I’m not perfect, nobody ever is – but I did not do what I was portrayed to have done."

Senator Ozouf’s case highlighted a major deficiency in the Ministerial codes – that there are no rules governing how Ministers can spend taxpayers’ money, apart from the Ministerial Code of Conduct, which advises that they act with “integrity” and in the public interest at all times. Mr Kernaghan also expressed concern over this, suggesting that “a process whereby such expenditure was signed off by a senior official, or senior minister, would provide a degree of scrutiny and independent assessment."

Senator Gorst stated in July that he would be drawing up guidelines as a matter of urgency. Yesterday, he reiterated that he would be implementing “a new framework to support Ministers in the processing of their expenses”, but did not provide detail on when this would come into force.