Politics
McLean comes clean on C/C
(CNS): The independent member for East End has admitted using his government credit card when he was a minister for personal reasons. However, Arden McLean told CNS that on the few occasions it happened it was done so inadvertently and each time he paid back the full sum to the card company within the monthly bill cycle so tax-payers were never subjected to interest or late fees as a result of his shopping. He said the watch from Kirk’s was a Christmas gift for his wife and McLean said it was not until after the fact that he realized he had used his government card rather than his own. He then wrote a cheque to cover the US$3,500 purchase on the very same day that the bill arrived.
With questionable use of government credit cards by ministers and senior officials dominating the headlines just weeks before former premier McKeeva Bush’s trial next month following criminal charges laid against him in 2013 over his use of a government card, McLean said he had been exceptionally reluctant to discuss his own purchases.
The former PPM Cabinet minister, who defected from the party two years ago and was re-elected in 2013 as an independent member for East End, said he had the documented evidence that he had paid back all personal purchases immediately after charging them (posted below), including a shopping trip and an extra night at a hotel which he had added to a business trip.
“I have made it clear that I have proof that I have repaid any charges which were for my personal benefit which I had made inadvertently or otherwise,” he said. “I was concerned about the impact that all of this may have on the pending prosecution of the former premier. I simply didn’t want to be dragged into any commentary that might be seen to hurt, assist or otherwise impact the matter,” McLean said in a statement released Tuesday, as he explained his previous reluctance to speak out about the use of his card.
The details of McLean’s purchases were revealed in selected credit card documents released to an undisclosed FOI requester and then forwarded to CNS and other media outlets by readers.
Since then CNS has made a full request for the statements of all government credit cards issues to every single government entity and their staff and so far 41 of the more than 80 government authorities have responded. Many of them have never had a credit card issued by government but for those that do many are now in the process of taking their full 30 days to respond, as appears to be the normal practice of information managers in many government entities even when the documents are sitting on their desk.
However, some have responded as a result, they said, of other requests made previously but they have redacted every single payment. The information managers have said the redaction is blamed on advice given by the legal department, even though the vast majority of information on these cards used by chief officers and ministers hasnothing at all to do with the forthcoming trial of McKeeva Bush. However, in each case CNS has request an internal review of the redactions as, for example, purchases made by a chief officer in a ministry before Bush was even premier could not possibly be related to his proceedings.
The only entity to release all of its credit card statements in full to CNS to date has been the Information Commissioner’s Office, which does not believe that statements issued to members of staff and ministers other than Bush should be impacted by the forthcoming court case.
The documents demonstrating McLean’s purchases and repayment to the government cards and his statement on the issue are attached below.
Former banker confirmed as OT minister
(CNS): The UK Tory MP for Rochford and Southend East who was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office earlier this month in the wake of Mark Simmonds’ resignation will also be overseeing the overseas territories, the FCO has confirmed. Simmonds threw in the towel on his almost £120,000 pay-packet as he claimed he couldn't afford to live in central London and spend time with his family in his constituency on that money. Replacing him is former banker James Dudderidge, who lists his policy interests as pensions, financial services and Africa, having worked for Barclays in the Ivory Coast and Botswana.
Other interests include the environment, transport, local government and other UK government areas but there is no record of Duddridge ever taking any interest in the UK’s remaining colonies. However, his banking experience may come to the fore as the UK continues to apply pressure on Cayman to introduce the controversial open beneficial ownership registry for the local offshore industry, in line with the wishes of UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
Duddridge is the third minister to oversee the OTs since the conservative coalition was elected in May 2010, with Henry Bellingham holding the post for the first two years prior to Simmonds. Both those men visted Cayman during their time in office but with the UK General Election just nine months away it remains to be seen whether Duddridge will take advantage of his new post for a jolly to the Caribbean.
Although the new Tory minister has responsibility for most of the UK’s overseas possessions, his remit excludes the more controversial islands of the Falklands and Gibraltar as well as the Sovereign based Areas of Cyprus.
Governor has no CIG card
(CNS): As the scandal over the use of government credit card continues, an FOI request by CNS to all government entities has revealed so far that the governor does not have a credit card issued by the Cayman Islands Government. However, the Cayman tax payer still foots the bill for the UK representative’s entertainment and some of her travel bills, depending on her reason for travel. Officials from the governor’s office confirmed, however, that Helen Kilpatrick is following the new official travel policy when travelling on local government business and the FCO policy when the British government is funding her trips.
