Expenses: Did he hit wrong note?
Friday 15th May 2009, 3:00PM BST.
Health chief executive Mike Pollard, photographed for a JEP ‘Private Passions’ feature in 2007 about his love of the guitar
HEALTH’S most senior civil servant is facing tough questions about an alleged expense claim for guitar lessons.
Allegations have surfaced that Mike Pollard, a keen amateur guitarist, asked for the cost of lessons which he missed because of the Haut de la Garenne inquiry to be reimbursed.
It is not clear how one of the States most highly paid chief officers, thought to earn around £150,000 a year, was involved in the historical child abuse inquiry.
However, Health and Services were involved in protracted discussions about counselling arrangements to victims and Mr Pollard is thought to have been required to attend several ‘emergency meetings’.
The matter will also be raised in the States on Tuesday when Deputy Phil Rondel is due to ask Health Minister Anne Pryke for an explanation. He wants to know whether Mr Pollard claimed cash for the lessons. When asked this morning, Mr Pollard would not say whether the allegation was true or not. ‘The minister will be responding to that as an oral question,’ he said.
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All past expence claims made by senior civil servants should be made public and published on the States of Jersey website.
All 53 states members will agree with me, I’m sure, since they all believe in openness, honesty, accountability and transparency… don’t they?
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If this is true, then this is disgraceful. a man on a salary of £150,000 a year can afford to write of afew quid, and having paid for guitar lessons for my sons, I have never been charged for lessons that they didn’t attend.
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seems like the JEP is trying to band wagon the national news
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I think that’s fair enough to be honest!
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Seems fair enough to me! Irrespective of his earnings, why should he pay if he has missed the lessons as a result of summons to emergency States meetings!
JEP getting in on the back of the UK fiasco of MP expenses I suspect… Pathetic!
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2) I disagree. If he had lessons booked and was then asked to work late as part of an ‘emergency meetings’ than he should be able to claim the costs of any missed lessons back. This is no differnet than the expenses policy on most big organisations. I see this as a complete non-story.
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Providing he’s entitled to the claim, what’s the problem.
Must be a slow news day
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#5 Gordy asks why he (Mr Pollard) should pay for his own guitar lessons.
However, my question to Gordy is this: why should I, the tax-payer, pay for Mr Pollards guitar lessons.
I would much rather my money went towards paying to keep the Brig-y-Don children’s home open, or for that matter, any other area of child or health care that has been neglected in recent years.
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I don’t see what the problem is, it’s only tax payers money.
The guy probably got paid overtime for attending the emergency meeting.
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Surely if he was called to emergency meetings he would have already been compensated by “overtime” pay.
If his huge salary dictates that he doen’t get paid overtime then surely there would have only been 1 missed lesson due to emergency…..the rest he should have been prepared to miss and re-scheduled them instead.
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Tommy’s comment 8
“I disagree. If he had lessons booked and was then asked to work late as part of an ‘emergency meetings’ than he should be able to claim the costs of any missed lessons back”
I think a chap like you must of been signing of MPs expenses in the UK!
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It’s news because it’s MY money that is used to pay his wages.
Time for the Freedom of Information Act to be invoked and enable publication of expense claims over here.
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What is the total bill for wages and expenses of our States members? Are they as accountable for their actions as the several civil servants presently suspended ? Can anyone answer this?
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I believe all States members should have their previous six months’ expenses made public; their predicted expenses for the next six months also made public. And whilst were at it, hows about some visibility around the income they have bought into the Island, savings they’ve made, achievements directly attributable to them and expected achivemenets and savings. Wonder which lists would be the longest?!
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Freedom of information !!!!!!!
Most if not all of our concerns about our government could be either confirmed or dismissed if we have a freedom of information act.
All this money we have as surplus could easily be used to put some transparency into our government.
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Offering imaginatively crafted excuses for Mr Pollard in front of a restive, incredulous States assembly is becoming a prime task of successive Health Ministers. Yet as a leading Civil Servant he is permitted to talk to the media about these matters. Why is he always hiding away?
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