Positions of trust found for 450 Labour Party cronies

The Malta Independent reports that there are 450 people on the public payroll in “positions of trust” with government ministries.

They include cleaners, a dog-handler, the coordinator of a crate-washing service, and a forklift driver. At the other end of the scale, they include the ministers’ heads of secretariat – a rare instance which really is a position of trust – and the top brass at the Police Academy.

“Positions of trust” are those for which the normal civil service procedures of interviews and public calls do not apply because the situation calls for a personal and trusted relationship, as with the private secretariat of cabinet ministers. Those people lose their jobs when their boss does, or return to the civil service department from which they have been seconded.

However, the “position of trust” description is now being used by this government as an excuse to put ordinary employees on the public payroll – at times permanently, which means that they don’t lose their jobs when their boss goes – without a competitive interview process or when there is no position to be filled but a job has to be found for a crony anyway.

The Malta Independent obtained the information after submitting a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Office of the Prime Minister has 112 people on the public payroll in positions of trust.