The office explained that Governor Helen Kilpatrick has a set budget for expenditure for her office and Government House but the governor very rarely incurs any extra local expenditure personally and would only do so if a VIP guest is visiting the Cayman Islands and a function is not hosted at Government House for logistical reasons.
A spokesperson said that this had happened no more than three times over the past several years.
As well as not having a government credit card, the governor does not have an expense account as official entertainment is for the most part conducted at Government House and costs are always kept within the budget allotted to hospitality for the specific financial year.
When the governor is required to travel on official Cayman Islands business, an official travel form is completed and approved by the chief financial officer overseeing the governor’s office budget and a per diem allowance, according to the official guidelines, is given.
Officials also confirmed that the governor’s office account has been audited periodically as part of those conducted under the Portfolio of Internal External Affairs and more recently since the changes to official ministries and portfolios under the Portfolio of the Civil Service.
The governor’s allocation for managing Government House falls under the budget for the head of the civil service under CIV 11. This year the running of the residence, the coordination of functions, as well as the administrative and accommodation costs for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff in the Governor’s Office amounted to $770,884, a fraction less than the 2013/14 budget, which was $788,739.
This is in addition to the salary and benefits paid to the governor, which is a figure not readily available. According to the most recent civil service pay scale guide from 2011, the governor’s earnings fall somewhere between $160,020 and $176,628 per annum plus pension and health benefits. However, Kilpatrick may be earning considerably more. According to UK records, when she left her post as Director General at the Home Office she was earning between £180,000 and 184,999 per year, equal to more than CI$250,000.
In the budget document for 2014/15 Kilpatrick’s pay is part of a budget allocation which covers the salaryand benefits of the Governor, the Premier, the Deputy Premier, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, all the Ministers, as well as Elected Members of the Legislative Assembly which totals over $3.25million.
See related story on CNS: Credit card scandal rolls on
Rodrigues to wield CS axe
(CNS): The chief officer from the education and employment ministry will be heading up a new civil service unit which will be responsible for cutting the civil service. Mary Rodrigues will head the unit charged with overseeing the implementation of the Ernst and Young report on the rationalisation of the public service. Recently embroiled in a ministry scandal over the altering of an education report, the CS boss is likely to face even more controversy in her new job. Officials said the new post will include overseeing and monitoring the implementation of the Cabinet-approved recommendations from the EY report, briefing Cabinet on the outcomes and overseeing communications with all stakeholders.
Rodrigues will be the senior staff member in a team that will include an additional three to four existing civil servants seconded from other agencies. Rodrigues will be expected to develop the policies and procedures that will guide the work of the unit, which officials have said they expect will take some years to implement.
Government has still not released any details regarding the EY findings and recommendations to help downsize the civil service but the premier and deputy governor have both spoken about consolidation or merging of departments, part privatization and complete sell-offs but so far no public authorities have been identified as the first to undergo what may prove to be radical change in the civil service and government.
As the person now designated as the leader of the forthcoming changes, Rodrigues will be tasked with revealing where and when the changes will begin. As she is understood to be taking up the post immediately, the current deputy chief officer in the ministry of education, Christen Suckoo, will assume the role of acting chief officer.
Announcing the appointment on Wednesday morning in a release, the deputy governor highlighted the importance of the new job.
“The rationalisation project is perhaps one of the most important projects undertaken by the Civil Service in the last decade and extremely important to the future direction of the civil service,” Franz Manderson stated. “For it to succeed there needs to be strong leadership and expertise. Given this, I am most pleased to have a civil servant of Ms Rodrigues’s calibre and background leading the implementation team.”
Manderson also said Rodrigues had made significant contributions to the Ministry of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs over the five years she held the post. He said during her tenure there has been a remarkable improvement in external exam results for high school students. He also pointed to the restructuring of secondary education which was undertaken during her watch, when the Year 12 programme at CIFEC was introduced. New graduation criteria have also been developed and implemented, including academic requirements for the first time.
