In a copy of the Cayman Islands government budget released earlier this year, the line item for “emoluments to the financial secretary” read ‘$0’.
Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson explained, following Cayman Compass questions about the matter, that he was still receiving a salary during the current 2014/15 fiscal year. However, since the financial secretary’s position was no longer in Cabinet, his salary had been moved into the standard civil service personnel budget.
Government announced last week that Mr. Jefferson would be assuming the chief officer’s role for the Ministry of Finance, following the retirement of former chief officer Sonia McLaughlin. That means in addition to advising Minister Marco Archer, Mr. Jefferson will now be tasked with the financial and human resources operations of the entire ministry.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson indicated this would likely be a permanent change for the civil service and that there would no longer be a need to have a financial secretary and a chief officer for the ministry.
“The amalgamation of the two posts shows that civil servants at the highest level are leading by example and doing more with less,” Mr. Manderson said.
Minister Archer said that, while he was not administratively responsible for civil servant appointments, he didn’t see the need to appoint another person when the financial secretary could adequately perform both jobs.
The move also clears up something that has posed a minor constitutional conundrum for the government since the Constitution Order, 2009, came into force.
Essentially, the constitution states there is a financial secretary’s position, but leaves out specifics as to what the government is supposed to do with it.
As the new governing document was put into effect, more responsibilities shifted to the elected minister of finance, a position that did not exist in the elected government prior to 2009. Those responsibilities included chairing the Legislative Assembly’s Finance Committee, attending and voting in Cabinet meetings and accepting ultimate responsibility for the government’s annual budget.
Prior to the 2009 Constitution, the financial secretary was one of the three appointed voting members of the Legislative Assembly, along with the attorney general and the chief secretary. The appointed position was ultimately responsible, under delegated powers from the Cayman Islands governor, for all financial matters and was a member of Cabinet.
Related Videos
