Revealed: Civil servants have spent almost £400,000 on executive flights

Thursday 14 April 2016

It’s not just two civil servants who have been splashing out on business class flights at the taxpayer’s expense – new figures show that senior States employees have spent almost £400,000 on expensive trips away in the last five years.

New figures show that civil servants have taken 120 flights worth more than £1,000 in the last five years, at a total cost to the taxpayer of £389,553.

The most expensive flight on a new list was a £6,852 trip to Hong Kong in 2011 by Colin Powell, the “Adviser – International Affairs” from the Chief Minister’s department.

That flight was one of four that cost more than the business class tickets to Cape Town by two Economic Development department staff that sparked three separate internal inquiries.

The inquiries were set up after it emerged that Economic Development Chief Officer Mike King and Locate Jersey Director Wayne Gallichan spent £6,442 each on Business Class flights to a mining conference in Cape Town.

The pair confirmed that they played golf on their arrival in Cape Town, and subsequently apologised for their “error of judgment” and could face disciplinary action.

But it turns out that among the 120 flights taken by civil servants in the last five years that cost taxpayers more than £1,000 were four that cost more than those taken by Mr King and Mr Gallichan.

They were:

-       £6,852 on a 2011 trip to Hong Kong by the “Adviser – International Affairs” Colin Powell from the Chief Minister’s department, as part of a ministerial trip to China.

-       £6,771 on a 2013 trip to Singapore by the “Adviser – International Affairs” Colin Powell for an OECD Peer Review Group meeting.

-       £6,610 on a 2015 trip to Sao Paulo and Lima by the “Director of Financial Services” Joe Moynihan for a meeting of Commonwealth Finance Ministers and an IMF/World Bank conference.

-       £6,544 on a 2013 trip to New York by the “Director of Financial Services” Joe Moynihan for IMF/World Bank meetings.

The States’ Communications Unit has been asked whether Mr Powell and Mr Moynihan will be making public apologies over their travel expenses in the same way that Mr King and Mr Gallichan have, but have not responded.

The figures were revealed in a follow-up to a formal written question asked by Deputy Sam Mezec last month.

They do not cover flights by ministers, who last year clocked up £78,468 in travel and entertainment expenses, with Assistant Chief Minister Philip Ozouf leading the pack with a combined travel and entertainment bill of £27,273.

States Chief Executive John Richardson and the States' top finance manager, Treasurer Richard Bell, are set to answer questions about civil servants' travel expenses at a Public Accounts Committee hearing tomorrow.