Outcomes - Selected Case Summaries
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Transparency and accountability for salary increase process
Decisions | 30 November 2023
Ministry of Home Affairs
An applicant made a request to the Ministry of Home Affairs for records relating to the fairness and compliance of salary increases in the Cayman Islands Fire Service. The Ministry provided the applicant with guidance from the Portfolio of the Civil Service, but claimed that the other responsive records were exempt because their disclosure would inhibit the free and frank exchange of views and prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. They also consisted of third-party personal information.
In the circumstances of this case, the Ombudsman found that the names, salaries and other information that would allow the identification of the individuals who received an increase were exempt because their disclosure would prejudice the conduct of public affairs. However, the remaining parts of the records, including the names and other information of the civil servants who actioned the salary increases, as well as the information that demonstrates the process used to apply for, and obtain, permission to action the salary increases, were ordered disclosed.