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The recent publication of the Principal Auditor’s Report for the
Government’s accounts which are five years old has shone a spotlight on
how the Government has been spending taxpayer’s money. The board
of the Chamber has been disappointed but not entirely surprised by the
numerous revelations contained within the Report.
For many years the Chamber has highlighted to successive governments
the lack of efficiency and excessive pay awards in the public sector,
particularly as it is largely the private sector and its employees which
have had to pay for the Government’s largesse and almost always without
any noticeable improvement in the quality of service and productivity
which should have accompanied such increases.
In his recent report the Principal Auditor has shown the extent to which
taxpayer’s money seems to have been mis-managed over the years in
question. The Chamber hopes that we do not have to wait another five
years to see what has occurred from 2018 to date.
If the Government’s shares had been listed on the Stock Exchange its
failure to publish its accounts in a timely manner would have led to
trading in its shares to be suspended pending clarification of its financial
position.
Consider this: if companies in the private sector ran their businesses
like the government paying inexplicablly high allowances, unbridled
overtime and paying the same invoices repeatedly then they would not
be in business for very long.
In the Chamber’s view, this situation has come to pass because of a
combination of the respective government of the day giving in to the
demands of the Public Sector, not being able to say ‘no’, and irresponsible
unions who think that above inflation pay rises and excessive allowances
are a birthright. This may be beneficial for some but this has caused
enormous damage to the public’s finances and as Sir Joe Bossano has
said on many occasions, this level of expenditure is unsustainable.
It has also placed Gibraltar’s economy in a difficult position when we are
faced with enormous challenges to our future. Government expenditure
is paid for by taxes, and the higher the tax burden on the Private Sector,
the less competitive our jurisdiction becomes in this ever-competitive
world. Now is the time when Gibraltar needs to have robust finances and
employ prudent financial management of its coffers so that it can make
the adjustments it needs, once the outcome of the treaty discussions are
finalised one way or another.
The Chamber calls on the Government to publish its accounts for the
overdue years along with the Principal Auditor’s commentary for these
without further delay.
Taxpayers have a right to see how the Government has spent their
money, and do so in a timely fashion, and the Government has an
obligation to demonstrate that money is being spent efficiently for the
benefit of everyone, not just the lucky few.