Chief Minister backs decision to spend £4K on private jet

Thursday 01 December 2016

Chief Minister Ian Gorst has strongly supported his Assistant Minister Philip Ozouf for agreeing the £4,050 cost of hiring a private flight for the Estonian Ambassador earlier this month - describing it as "a quick and reliable judgment call."

However, there are already calls for the decision to be investigated on the basis it was apparently taken by a politician, not an 'accounting officer' who is legally responsible for the spending.

Senator Ozouf approved the cost of the private jet flight after the Estonian Ambassador Lauri Bambus, and three of his colleagues, were stranded in Jersey on 17 November after a scheduled British Airways flight to London was cancelled, and they needed to get off the Island to continue their meetings schedule. They were in the island to support work to get more government services online. 

The flight cost - £4,050 – and taxpayers will have to fork out for some of that amount, believed to be around £1,200 although the final figure has yet to be published.  Yesterday Digital Jersey, which gets the majority of its funding from taxpayers via a States grant, said it put in the rest having agreed the spending with "larger fee paying members."

The luxury flight comes just months after senior Ministers and departmental leaders were told to limit excessive travel spending in the wake of a controversial trip by two States' civil servants, who spent £12,000 on business-class flights to attend a mining conference in South Africa.   

But Senator Ozouf’s actions have been backed by the Island’s top politician, the Chief Minister.

Senator Gorst said: “The visits that we make and those that we host are extremely work-intensive, often keeping officers and politicians at meetings and events late into the evening.

“I expect Ministers to be able to make quick and reliable judgment calls in the Island’s best interests. I think that Senator Ozouf made the right decision in this instance. It was vital to ensure that the Ambassador of an important partner nation was not disadvantaged by his decision to come here to Jersey and strengthen the relations between our two governments.

“I have every confidence in the Assistant Chief Minister, in his sincerity and in his good judgement and I support the work he does in tirelessly promoting the Island’s interests.”

However, Deputy Andrew Lewis yesterday insisted it should not be the decision of a politician to agree a private flight costing over £4,000.

Deputy Lewis, who is the States’ chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said the decision by Senator Ozouf to approve the cost of a private jet for the Estonian Ambassador, “must be looked into.”

Deputy Lewis said: “This seems a very unusual decision for an Assistant Minister to make as it would normally be an accounting officer to make that type of decision. An accounting officer is legally accountable for spending and as such it should be an accounting officer making that decision, not an Assistant Minister. He needs to justify it within the rules and regulations that currently exist.

“The amount to the taxpayer - which I believe to be around £1,200 – I would like that to be fully justified. It must be looked into. If it were much more than that I would be very concerned. If there is a justification for this amount of money, I would want to hear it. But let’s be clear, this is a very unusual expense to incur when someone from another country visits us.

“It is plausible and I would like to know who was most benefitting from the visit? Them or us? If we go and visit somebody, normally we pay all the expenses. It is very unusual for us to visit another country and for them to pay for it.”