FOI deputy confirmed as top job remains in limbo

| 02/06/2015 | 3 Comments
Cayman News Service

Jan Liebaers, Acting Information Commissioner

(CNS): Jan Liebaers, who is currently acting as the information commissioner, has had his government contract renewed for another two years in his substantive post as deputy in the office that oversees the compliance of the open records law. But the recruitment of a new commissioner seems to have stalled as government continues to explore the creation of a supra-ombudsman’s office.

The premier has revealed plans that could see the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Office of the Complaints Commissioner (OCC), as well as the management of data protection and the creation of a new independent police complaints department all housed and managed under one roof and one boss.

Following the retirement of Jennifer Dilbert in January 2014 after five years as the information commissioner and the departure in January this year of Nicola Williams to a powerful position as the complaints boss of the UK’s military services, after the CIG failed to renew her contract as complaints commissioner, neither post has been filled.

In the wake of a report by Ernst and Young into possible savings to be made in the civil service via privatization, the sale of government assets and the merger of departments, the government latched on to the idea of combining these independent watchdogs, which has been met with some criticism in the wider public and from the players involved.

Both former commissioners, Dilbert and Williams, warned that this would be retrograde step by government, undermining both departments without any obvious benefit.

Given that the savings are almost negligent, the motivation for the merger has been called into question. Both the former commissioners and Liebaers have noted that any amalgamation of ICO and OCC with the police complaints unit “carries tremendous risks” for the oversight bodies and no definitive savings to the public purse.

Despite there being no clear benefit and concerns over the proposal undermining the independence of the commissioners, the premier has pointed to the proposed plans on a number of occasions, as he indicated that government is not ignoring the work undertaken by EY.

While the local freedom of information legislation scored very highly in a report released last month by the Centre for Law and Democracy, the NGO warned that there were already some question marks about the ICO’s independence and control over its budget.

Despite the workload of the office and the growing number of request, the ICO’s budget is a tight one and over the next week legislators are expected to vote annual expenditure for the office of $796,983, just $16,472 more than the 2014/15 budget.

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Category: Government oversight, Politics

Comments (3)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I like Jan

  2. Anonymous says:

    Those jobs do need to be rolled in to one ‘ombudsman’. They are neither so different nor so technical that they can’t be combined and save a couple fo ‘director’ posts. Plus if Jan can do it (as his supporters try to suggest) then there’s lots of other people who could as well.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Nice, very able guy but a furriner. No comment about all the Caymanians who could do his deputy job and the Commissioner job, Ezzard?

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