The Independent Panel enquiring into child abuse in Jersey is
coming to the end of its first year and it is quite clear that it is far exceeding the estimated cost. It is now evident that the
estimated cost of £6 millIon was very much a poor guesstimate and Panel Chairman Frances
Oldham made the Council of Ministers aware of the potential costs in May last
year. Please see pages 24/25 of proposition 20/2015 which can be opened by
clicking HERE.
It is evident that little attention has been given to the COI ’s
progress or resultant cost and it is only now that Chief Minister Senator Gorst
has lodged a proposition asking the States to agree that up to a further
£14 million should be made available in order to provide additional funding to
allow for the Committee of Inquiry to complete its task.
One of the difficulties in setting a cost for the Inquiry was
that no one really knew of the extent of the abuse or of its covering up. What
is becoming abundantly clear is that as confidence in the Panel has grown
further witnesses have come forward. That in itself is a success; however it
comes at a cost.
What should be noted is that the Committee of Inquiry (COI) has yet to get its teeth into the Terms of Reference relating to Operation
Rectangle whose spiralling costs were so heavily but unfairly criticized and
was one of the excuses given for the unprecedented suspension of our police chief.
As confidence in the police grew more witnesses, information and evidence
became available and like the COI is now experiencing,
this led to spiralling costs.
Sadly certain irresponsible and mischievous sectors of our
community took pleasure in ridiculing the police investigations by questioning
the cost of flights and menus of some of the inquiry team rather than expending
their energy on supporting the police and encouraging witnesses to come
forward. Fortunately the COI has not yet
suffered that indignity however it does not mean that it has a licence to print
money.
In her response to Senator McLean’s concerns about the
spiralling cost Mrs Oldham quite rightly reminded him “of the extremely serious
matters relating to the history for care of children in Jersey which must be
explored and addressed if the victims and indeed the whole Island is to move on
from what has been a very negative experience over recent years.” Mrs Oldham is
clearly not enamoured by the Minister’s protestations nor will she be diverted
from her goal.
Goodness knows how much money was spent on covering up
allegations of abuse and malpractice and those costs are now coming to haunt
us. Whilst I abhor wanton waste and a tight reign must be kept on expenditure, particularly legal fees it
is not acceptable for the Chief Minister to attempt to put a cap on the cost of
establishing the truth.
It is interesting to note that Senator Bailhache who did not
vote in support of the Committee of Inquiry is now suggesting that the final
bill could be in the region of £50 million. Whilst I don’t have a crystal ball,
I don’t have a hidden agenda either and to curtail the Inquiry or to
pull the plug on it because it’s getting expensive would be nonsense. There are some who
might think that citing cost and putting caps on expenditure is not only scare
mongering but another attempt to stop getting to the truth.
I note that the Chief Minister is proposing that the Inquiry and the States publish jointly on their websites details of their expenditure
on a monthly basis. It was my understanding that that proposal had been agreed
at the outset so the sooner more sets of eyes are looking at the costs the
better.
As mentioned above the proposition relating to the request
for future funding is P20/2115 which also be reading by clicking HERE.
Voiceforchildren has recently published a blog on the funding and can be read by clicking HERE
