Consultants, persons of trust employed by government top 700

Around 700 people have been employed by the government as persons of trust, consultants, employed in positions of trust or as politically appointed individuals, information gathered by the Malta Independent has shown. 

Freedom of Information requests by the newspaper revealed the number of employees as persons of trust, consultants and given positions of trust by each ministry.

The Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government, and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) have employed the highest number of employees in positions of trust, consultants, direct appointees and politically appointed persons with 107 and 105 employees respectively.

The ministry with the least number of employees has been the Ministry for Finance with six people employed on a trust basis or as consultants.

A number of unique positions also cropped up, such as an employee whose job is that of a security guard at the Addolorata Cemetery. 

The employee’s job description includes investigating disturbances, reporting occurrences, patrolling the premises, preventing and detecting intrusions, ensuring security on the premises as well as apprehending and evicting violators from premises – with force if needed.

This job carries a salary scale of 15 which amounts to a maximum of €15,700.

In August 2016, a new policy had been drawn which separates the definitions of persons of trust and positions of trust.

“Engagement on a trust basis will primarily be classified in terms of whether the individual concerned is being engaged from outside or within the Public Administration,” the document states.

“Individuals engaged from outside the Public Administration will henceforth be termed as ‘Persons of Trust’.”

“Public Officers/Employees engaged on a trust basis will be deemed as occupying a ‘Position of Trust’,” according to the document.

The 105 persons employed on a trust basis within the Office of the PM include well-known names such as Keith Schembri who acts as the PM’s chief of staff and Kurt Farrugia who is the government’s head of communications.

The ministry for justice, culture and local government’s chief of staff is amongst the highest paid positions within the ministry with a salary scale of 3 which amounts to around €38,000 together with the private secretary who has a salary scale of 5 which amounts to around €30,600.

683 individuals are currently employed within government positions of trust in comparison with the 542 in 2015.

The Office of the PM employed 112 people in 2015, in comparison to the 105 as of October 2017.

The Malta Independent on Sunday asked every ministry to provide information on all persons employed as persons of trust, persons in positions of trust, and consultants

The numbers

Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government – 107 employees (32 positions of trust)

Office of the Prime Minister – 105 employees (45 positions of trust)

Ministry for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity – 77 people (12 positions of trust)

Ministry for European Affairs and Equality – 66 employees (15 positions of trust)

Ministry for Education and Employment – 49 (11 positions of trust)

Ministry for Health – 48 employees (17 positions of trust)

Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change – 47 employees (6 positions of trust)

Ministry for Gozo – 28 employees (5 positions of trust)

Ministry for Energy and Water Treatment – 27 employees (13 positions of trust)

Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion – 27 employees (5 positions of trust)

Ministry for Tourism – 27 employees (10 positions of trust)

Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects – 25 employees (17 positions of trust)

Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business – 24 employees (2 positions of trust)

Ministry for Human Affairs and National Security – 20 employees (5 positions of trust)

Ministry for Finance – 6 employees (2 positions of trust)