Ignorance about the role of civil servants may be behind a feeling in Cabinet that some senior civil servants are uncooperative, according to the Bermuda Public Service Union.

In the wake of Premier Alex Scott?s defence of senior Works Ministry staff against allegations that some had sabotaged Pro-Active Management System?s contract to build the new senior secondary school at Berkeley, BPSU secretary general Ed Ball said that the union was aware of ?many issues surrounding Berkeley from day one?.

?All I would say is that when the dust settles we may find that the truth has a funny way of revealing itself. In other words through the arbitration process or the court case we would finally get to the truth of whether the civil servant, the Minister or Cabinet is responsible or a combination of all three.?

Mr. Scott and Works Minister Ashfield DeVent have steadfastly defended the senior staff at the Ministry since Pro-Active went public with their allegations.

At a Press conference on Wednesday, both Mr. Scott and Mr. DeVent said no civil servants had refused to comply with their directives. And, Mr. Scott said, Works Ministry civil servants had been supportive of the school project from the start.

But asked about the experience of other Cabinet Ministers, Mr. Scott diplomatically acknowledged that there had been some problems.

?Ministers, in a moment of candour, have said that things could be better,? he said.

To which Mr. Ball?s response was: ?If there?s a genuine complaint, then deal with it. If it?s not, then don?t disparage the character of the civil service or don?t use the civil servant as a scapegoat.?

Mr. Ball explained that Government is guided by a ministerial code of conduct and guidelines and a procedures manual and Public Service Commission regulations which stipulate what the civil service can and cannot do.

Financial Instructions provide additional stipulations for Ministers and civil servants.

?Basically there are some Ministers who may not fully understand the role of civil servants. And their role and functions,? he said.

Ministers can only give direction to Permanent Secretaries and department directors who, with few exceptions must follow them. ?I have been aware of many problems and situations that caused this union concerns and we will always voice those concerns directly to the Secretary to the Cabinet who is charged with ensuring that the civil servant carries out his or her instructions within the responsibilities of the policies,? Mr. Ball added.

?There are some Ministers that feel you should jump immediately without necessarily knowing the ramifications or whether it can be done. It may be illegal, it may be unethical and it may be just downright non-sensible to carry out.?

A civil servant could refuse to carry out instructions which amount to illegal activity or will put them in personal danger.

With other directives, the key was for the civil servant to protect themselves by documenting the instructions along with their concerns as to why it may be unadvisable, he continued. ?That protects the civil servant so if there is any illegalities, at least the civil servants may not necessarily be charged for something that he or she knows is incorrect. Conversely, if there is an instruction from the Minister that the civil servant should carry out then there are avenues to deal with proven insubordination or other matters pertaining to non performance. And in such instances the union will certainly be there to act as an advocate for the aggrieved senior civil servant,? Mr. Ball said.

?However, the BPSU will not stand by and allow any Minister to use his or her office, especially if there are direct conflicts of interest, to impede the good name of the Bermuda Civil Service. Because what it means is that effectively the tax payer will bear the brunt of any decisions that a Minister does for his own comfort and there are many examples coming into this office that deeply concern us that we have never seen in our experience.?

Asked whether any Ministers had complained of insubordination, Mr. Ball said: ?The Secretary to the Cabinet has been very useful on matters where Ministers have had no case and have tried to use their powers to circumvent procedure.?

But he also acknowledged that there ?may have been instances that have been proven that an instruction may not have been carried out.? Such cases were dealt with appropriately.

?The union feels that if there are bona fide cases where senior civil servants have deliberately tried to sabotage or interfere with effective instructions or acting in the best interest of the Minister and the government then they need to lay the charges against those officers and have them fully investigate. However, in most instances civil servants are taking instructions from someone above them. So the key might be who is giving the instructions and if there is a paper trail we can get to the bottom of who formally gave the instructions and for what purpose.?