The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) investigation into the allegation that ‘whistle-blowers’ were incentivised to provide evidence to the McGrail Inquiry “has not uncovered any evidence that meets the threshold for criminal prosecution for Misconduct in Public Office.”
Unite the Union has today requested that the Gibraltar Government adopts the same legislation on pensions as the UK Government. The new law, enforced in October 2012, requires employers to have new duties. Unite calls on the Government to ensure that all employees of the private sector are entitled to an occupational pension on retirement.
The Union will campaign on the issue over the next few weeks. They insist that signatures have already been collected from different workplaces and a stand will be manned tomorrow morning, at the John Mackintosh Square in order to highlight the need for pension provision in the private sector.
Following a letter by Isobel Ellul-Hammond published in the Chronicle this week; the Government has rejected her claims that Minister Bossano’s talk, given to Bayside and Westside Students on the employment policy of the Government, was inappropriate in any way.
A statement released yesterday insisted that Minister Bossano’s comments were very well received. The statement continued, ‘it is very surprising that Mrs Ellul Hammond should take so much umbrage with Mr Bossano’s presentation which she only attended in her capacity as a parent. This is because in that same capacity as a parent Mrs. Ellul Hammond sat in the front row and was able to ask any questions or seek any clarification from Mr Bossano and she failed to do so.
The Opposition are incapable of welcoming anything that the Government has done without resorting to cheap political point scoring which interests nobody and helps no one. The latest statement on the refurbishment of a number of Government rental housing estates is a case in point.
It is a good and a positive development that the Government has decided to invest in its own housing stock which will improve the lives of residents in Glacis, Laguna and Moorish Castle Estates. This followed a period of intensive consultation with the residents in each of the estates as well as listening to the views of the Development and Planning Commission. The project will involve beautification, new windows, protective rendering and lift installation. It represents a huge investment in people. There will also be improvement works in Varyl Begg Estate and Alameda Estate.
The Gibraltar Government yesterday congratulated Head EU Draftsman, Paul Peralta at the EU and International Department on his re-election to the Council of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (CALC)
CALC held its general meeting at the end of the conference, during which Paul stood for re-election to one of the two European seats on the Council. A Government statement noted that ‘his continued participation at all levels of CALC, and in particular his place on the Council, means that through Paul, Gibraltar enjoys positive exposure to some of the most senior legislative counsel in the Commonwealth’.