A joint letter signed by three senior external relations staff from the Crown Dependencies is said to be a key part of Home Office attempts to appeal a ruling that the information should be published.
The case is being pursued by former deputy Tony Webber.
An Access of Public Information Request he has made in Guernsey has raised further questions about how involved Policy & Resources officials and politicians have been in the ongoing battle to keep correspondence secret, despite a unanimous First Tier Tribunal ruling that releasing it was in the public interest and would not harm working relationships between the jurisdictions.
Mr Webber has now written to Guernsey’s Scrutiny Committee president Chris Green asking it to urgently investigate what he describes as a conflict of interest with the small group of civil servants and politicians involved.
He says the UK Home Office appeal relies heavily on the joint letter by three middle-ranking civil servants.
That letter warns that unless the matter is challenged there would be a ‘chilling effect on correspondence between our governments going forward’.
Mr Webber said that up until its submission ‘the three Crown Dependencies had decided to stay out of the legal process, even though they were fully aware it was going on’.
‘On investigation, it appeared that in all cases, the letters had been signed before receiving political authority.
‘Indeed the Judge noted that the letter was signed by civil servants.
‘The Judge dismissed this application for leave to appeal, but that is not necessarily the end of the matter. The UK Home Office is likely to use this very same letter to make an application for leave to appeal to a higher court.
‘This will all be as a result of using a letter which no one in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man knew anything about at the time, except those involved with signing it.
‘Even now, this letter has not received political authority.’
He said the conflict of interest situation unfolding was simply not acceptable as it was the same people who would be directly effected if the information was released advising it should not be.
Mr Webber wants the letter withdrawn
Questions have also been raised in the Isle of Man parliament about the situation.
In response to Mr Webber’s access to information requestion in Guernsey, P&R said: ‘the question of an appeal in this matter is one for the Home Office. Officials from the Office of the Policy & Resources Committee were consulted on the outcome of the tribunal and asked to provide their comments. The views expressed by officials on behalf of the States reflect current practice in handling communications between our Governments. These comments were supported by the Policy & Resources Committee.
‘In light of the ongoing legal proceedings in respect of this matter, we are unable to comment further at this stage.’
When asked whether P&R met for a properly constituted meeting, when, whether there was a vote and the outcome of it, whether discussion took place about the issue of civil servants sending off important policy letters without political authorisation or whether anyone excused themselves from the discussion because they had a conflict of interest, P&R simply said that the letter was supported by the committee and as such officers had political support.
‘We remain unable to discuss any further details at this stage due to the ongoing legal proceedings in respect of this matter.’
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