The deputy governor also spoke about strategies to tackle under-performance in literacy and numeracy having been introduced and the first National Professional Standards for Teachers and for Principals while she was the ministry boss. In addition, Rodrigues oversaw the re-introduction of Reception in government schools, along with the first National Curriculum Framework for Early Years. Rodrigues was at the helm when the ministry established the National Work Force Development Agency and the Passport to Success Programme. She was also credited with playing a key role in the establishment of the Civil Service College.
Rodrigues joined the Civil Service in 1986 and taught for 10 years before moving to the then- Schools Inspectorate, where she became chief inspector within four years. She held this position until 2004, when she joined the Ministry of Education as deputy permanent secretary. Two years later she was named chief officer designate in the Portfolio of the Civil Service—succeeding to the role of chief officer in 2008. She became chief officer in the Ministry of Education in 2009.
Cayman government ‘astounded’ by blacklisting
(CNS Business): The minister for financial services has said the decision by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to place the Cayman Islands on its high risk countries list, as reported by CNS Business on Thursday, defies logic. Astounded by the decision, Wayne Panton told CNS Business Thursday that government had already written to the FCA about the listing requesting a review and removal, but following the body’s refusal he was considering a judicial review. While Panton listed the reasons why Cayman should not be included, given the FCA’s published criteria, the financial watchdog said there was still a money laundering risk in the Cayman framework. Read more on CNS Business
OT minister to leave politics
(CNS): The Foreign Office minister with responsibility for the UK's overseas territories has resigned citing a lack of support for ministers who live outside London with families. Mark Simmonds (left), who also had responsibility for Africa, had reportedly told the UK Prime Minister of his intention to leave his ministerial post as well as the political arena "several weeks ago" and before Baroness Warsi, another FCO minister, resigned over the Coalition government's handling of the latest Gaza crisis, which she described as "morally indefensible. The FCO told CNS Monday that although James Duddridge (below) has been appointed as Africa minister, he has not yet been given responsibility for the overseas territories — a job which may go to another junior FCO minister.
An FCO media spokesperson said it may be a "few more days" before that job was assigned but officials would release the information as soon as possible.
According to UK news reports, Simmonds' desire to walk away from politics is because he wants to "provide for his family". Usually a euphemism for something else, Simmonds' decision may be more honest than most, as he described the lack of support for family MPs with constituencies some distance from the capital as "intolerable".
The 50 year old minister recently survived a Cabinet reshuffle, despite being involved in a critical missed vote earlier this year regarding the UK government's position on Syria.
However, the Conservative member for Boston and Skegness is now not just leaving his ministry post but he is also quitting his seat and will not run for office in the general election next year. In a letter to David Cameron allegedly dated 4 August, Simmonds said he would "remain supportive" of the Conservative led coalition and the Conservative Party.
In a statement to constituents, he said that "despite the enjoyment" of the job, "the lack of support available to MPs with families outside of London and the sacrifice to my family life, has become intolerable. At this stage, I need to focus on providing for my family."
Talking about what he had achieved in his job, he said that he had enhanced the partnership between the UK and the overseas territories
Mac warns of bad old days
(CNS): The opposition leader has said he hopes the current minister will be very careful about major changes in the education system that could create an unfair two-tier system and take Cayman back to the bad old days. Following the pressure from the education minister's political backers, C4C, to privatize schools and her own support of academies, grant maintained or charter-style schools, which favour selection, McKeeva Bush also warned that too much change at once undermines achievements. But selling off schools and reintroducing selection would not only be detrimental to students and a backward step but he fears it would also leave too many students unprepared for the increasingly demanding employment market.
Bush told CNS that he was hoping that the framers of any new education policy in government today will not go down the road of selection.
"I'm hoping that what is being proposed will bring changes that give a child a meaningful education relevant to today's world, in which they must live and move and have their being; rather than a system that creates resentment in children because of the way they are treated and who recognise they won't be able to cope in a modern sophisticated educated world," he said. "A system that will enhance their lives rather than take us backwards to a two-tier system of education. As a legislator and grandparent, I'm not giving support in any shape or form to any such suggestion, no matter how much it is dressed up."
The opposition leader remembered how things were in the "bad old days" when segregation was forced on children.
