Question asked by Deputy Montford Tadier to Deputy James Reed Minister for Education Sport and Culture.
ORAL QUESTION FOR TUESDAY 10TH MARCH 2009
Deputy M. Tadier of St Brelade will ask the following question of the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture-
“Can the Minister inform the Assembly whether any senior officers in the Education, Sport and Culture Department are subject to Police investigations pertaining to child abuse and, if so, whether such investigations have been terminated?”
The question never got asked in the States due to question time running over. However Deputy James Reed submitted a written "answer" and here it is!
Sir
At present I am unable to either confirm or deny whether I have received or am aware of any disclosures pertaining to any police investigations in relation to any employees at Education Sport and Culture.
Police investigations are confidential until such time as a decision is made whether or not to charge an individual. In certain circumstances the Police may decide it is appropriate to make a disclosure to an employer about an investigation however such a disclosure is classed as confidential and the employer would not be able to disclose this information to another party.
As a result of the above, I am unable to comment further on this matter.
My question is "how is a parent supposed to have trust and faith in our goverment with "answers" like that?
Deputy Tadier gives his response to the "answer" (in the video below) and it is worrying to say the least! The Deputy suspects there could be a senior officer in the Education Department that could be a suspect in the recent child abuse inquiry.
I share the Deputy's suspicion. Although I, and I believe the Deputy, have no proof that this is the case. It is extremely alarming that the Minister will do nothing to dispell these suspicions and doesn't appear too concerned about the message he could be sending out to parents of children in the Education System.
I am waiting for Deputy Reed to contact me with a time and date that he can meet with me. When (if) he contacts me I will ask him, in the interest of fairness and balance, to give me an interview with his response to Deputy Tadiers interview.
In the meantime my sleepless nights and quest continues.