Nov 03 - Number Six: “GSD Inconsistent And Unreliable On The Public Sector”
Number Six has said that the statement from Mr Feetham and the GSD on the vacancies in the Public Service is a “demonstration of their inconsistency on the issue.”
A Government reply to the GSD’s press release continued: “Mr Feetham has repeatedly stated that the GSLP Liberal Administration has grown the Public Service more than necessary. Mr Feetham has referred to the Civil Service being "bloated" and has said that the Government should cut spending in the cost of running the Public Service by £50m. The GSD and Mr Feetham say that we have grown the Public Service too much.
“Now, Mr Feetham issues a statement calling on the Government to fill vacancies and therefore to recruit more people to the Civil Service.
“This is a clear volte-face by Mr Feetham, which is a u-turn of historic proportions or is evidence of his being prepared to say one thing to one audience like the Chamber of Commerce, to whom he is highly critical of the size of the Public Sector, and the opposite to another audience like the members of the Civil Service.”
The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, who is the Minister with responsibility for the Civil Service and the Chairman of the Gibraltar Development Corporation, said: "Civil Servants and Public Servants generally are too clever not to see the clear and unreconcilable contradictions in Mr Feetham's remarks. Unlike Mr Feetham, we do not think the Civil Service is bloated. In fact, we are committed to the manning level of the Service as it was at the time of our election and to the modernisation of the offices and other tools available to Public Servants to enable them to do the best and most efficient job possible for those they serve in our Community. Mr Feetham is therefore an unreliable advocate both for Civil Servants who want to see these vacancies filled or for those in the Private Sector who want to see the size of the Public Sector reduced. By trying to be "all things to all men", Mr Feetham deals his political credibility a fatal wound from which he cannot recover. Additionally, Mr Feetham talks about reducing £50m in the costs of the Public Sector, but he doesn't identify which are the jobs he would cut or the other austerity measures he would propose to implement. At the same time, he selfishly suggests on GBC's "City Pulse", that he is not well paid enough for the job that he does as Leader of the Opposition, showing he would prefer to see more money lavished on his own salary turning up in Parliament for a few hours each month instead of seeing that invested in other areas of the Public Service."
{fcomment}
