Channel Islands standards commissioner hoping to improve trust in government

In her role, Dr McCullough will investigate complaints made against members of both Guernsey and Jersey States

The new pan-island commissioner for standards says she is hopeful she will be able to help improve trust in local government.

Dr Melissa McCullough started in the Channel Islands in March.

She is also the commissioner for Stormont assembly members in Northern Ireland and has been since 2020.

In her role, Dr McCullough will investigate complaints made against members of both Guernsey and Jersey States.

"What I see this being is a professional office that builds trust that the public have in the government, in the politicians that they elect so that we can hold people accountable and feel proud of the system that we have," she said.

In August 2020, the States of Guernsey approved establishing the position of commissioner for standards after a review of the Code of Conduct for Members of the States of Deliberation.

The commissioner will replace the Guernsey States' Members Conduct Panel but the Privileges Panel has been retained to investigate allegations of abuse of privilege.

Jersey had its first commissioner in 1995.

The role includes investigating complaints of a breach of the Code of Conduct, starting investigations if they believe the code may have been breached, reporting on the outcome of any investigation including their conclusion and recommendations for action and giving advice about conduct and the code.

'Confidentiality being tightened'

Dr McCullough said work had started on the official website and it should allow "the public to engage with how the process works".

She also wanted to "update the way the system of complaints handling works, there's databases we can employ so that privacy and data protection are there and built-in to the process".

Dr McCullough said from "submission to completion", a complaint should be "confidential".

She said: "It's a time-limited bar on talking about the case that's under consideration, the reason for that is for both the complainant and for the member it is unfair for anybody to be presumed guilty without even having the investigation which is what can often happen.

"What I don't want to happen, and I am very passionate about it not happening, is this office to be used as a weapon or weaponising... they should be concerned about confidentiality being pretty tightened and not using it as a weapon."

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