UK probe into Planning ‘corruption’ has cost £17k… so far

Tuesday 14 May 2019

An ongoing investigation into allegations of 'corruption' in Jersey's Planning department led by UK Police has cost nearly £17,000 to date, it has emerged as the probe enters its eighth month.

Officers from Norfolk Police were 'sworn in' as investigators in September and have since then been closely reviewing accusations of foul play within the department responsible for approving planning applications and building regulation.

The Norfolk officers were brought in from the UK in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest through an investigation by a Jersey force.

Pictured: General allegations of 'corruption' have been made against the Planning Department, which handles Planning Applications and building regulation, but Police declined to name any specific law breaches.

Despite nearly eight months having passed since they were given authority to exercise their powers under Jersey Law, the investigation remains ongoing and no prosecutions have been made.

Now the costs of their ongoing investigation have come to light following a question from Deputy Jeremy Maçon to the Minister for Home Affairs, Constable Len Norman.

In his reply, the Minister said that the probe has cost £16,837.44 to date – expenses which include salary, travel and accommodation costs. However, this spend could increase as the investigation continues.

Pictured: The figures come as a result of a written question from Deputy Jeremy Maçon to the Home Affairs Minister.

This spend, Constable Norman revealed, was made up of:

• payroll: £7,351.24;
• stationery: £11.40;
• car hire: £738.10;
• air travel: £3,765.56;
• other travel: £1,736.58;
• hotel: £3,234.56.

Regarding the breakdown of the accommodation cost, the Home Affairs Minister indicated the £2,955.56 of the ‘hotel’ figure was spent in Jersey and the remaining £279 was for accommodation in the UK.

Pictured: The figures relate to how much the Norfolk Police investigation has cost to date.

Jersey Police say that the investigation was prompted in relation to “corruption”.

Asked by Express, they declined to name any specific laws alleged to have been broken, but said that the outcome of the investigation “will clearly determine what specific laws, if any, have been broken.” 

As it is ongoing, the Jersey Police declined to provide any further detail on the nature of the investigation into the government department.