Q&A – Mike King apologises over flight scandal

Friday 04 March 2016

For the last week, one story has dominated the news – the story of the two civil servants who spent almost £15,000 on a business-class trip to a five-day conference in South Africa.

Mike King, the Economic Development department Chief Officer, has spoken to Bailiwick Express, and has apologised to the public for the waste of taxpayers' money on the seven-day trip that he and Locate Jersey Director Wayne Gallichan took to Cape Town.

Have you now apologised for the flights?

"I have apologised unreservedly. We made an error of judgement. Is going to the conference the right thing and have we generated significant levels of business? Yes. Did we make the decision on flights on the best information available to us at the time? Yes. Should we have investigated it further? Yes we should, I think that is the situation."

Would you like to apologise to the public, and what can you say to assure people this won’t happen again?

"I have apologised to the Chief Minister and other ministers and I would extend that to the taxpayer. It was an error of judgement and I and the department are putting in new policies and procedures to make sure that it does not happen again. They are policies about business class flights as opposed to economy class flights and about flexible as opposed to non-flexible flights. They are about approval relating to levels of expenditure. No-one from Economic Development will be flying business class anymore, unless there are exceptional extenuating circumstances, such as someone having a broken leg. There will be no more business class travel from Economic Development."

Is it worthwhile going on these conferences at all?

"If you look at what the Economic Development department has achieved from a financial perspective, we have met and exceeded our savings targets and our outcomes every year, and we are within the approved budget for the whole of Locate Jersey [the States’ inward investment agency]."

What about the golf clubs – surely you see that sends out a bad message?

"The golf clubs were part of the baggage allowance, there was no cost associated with that. There was a possibility during the visit that we would be able to meet with a Jersey resident who actually spends time in South Africa for business purposes. We were there for seven days, apart from 38 hours travelling, and in that whole time we had five hours of free time and we used a proportion of that for that purpose. I took my training shoes and my shorts and went for a couple of runs. It’s the same thing. If we were going down there for a four-day golf trip at taxpayers’ expense it would be a different thing. We worked hard, we were in a situation of meetings and networking events for the whole time, and I do not think that it’s unreasonable to expect five hours of free time over seven days. I am not sorry about the golf clubs because I took them as part of my personal effects, and it was for a very, very limited time within a very busy week."

Would you do the same thing again?

"No, we would not, clearly. There is a sensitivity there and it was an error of judgement and I have made it very clear that the accountability rests with me. It is my job to be responsible for all of the spending by the Economic Development department."

Are you going to pay the cost back?

"I am not going to comment on that."

Was it just a ‘jolly’ at taxpayers’ expense?

"I think that Nick Corbel [Unite the union official] made a comment that it was a “jolly”. Actually the main purpose of the conference – and Senator Philip Ozouf spoke there – was that Wayne and I were running the stand. It is a stand that we have had there for three years now and it works well, and it attracts business. We have had a business every year relocate as a consequence of our work there, let alone all of the wider work for the businesses that were there with us, such as Ogier, Elian, Carey Olsen, UBP and Fairway Trust. We were able to set up appointments in real time, helping not just with relocation but business for Jersey businesses, and they are all registered financial services business and they are all paying tax not just on employment but on profitability, so there is a direct tax benefit."