Culture of “waiting to be stabbed in the back” drove no confidence vote

Wednesday 07 June 2017

The Chief Minister could be ousted from the States before the end of this month if States members choose to support a vote of no confidence against him, which was formally lodged this afternoon.

Constable Chris Taylor today brought the vote, which was, “…not taken lightly” with the support of 13 other States members.

He told Express last week that the vote was a response to extreme delays over a decision on how to fund the £466 million future hospital and the Chief Minister’s handling of the Innovation Fund "disaster", which may have lost over £1.4 million of public money, and the recent re-instatement of Senator Philip Ozouf – a figure who has allegedly divided the Council of Ministers.

But a strongly-worded adjoining report also alleged a culture of “waiting to be stabbed in the back” having emerged within the States Assembly and hinted that politicians had concerns about activity behind closed doors, but fear to speak up about them.

Pictured: Constable Chris Taylor, who brought the vote.

“A position has now evolved which has Members retreating into a silo mentality, waiting to be stabbed in the back, yet assuming a position of support whilst showing an unwillingness to partake because of personalities and eminent individuals making decisions behind the scenes. With such tensions, it is only right and proper that a Vote of No Confidence should not only be brought, but should also prevail.

“Members must feel free to express their feelings and beliefs without fear, and in complete transparency. Only under these circumstances can true democratic government succeed,” the report stated.

Nonetheless, the report maintained that it was “important” that the vote is determined on, “…failures and not personalities.”

In his concluding remarks, the Constable added: “We in this Assembly are held in very low esteem by the Public. We are servants of the Public, and it is our duty to stand up and represent those who have put their trust in us. Those we represent want action, and I do not cower from my responsibilities, but instead stand up to be counted. This is why I bring this proposition.”

So far, the report has gained the support of 13 politicians: Deputy Judy Martin Deputy Tracey Vallois, Deputy Simon Brée, Deputy Mike Higgins, Deputy Terence McDonald, Deputy Geoff Southern, Deputy Montfort Tadier, Deputy Kevin Lewis, Constable Sadie Le Sueur-Rennard, Deputy John Le Fondré, Senator Sarah Ferguson, Deputy Sam Mézec and Deputy Jeremy Maçon of St Saviour.

Pictured: The signatures of the proposition's supporters.

No members of the Council of Ministers have signed the proposition.

In order for the proposition to succeed, it will need to gain a majority within the States Assembly. A debate will be held on 20 June.

What the report says on…

Hospital Funding

The report expresses deep concerns over the withdrawal of funding plans for the new hospital – the Island’s largest ever capital project, which they believe were done so only by the Treasury Minister’s ‘agreement’ rather than decision.

“[This is] illustrative of the ‘behind the scenes’ struggles that take place.”

The report added: “The whole process has been a fiasco and the decision-making process from finding a site to funding the project has been woefully poor... Not only are the Public of the Island disillusioned, but the staff involved in the project have been most severely let down.”

Human Resources

A recent annual report published by the Jersey Appointments Commission and covered in Express showed “significant concerns” about the process for appointing some of the public sector’s highest earning positions. The Chief Minister was criticised for a lack of action on this:

“[He] has many times vowed to resolve these problems and to put in place the necessary processes to stop repetition. Morale has now fallen to an all-time low.”

Innovation Fund

The States Assembly agreed to only using public money to fund businesses with a 10% failure rate, but the Chief Minister agreed at a meeting to take this level to 50%, “…without any reference back to the Assembly.”

“This is yet another example of the lack of transparency.”

The report also slams the Chief Minister for having used the findings of an external report to “falsely claim that it “exonerated” his Assistant Minister”, which has apparently, “…incensed the Public and many States Members.”