Government oversight
Immigration issues dominate human rights complaints
(CNS): During 2015 the Human Rights Commission dealt with 31 complaints from members of the public alleging breaches by public officials of their human rights, according to its latest annual report. The majority of complaints were about the immigration department or its connected boards, such as the Business Staffing Plan and Caymanian Status and Permanent […]
ICTA gets tough on licensees
(CNS): For the first time since the regulator was established, the Information and Communications Authority (ICTA) has issued a fine to one of its licensees for breaching the rules regarding 911 outages. Cable and Wireless paid a $75,000 fine for failing to notify ICTA of an outage on its service that impacted access to 911. […]
CIG tries again to make ethics bill work
(CNS): Amendments were made Monday to the much-anticipated Standards in Public Life Bill, which was passed almost two years ago but never implemented because of opposition from people serving on government boards over the requirements of the law. The revised legislation passed through the Legislative Assembly with unanimous support on its second reading but there […]
Ministry shows ‘blatant disregard’ for FOI
(CNS): The Ministry of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs has been heavily criticised by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and reported to the deputy governor regarding a freedom of information request for records relating to national pensions that took more than a year. Acting Commissioner Jan Liebaers said the ministry’s response to the applicant was reluctant […]
FOI boss orders fee review on records search
(CNS): In his latest hearing decision, the information commissioner has found that while there are instances when a public authority can charge a freedom of information applicant a fee to search for records, it must be reasonable. Following a hearing over a fee of more than $500 that was charged to recover deleted emails by […]
UK public auditor to lead local office
(CNS): A long serving British civil servant who has been part of the management team at the UK’s National Audit Office has been appointed as Cayman’s new auditor general. The governor’s office revealed that Sue Winspear has been appointed and has accepted the post following the departure last year of Alastair Swarbrick. Winspear is currently […]
CIG presses on with ombudsman merger
(CNS): Government has confirmed it will be pressing ahead with the merger of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Office of the Complaints Commissioner (OCC) to form a new ombudsman’s office that will also deal with police complaints. The controversial decision will save the government just $83,000 a year from the existing budget for […]
OCC presses staffing board to explain decisions
(CNS): The Office of the Complaints Commissioner has revealed in its latest work report that, following complaints by members of the public, it has made a number of recommendations over the past year to the Business Staffing Plan Board to provide clear explanations for the decisions they make and that they should formally document and […]
Customs boss plugging gaps to maximise revenue
(CNS): The collector of customs has revealed that there are challenges with the computer system at the customs department, which is not working as effectively as it could be. Charles Clifford explained that the system acquired by customs was not tailor-made and as a result there are shortcomings. But given the cash investment in the […]
Miller warns PAC will call for sanctions
(CNS): As the Public Accounts Committee prepares reports based on the recent hearings scrutinising a number of reports by the Office of the Auditor General, the chair has warned he will be raising his concerns over evidence given by two chief officers and will be asking the deputy governor to discipline them. Ezzard Miller said […]
NBF was rigorously managed, claims CoS
(CNS): The former chief of staff in the premier’s office when McKeeva Bush was at the helm of the last UDP government has denied that the Nation Building Fund was not properly managed. Leonard Dilbert condemned the findings of the Office of the Auditor General and claimed he was not given a chance to answer […]