"In the early sixties and early seventies there was a two-tier system, when good teachers like the late teacher Mrs Theoline McCoy and the late Principals Mr Timothy McField and Mr McHale of the secondary modern school … fought a great battle because the government of the day had in place a biased two-tier system of education. Some children were chosen to attend the Cayman Island High School and others were pushed into the Secondary Modern school, where they started pushing us out of the school as early as age 14 because 'they needed space' they said," Bush recalled, adding that it was "atrocious".
He said it was the secondary modern school that created the double standards and the "slave mentality", with the idea that "what was good for one set of people was not good for another" and others must be treated differently.
"Thank God for good teachers like Mr Charley Dixon from East End, who fought the battle to ensure that, despite the two-tier system, children learned to do something," he added.
"I will watch to see what is going to happen to the recommendations that government has for changes in our education system, Charter schools and all," Bush said, as he warned that two much change of any kind can be disruptive. He pointed to the more recent past when a number of changes close together to bring the local system in line with the UK's national curriculum, straight A students began failing as a result of the amount of change all at once, which had a long term negative impact on their time in school.
Bush said the curriculum was a critically important factor in education with the appropriate teachers to teach it. He said how those teachers are treated by the ministry and administration is also very important but at present "there is much to be desired in that aspect".
The leader of the opposition did, however, offer his full support to the minister over the clampdown on the school dress code. He said there had always been rules about uniforms and students should be well groomed. "It makes them look better and I would think feel better too," Bush said. "We have beautiful children and they don't need tattoos or markings on their head to make them stand out or attractive. And it doesn't enhance their lives in any way."
The clampdown on how kids dress in school was recently announced by the ministry but the major changes planned to the system appear to be a work in progress. Tara Rivers has denied that any changes will create a two-tier system or segregation but she has offered her backing for academies and charter schools, a system which in the UK has involved selection in most cases.
While her political backers are calling for the complete privatization of the system, with schools being run by boards and companies and the government paying fees on behalf of students, the fears are that this will mean a significant percentage of children will not find places in these types of schools. This will then create the two-tier system feared by the opposition leader and many others.
So far, the premier and former education minister, who was been a long time staunch advocate for raising standards for all children and inequality in education, has remained silent on the proposed privatization of the system.
LA to tackle OMOV again
(CNS): Given what he says was the lack of a "definitive resolution" after the last debate, the member for East End has filed and been given the nod for another 'one man, one vote' debate in the Legislative Assembly. A private member's motion submitted by Arden McLean is almost identical to the one debated by members earlier this year but this time the independent member is hoping to get the missing government MLAs to be there for the vote. McLean's motion went down to the wire at the vote in the county's parliament in March but was decided by the speaker with her casting vote against. However, four minsters who all said they supported the voting change during the election campaign missed the division.
The East End member is hoping that in the next debate the ministers for education, finance, financial services and health will be in the chamber and will this time be true to their election promises and back his motion.
The premier has stated recently that he will not be dealing with the change to Cayman's voting system during this administration because, he has said, some members of his coalition government do not support the change. While it is common knowledge that Speaker of the House, Juliana O'Connor-Connolly, is opposed to changing the current system, she is only required to vote in the event of a tie.
Premier Alden McLaughlin has implied that the stumbling blocks to the introduction of ‘one man, one vote’ in single member constituencies are the Coalition for Cayman members of his team, but that claim was shaken when the three issued a statement to CNS indicating their support for OMOV.
McLean will be hoping that, given the wide support for the change to the voting system before Cayman goes to the polls in 2017, the outcome of the next debate on the subject will be very different. The East End member described the issue as very "emotive" and said there was a need to bring closure on the matter.
McLean's motion is backed by his independent parliamentary colleague Ezzard Miller, who has seconded the motion. He also has the support of two opposition UDP/CUDP members, Captain Eugene Ebanks and Bernie Bush, but Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush has said he won't make political capital out of the debate by supporting it as he does not believe Cayman should move to single member constituencies.
However, McLean can count on two certain 'yes' votes from the government back benchers as Anthony Eden offered his support and voted in favour during the last debate on the subject. Alva Suckoo will also support McLean as he had made it clear he would bring his own motion on the issue if the back-bencher had not already done so.
The question now will be if McLaughlin continues on the line of stating that he supports OMOV in SMCs but can't do it because his government will fall apart or whether he will clear the whip and the concept of collective responsibility and allow his front benchers to vote with their conscience.
