Gov tightening second job rules in wake of Parker saga

Monday 26 April 2021

The code binding civil servants’ conduct is to be updated for the first time in nearly 20 years and protocols for declaring second jobs are being tightened in the wake of the New River saga.

Previously, there was no centrally held list of Government workers - including at Director or Director General level - granted permission to hold additional employment.

But days after it emerged that former CEO Charlie Parker had taken on a Non-Executive Director role at UK real estate firm New River without the correct permission in October, the Chief Minister took the extraordinary step of pledging a Government-wide review of how potential conflicts of interest are managed. 

In December, Government officials told Express that terms of reference were being put together for the review including a specific focus on “outside interests, employment, involvement in outside bodies and interests in third parties”. They said that this work would be concluded in the first quarter of 2021. 

Asked for an update on the work this month, a Government spokesperson it would be factored into a wholesale overhaul of the civil service Code of Conduct, which has not been updated since 2002.

While secondary employment is already covered in employment contracts and the Public Finances Manual, a Government spokesperson said the SEB’s new approach  “will centralise the requirement to declare these and allow Accountable Officers to see these declarations.”

“It is an enhancement to what is in place,” they added. 

Currently, the Code of Conduct runs to just 12 pages, and states that “care must be taken in taking up any other employment or business that might give rise to a conflict of interest or reduce your ability to carry out your duties fully and effectively.”

While it is clear that civil servants should “on no account” work on their secondary employment during their “States working hours, neither should any office resources be used for these purposes”, the authority needed to approve the second role is less clear. 

It says that civil servants must simply seek agreement from their “manager”, but does not say whether this refers to their line manager or a more senior authority, such as a department head or Director General.

It also says that conflicts of interest - “where you might be influenced in your duties by considerations of gain or benefit for yourself, members of your family or friends or by taking a decision from which you will gain personally" - must be drawn to the attention of the "manager".

In contrast, Mr Parker’s contract specifically stated that he should seek permission from his ‘Employer’. The States Employment Board – a panel consisting of the Chief Minister (Chair) and four other States Members - is the official employer of all Government employees.

However, he only spoke to the Chief Minister in advance. The SEB later ruled that the New River job was “not compatible” with his main job as the island’s top civil servant. 

The Code of Conduct does not lay out any potential consequence for employees identified as having a conflict of interest. However, the current Public Finances Manual notes: “Where an Accountable Officer identifies an actual or potential conflict of interest, such conflicts should be mitigated through steps such as declaration or register, requesting for a temporary substitute and resignation, depending on the type of conflict identified.”

The new civil service code of conduct, which will be entitled ‘Standards in Public Service’, is due to be published in May.

Meanwhile, Scrutineers are continuing to probe how the second jobs saga was handled.

Chair of the Corporate Services Panel Senator Kristina Moore wrote to the Chief Minister last week to ask for reports produced regarding the publication of a press release which erroneously stated that Deputy Chief Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham had approved Mr Parker’s New River job when he had not.