The Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi, has said: “The taxpayer is having to bail out the GSLP Government from their inability to properly control excessive overtime. This means there is less money for you, for investment or for pay rises or tax reductions. This is now endemic, happening every year and not being curbed despite successive warnings from the Principal Auditor. 

“The Principal Auditor’s Report for 2018-9 reveals a massive overtime bill costing about £19M a year to the tax-payer. While some overtime would be normal because of usual vacancies the Auditor is concerned that because vacancies are not filled up quickly enough it is increasing the overtime outlay and overall cost to the tax payer. 

“Additionally, he finds that there is “unjustifiably high” overtime in some cases and highlights a table of public officers with striking sums of overtime where salaries have been doubled or nearly doubled. 

“This is not the first time the Auditor highlights issues of excessive or uncontrolled overtime. He did so in the Reports for 2016-17 and 2017-18 in respect of the Ministry for the Environment. Last year when the GSD raised those concerns and asked Government to tackle these issues the Government gave assurances in February 2024 that they had tackled these and that they were historic. 

“In a press release of 1 February 2024 the GSLP Government said: 

“The Government was not prepared to accept the continuation of this practice, enforced a ban on discretionary overtime and put in place strict measures to ensure that even mandatory emergency overtime is justified in detail and approved by senior management. 

The Auditor's report, when it has come, vindicates the position the Government took at the time and the stricter controls that we have imposed on overtime to avoid any further abuse.” 

“This latest Report reveals this was far from the truth, that issues remain uncontrolled and that any measures announced last year have had “little effect” (para 5.3.51). 

“After recording that the Government had said they had “promptly put an end to the malpractice...” (para 3.7.4) the Principal Auditor states that he has updated his work to take account of events since then to assess the controls said to have been introduced. Having traced the overtime payments up to 2024/5 he concludes that: 

“...there has been no effective decrease in overall public spending in this section of the Department of the Environment when all the factors are taken into account, despite the Government’s public statement stating that they had promptly put an end to the malpractice in this area” (para 3.7.10). 

Generally, in relation to overall overtime levels across the public service the Auditor concludes (para 5.3.52) that 

“In my opinion, the introduction of better controls and a change in conditions could provide instant and considerable savings to the taxpayer, particularly in those areas where the need to have heightened manning levels is not justified. Additionally, a concerted effort by Government not to prolong the filling of vacancies in departments which are under staffed across the public service would help contain overtime spending (see section 5.2 of this report).” 

Mr Azopardi added: “This is yet another example of a Government unable or unwilling to make the changes that in overall terms would save the taxpayer money which could be used to improve public services or for tax reductions or for wage rises. This is why people are bearing the brunt of the GSLP’s financial mismanagement at a time of rising prices. There is a catalogue of waste and financial mismanagement that the Government are simply not tackling in any meaningful way. This is hurting you and your families”