GAGGING orders will be lifted to allow former staff to give evidence to the education management review. The Policy Council has agreed to concessions over how it will be run, meaning a threatened requete has been withdrawn.
More details will be released today and adverts asking for submissions will be placed in the Guernsey Press.
The report should be finished by Christmas.
It is not going to be a blow-by-blow account of what has happened at the department, but aims to learn from the past and therefore how best to organise the future.
‘We feel that we have got the best we can out of it,’ said requete leader Jean Pritchard.
‘Certainly we feel that the terms of reference have gone a long way. Some of our suggestions about how it should be conducted - protected evidence, lifting of gagging orders - have been satisfied, so there is no purpose in another requete.’
In August, the council finally announced a review and who would do it.
But that had not satisfied requete signatories, who believed it needed to look at past events, including the unfair dismissal of Le Rondin School head.
There was frustration with the lack of progress since the review was agreed to over a year ago.
‘It’s been a long, hard, difficult road,’ said Deputy Pritchard. ‘Now anyone who wants to give evidence to the review will be able to do so.’
Education minister Martin Ozanne said the issue had been discussed at the Policy Council, but he had tended to keep his distance.
‘It’s my department that’s going to be looked at, then in due course other departments too,’ said Deputy Ozanne.
‘I welcome the fact we can now move forward with this review. This whole period has been very stressful for all my staff at Education. I can’t impress how difficult this has been: they have put in sterling work throughout this period. We have an education service to manage and they have done that.’
The review will be led by Trevor Robinson, with help from Graham Robinson. Another investigation by the pair into the role of the States as an employer will be held at the same time.
‘I welcome the fact we can go ahead without the requete. I think that would have been even more stressful for the staff,’ said Deputy Ozanne.
Deputy Chief Minister Stuart Falla has led the review process on behalf of the Policy Council.
Deputy Ozanne said Deputy Falla had done tremendous work, together with assistant chief executive Nigel Lewis.
‘We would have preferred the review to have taken place much earlier.
‘It was a year ago. It’s taken time, some of it not the fault of the Policy Council,’ said Deputy Ozanne.
He added the drawn-out period had been especially stressful for the director of education and his senior team.
‘There’s protected evidence, that’s very important for all parties. I don’t like this word, gagging, I think it’s confidentiality. Under the terms of reference. there still is confidentiality.’ He added such agreements were often reached at the request of the other party.
‘These are agreements that are widely entered into: we should not be breaking them.
‘That has to be borne in mind, but the review does allow people to make representations strictly in confidence.’
Article posted on 1st October, 2007 - 12.00am
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