A cover-up by staff over soaring costs to redevelop the hospital is being cited as proof of a “broken culture” in the States.
Deputy Gavin St Pier, a former Chief Minister of Guernsey, whose questions exposed the concealment, told Policy & Resources (P&R) members they should be “angry and disappointed” senior officials hid a £30m cost spike for over two months.
“It’s extremely disappointing…confirmation of the second cover-up we feared,” St Pier said. “Officials have a duty of candour to committees. I suspect the fact they did not exercise it in this case evidences a broken culture, fearful of the consequences of full transparency with politicians. It has been rumoured for some time that morale in the civil service was low. These behaviours are clear evidence of that state.”
The cover-up period overlapped the previous P&R being ousted and Deputy Lyndon Trott’s new committee. It was known some Health & Social Care staff were aware of the 25% cost increase estimate as early as February 2022 but kept it from the committee until December.
The very fact I had to ask these questions is testament there has been no learning on the need for transparency and accountability to win back public trust.
Deputy St Pier
P&R declined to comment on being kept in the dark amid key finance and project debates.
“Officials were happy to send their committee members into a critical Government Work Plan debate in January with £30m. of good news on Pillar II corporate taxation, but not give them the slightest heads-up that there might be bad news heading down the tracks. I have never experienced these behaviours before,” St Pier added.
Some deputies may file urgent P&R questions next week. Staff aware of February 2022 cost hike estimates no longer work at HSC.
Head of Public Service Mark de Garis said their conduct fell below standards. But St Pier criticised P&R for not extending that criticism to their involved officials.
P&R refused details on the departures, citing privacy.
“The obsessive lack of transparency around termination terms is absurd,” St Pier stated.
“We all know their termination would have been executed with termination payments and using non-disclosure agreements, because that is the way these things are done. I was simply looking for confirmation of that fact. The very fact I had to ask these questions is testament there has been no learning on the need for transparency and accountability to win back public trust.“
He said more should have been revealed in March on the £30m hike and cover-up duration.