The head of Guernsey’s civil service has denied reports that an email sent to staff was intended to ‘gag’ them ahead of Wednesday’s tax reform debate.
Boley Smillie, Chief Executive & Head of the Public Service, said he was “aware of a media article stating that some States of Guernsey staff received a warning about public commentary ahead of next week’s tax reform debate”.
He said he had not seen the email, but since being made aware of the news story had “established where I believe it came from”.
“While I would rather it had not been sent, I believe it was done with the best of intentions.”
Mr Smillie said no all-staff email had sent out, adding “none will be”.
He said: “I do not support any approach that seeks to silence staff from expressing their views.”
Mr Smillie said public sector staff had “the same right as any other member of the community to hold and express opinions”.
However, he stressed that it was important to “do so professionally, respectfully and in line with well-established guidance such as the Civil Service Code”.
“I trust our staff to understand their responsibilities and exercise appropriate judgement,” he added.
