Almost £6,000 has been spent on investigations into the conduct of Deputy Philip Ozouf by the island’s political watchdog in the past three years, it has emerged.
The response to a request made under the Freedom of Information Law revealed that the total cost shown in invoices received to date from the Commissioner for Standards investigations relating to Deputy Ozouf is £5,750.
The Commissioner for Standards in Jersey is Dr Melissa McCullough, who investigates complaints about the conduct of States Members.
The £5,750 figure does not include police investigations, but the FOI response warned that “these invoices may include time spent on other cases not relating to Deputy Ozouf”.
Deputy Ozouf was suspended from the States Assembly for 28 days earlier this year, after he pleaded guilty to motoring offences.
It followed an investigation by the Commissioner for Standards into multiple complaints about the St Saviour representative’s behaviour.
After reviewing the case, Dr McCullough found that Deputy Ozouf breached four clauses of the States Members’ code of conduct: public duty, personal conduct, conflict between public and private interest, and maintaining the integrity of the States.
A second bid to suspend Deputy Ozouf will be debated in the States Assembly this week after the former External Relations Minister pleaded guilty to a series of offences under the Immigration Act.
The offences relate to the employment of Rwandan staff in breach of restrictions about the nature of work they were permitted to carry out in Jersey.
Deputy Ozouf is awaiting a sentencing date as his co-accused, Roberto Lora, is due to face trial in the Royal Court from 26 January.