Monday 6 April 2009

Emails to and from James Reed

As you will see from the email exchange below, James Reed has no wish to reassure parents that their children are in safe hands. Also note that he is unable to answer the last question which was - how come the national press can answer questions that he can't, or won't?


-----Original Message-----
From
Sent: 15 March 2009 00:59
To: James Reed
Subject: Question

Dear James Reed,

Please could you read the following two extracts and explain to me why you have been unable to answer a fellow States Member truthfully?


Quote from Voice for Children blog - 14th 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!


SirAt 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.


Quote from article in the Guardian newspaper 14th March 2009:


Like Krichefski, Tilbrook was dead, as were others accused, including Jim Thomson, the superintendent of Haut de la Garenne in 1979, who was repeatedly accused of abuse. It was the living that presented Harper's team with the knottiest problems. The list of those who had worked at the homes included the serving education director, Tom McKeon, and his deputy, Mario Lundy. Both were interviewed by police earlier this year; both vigorously deny any wrongdoing.

I look forward to your prompt reply.
Yours Faithfully,


Subject: RE: Question
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:45:33 +0000
From:J.Reed@gov.je
To


Dear I refute any such suggestion that I didn't answer the question truthfully and would like to know how you have come to conclude otherwise. My answer was as clear and unabiguous as possible and I stand by every word. yours James.


James Reed Deputy of St. Ouen Minister of Education, Sport & Culture direct dial: +44 (0)1534 449437 email: j.reed@gov.je www.gov.je


From:
To: j.reed@gov.je
Subject: RE: Question
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:14:47 +0000


Dear James Reed,

Thank you for your prompt reply. Could you please then explain why, if this information is confidential, the Guardian (readership 1.2 million) named the education director? Surely the Newspaper's lawyers would have checked the legalities? I have four children in the education system and i am becoming increasingly concerned with this lack of transparency. Myself and the many thousands of ordinary Jersey residents deserve better than this, as do our children. In light of the information now being in the public domain, i ask you, are any senior officers in the education, sport, and culture department subject to police investigations pertaining to child abuse?

Yours Faithfully,


From:
To: j.reed@gov.je
Subject: FW: Question
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:41:31 +0000

Dear James Reed, It is now a week since I emailed you last, unfortunately it appears you may have accidentally lost it, so I have forwarded it to you below. It is a simple answer that is required. Thank you.

Yours Faithfully,



From:
Sent: 01 April 2009 23:53
To: James Reed
Subject: FW: Question

Dear Deputy James Reed,
I would like to draw your attention to the following extract from the States of Jersey code of conduct guidelines, and once again ask you for an answer to my question.

Yours Faithfully

5 Maintaining the integrity of the States

Elected members should at all times conduct themselves in a manner which will tend to maintain and strengthen the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity of the States of Jersey and shall endeavour, in the course of their public and private conduct, not to act in a manner which would bring the States, or its Members generally, into disrepute.

Elected members should at all times treat other members of the States, officers, and members of the public with respect and courtesy and without malice, notwithstanding the disagreements on issues and policy which are a normal part of the political process.


Subject: RE: Question
Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 17:43:17 +0100
From:J.Reed@gov.je


Dear
I have nothing further to add to my original response which I have copied below. yours James Reed.

SirAt 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.




Now is it me or do we as citizens of Jersey have to turn to English newspaper for answers? I could give him the benefit of the doubt and say maybe he has not got any idea of what is going on, but then he is the Minister of Education and should know who is working for him that may pose a real danger to our children.

1 comment:

voiceforchildren said...

One Day.

It is a disgrace James Reed will not reassure parents and appears to be protecting his Civil Servants.
In fact I believe his Civil Servants are authoring his e-mails. They are very similar to the e-mails I recieved from his predeccessor, the writing pattern is uncannilly familiar.

As you will know, I have been trying to find out if the said top Civil Servant is a suspect in the ongoing child abuse investigation and no one will tell me. I thought now that we have a new Education Minister things would change but alas they have stayed exactly the same and that reinforces my belief it is the Civil Servants running the show and not the minister.

Mike Vibert lost his seat at the last election while the Civil Servants are still employed and picking up a very comfortable wage.

James Reed has not faced an election for 2 terms but will be doing at the next election. The very same Civil Serant(s) will cost him his seat, when will our elected members understand they are accountable to the electorate and unfortunately their Civil Servants aren't?

I share your worry about our Education Department and our childrens well being and safety. The fact that the Minister refuses to either confirm nor deny allegations that his top Civil Servant is a suspect in a child abuse investigation, I believe, gives us the answer.

There is nobody over here that will help us parents so all we can do is Blog about it and show the world how Jersey operates.

Keep up the fight.......our children deserve it!!