Government oversight
KPMG operating CIG whistleblower hotline overseas
(CNS): The Cayman islands government has contracted local consulting firm KPMG to operate a new whistleblowing hotline overseas to allow people to report fraud, corruption and conflicts relating to public sector or private sector entities and people doing business with government. Described by officials as “a vital step in implementation of the new Anti-Fraud Policy”, […]
JOCC leads ethics, Miller stays at PAC, Rivers takes on OCC/ICO
(CNS): Following the pomp and ceremony of Wednesday morning’s proceedings in the Legislative Assembly, in the afternoon members got down to their first task to elect the chairs and members of the various parliamentary committees. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly will lead the Register of Interests Committee, which deals with the financial ethics, interests and potential conflicts of […]
Prison forced to give officer workplace report
(CNS): In what was described as an unusual case by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the prison service has been ordered to release a redacted version of an internal report to a prison officer working at the women’s jail as it concerned a complaint against her made by an inmate. Commissioner Jan Liebaers raised concerns about how […]
Ethics board creates website in absence of law
(CNS): The Standards in Public Life Commission has launched a new website, though there is still no sign of a commencement date regarding the legislation needed to hold politicians, public servants and public board members accountable and ensure they are not conflicted in their roles. CNS has learned from government sources that the commission is […]
CIG begins search for ombudsman
(CNS): The government has begun its search for a multi-talented ombudsman that has experience in police and other public sector complaints, dealing with whistleblowing protection, as well as freedom of information and data protection. Whoever gets the top civil service job could earn more than $130,000 per year plus benefits. The deadline for applications is […]
Ritch ruling could threaten FOI, says info boss
(CNS): Acting Information Commissioner Jan Liebaers has raised concerns that public authorities could hide behind the claim of legal privilege to block his office from controversial documents that become the subject of an appeal due to a recent legal decision. The governor’s use of the ‘nuclear option’ to prevent him from seeing the Ritch Report last […]
CIG fails badly on 2015 accounts
(CNS): The government has been given an adverse opinion by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) on its 2015 consolidated accounts on the basis of around 18 different failings. Despite commitments over the last few years by the deputy governor and assurances that the consolidated accounts of core government as well as the statutory […]
Miller calls on ministry to look again at auditor’s health report
(CNS): The former chair of the Public Accounts Committee has called on officials at the health ministry to take another look at the auditor general’s report on healthcare provision and publish a plan to address the “troubling” concerns raised by the report. On the last day of the Legislative Assembly before the parliament was dissolved […]
Ombudsman laws steered through LA
(CNS): The controversial decision by the government to merge the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Office of the Complaints Commissioner, with the additional responsibility of police complaints, was solidified in the final sitting of the Legislative Assembly with the passage of two key bills and several supporting amendment bills. The Police Complaints by the Public […]
Info boss presses on with fight to see Ritch Report
(CNS): Jan Liebaers, the acting information commissioner, has confirmed that he is not giving up on the fight to see the controversial Ritch Report, a review of the government’s immigration laws and policies, which the authorities are fighting hard to keep secret. Liebaers has told CNS that his office has filed an appeal of a […]
HIC: Insurers need to make profit
(CNS): Mervin Connolly, who heads up both the Department of Health Regulatory Services and the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) has told the Public Accounts Committee that health insurance companies need to make a profit. After several days of PAC meetings examining the auditor general’s latest damning report, where members heard the details of the many […]
