TG Fails To Retract Comparison Of BCA Says Government
The Government says the latest statements by Together Gibraltar on the BCA house checks “fails to retract the allegations and comparisons they unfairly made against the officers of the BCA and the Department of Education.”
A statement from the Government follows below:
Ms Hassan Nahon should specifically retract from, and apologise to the officers of the BCA for, the allegations and comparisons made.
Moreover, Together Gibraltar is totally wrong to think that the timing of the house checks is unusual. These checks happen always when a person applies for a residence based benefit and the relevant department considers there is a question mark over the claimant’s residence. In the context of the grant of scholarships, this happens only in the weeks after A Level results and can take time because people may not be at home during the summer months when checks are being carried out.
Together Gibraltar is also wrong to describe these checks as "random house checks".[See reference on Together Gibraltar's social media slides in this respect]. The checks are targeted at the homes of those making the claims to be resident and are not random.
Together Gibraltar is, additionally, also wrong to think that these checks are the only ones carried out. The targeted house checks are only a part of the mechanisms thattheDepartment of Education deploys when determining residence. TheRegister of ResidentialOccupation is another, additional tool.
Together Gibraltar is, further, completely wrong to suggest that the Ministry of Education has instigated these checks. In fact the Ministry of Education was advised by the Director of Education once the checks, which are carried out in keeping with criteria established in the time of the AACR, were already underway. The facts are the direct opposite of Ms Hassan Nahon’s allegations.
Together Gibraltar is,finally, also totally wrong to say that the Government procured, originated or otherwise sought to that anyone in the BCA should issue their own statement for the Government's political benefit. In fact, the Government can confirm that that the statement issued by the BCA originated only and directly from the members of that department and was written exclusively by them and distributed by its Chief Executive. The Government's only involvement was to suggest that the statement was not necessary after the Government had itself issued a defence of the BCA and the Department of Education. Together Gibraltar's statement in this respect is therefore entirely, demonstrably, incorrect and once again amount to Together Gibraltar underestimating the professional officers of the BCA whom she and her party clearly owe and apology to.
Indeed, every material aspect of the statement by Together Gibraltar is factually incorrect.
Finally, the Government confirms that it believes that the Department of Education, under the direction of the Director of Education, is right to have instigated for itself, and undertaken through the BCA, the targeted house checks in question to ensure all those who get access to our nation's generous scholarship scheme are entitled to the said grants and are not pretending to be resident.
The Government therefore once again thanks the officials of the Department of Education and the officers of the BCA for their excellent work in this respect and is only sorry they had to endure the frankly terrible comparisons set out in Together Gibraltar's initial statement, from which Ms Hassan Nahon's party have yet to apologise for and retract as they should.