Although the motion has been cleared by the speaker and added to the next meeting's business paper, government has not yet set the date for the next session of the LA. However, it is understood it will take place in September.
Implementation team critical for ‘Rationalization’
(CNS Business): The Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce is urging the government to be transparent and to share the EY report on government rationalization, which is expected this week. However, Chamber President Johann Moxam said it was “imperative” that the government then puts together a competent and professional implementation team. “That is the key to the overall success of this exercise, ensuring that the persons responsible and tasked with taking the recommendations and implementing them have the necessary skills experience and expertise to get it done,” he said. Read more and watch the video on CNS Business
Go to full article and comment
Bush hits backs at “bloggers”
(CNS): The leader of the opposition has said that the accusations hurled at him by those commenting on the CNS website on stories posted last week about the governor's attack on the press are unfounded. But despite the criticisms he faces from the public, McKeeva Bush said that he fully supports a free press and believes it is a "basic tenet of democracy". He said the governor's position over the Tempura documents has nothing to do with him but he said when it comes to a "free and fair Cayman" the FCO has had a wanton disregard, and commenters dragging him into the fight between the press and the governor are deflecting the real problem, which is that the UK simply does not care about the overseas territories.
While people commenting may not like him or his policies, Bush said that didn't mean he had ever done anything wrong.
Responding to a commenter who was attacking all politicians and suggesting that the opposition leader should have been prosecuted for unspecified allegations years ago, Bush said whoever it was must really hate him, but whatever people think about him the real problem for Cayman was the FCO.
"The individual who drew me into their blog on the way the governor has insulted the press was trying to distract the matter of the FCO's wanton disregard for a fair and free Cayman," Bush said. "I have no boxer in this fight of the governor and the press but I do stand for a free and fair Cayman and freedom of a fair press is a basic tenet of democracy. That is in our constitution."
The opposition leader said the FCO uses the overseas territories as pawns for a buttress and scapegoats in their European Union arguments and queried why anyone is surprised by what governors say or do to suit their purpose.
"They have destroyed bigger men than me, and many viable countries have fallen because when the FCO should have cared for them, they didn't," he stated.
Pointing to comments made by commenters tying him into the situation, he said much of it was because people didn't like him for a catalogue of reasons. He believes some don't like him because they couldn't get elected, some because they couldn't get status, but for others it was because they can no longer "rule Cayman like they did before or want to do as they please with us", as he pointed the finger at the British establishment. But he stressed that none of the reasons why people don't like him actually equate to him doing anything wrong.
"And because they don't like me, it doesn't mean that I did anything to hurt them or these islands," he said. "I have done everything I could to stand against the efforts of the FCO, the UK Treasury and the European Union to make Cayman unviable as an offshore international business centre … I refused to put in place their income and property tax and VAT," Bush said.
Despite the problems he faced when he was premier, the opposition leader said he had still managed well enough to keep the country's high credit rating when both the US and the UK fell down the rankings. Talking about his long career in the Legislative Assembly, he pointed out that he was part of the ExCo that put in place the Monetary Authority and the hedge fund law.
"I put in place much of the good financial regulation we have today," he said, also noting other legislation unrelated to the financial services that he was responsible for that has helped the people of Cayman.
"I put in place the policy for the establishment of the libraries in the districts, the policy to build the clinics in the districts. I also put in place the social legislation in Cayman that manages to help a very disenfranchised people with a modicum of decency, from sports to pensions, and took us out of masters and servants law that governed Cayman as labour legislation up until the 1980s .
"Today pregnant women have benefits they didn't have when I got elected in 1984 and people who lose family members have compassion leave. The stealing of gratuities from the workers is a thing of the past too … So what little labour legislation we have today I fought for and had it put it there. And no one can say I hate foreigners as my own people say I give them too much room."
Bush said he has fought for a more developed and inclusive Cayman and believes he has made a significant contribution as a legislator to bring about a better Cayman, "even if I should say so myself," he added, as he defended his long career in politics.
"What is it that some of the bloggers want? They need to go and do some positive work to help Cayman rather than to keep saying all kinds of worthless and untrue statements about me and our people," he said as he hit back at his critics. "If what they say about me is true and they have the proof, why not say what it is and sign their name to the blog?"