FORMER chief minister Laurie Morgan believes he should have had the power to sack Deputy Stuart Falla over the clinical block tender. Speaking about Fallagate in depth for the first time in the latest edition of Channel Islands business magazine Business Brief, Deputy Morgan claims there was a limit on the options open to him on how to deal with the Commerce and Employment minister when he was asked by the Policy Council to speak to Deputy Falla about his position and a possible conflict of interest.
‘When asked by Deputy Falla whether I was telling him to go, I said I was not and in any case neither I nor the Policy Council had the power to do so. Only the States could do that.
‘But, of course, a minister could resign of his own volition.
‘I should really have had the powers to sack him. I would probably have said to him that it would be better if we found a more suitable job for you.
‘I was a strong supporter of executive government, but the States in its wisdom cut out some of the recommendations of the Harwood panel.’
In his interview with magazine editor Peter Body, Deputy Morgan looks back on a conversation he had with Deputy Falla about the withdrawal of his company’s tender, which was £2.4m. below the Charles Le Quesne offer.
The Wales Audit Office report into the contract, which was released in January last year, said Deputy Morgan had failed to perform effectively his role as chief minister.
The auditor general for Wales, Jeremy Colman, said Deputy Morgan had failed in his responsibility as chairman to ensure that meetings to discuss the contract were conducted and concluded effectively and that it was because of this confused debate in the council that he had agreed to meet Deputy Falla without knowing exactly what the other ministers wanted that meeting to achieve.
Mr Colman said Deputy Morgan was mistaken in considering he had obtained clarity and he had acted beyond instruction given to him by the council when he suggested that the Commerce and Employment minister could consider standing down from his political position.
However, in the interview, Deputy Morgan said the WAO had refused to tell him how many was the ’some’ who had complained about his leadership.
‘I told the Welsh ’sic’ Audit Office that my role, vis-a-vis council, is that of a first among equals of a committee of mainly strong characters who are not amenable to being asked to direct all comments to or through the chair.’
Deputy Morgan added that Fallagate had been ‘largely generated for political reasons by certain people who jumped on a bandwagon so they could get where they wanted to be.’
Deputy Falla declined to comment on the article when contacted yesterday.
Article posted on 21st January, 2008 - 12.00am
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