The Public Ethics Commission, the advisory body on this matter in the Administration of Castilla y León, archives the complaint filed against former counselor Verónica Casado for a training course allegedly paid for by a pharmacist, considering that she did not violate the Code of Ethics and Austerity of high officials.
This is stated in the minutes consulted by Ical of the meeting of June 21 in which the Commission agreed unanimously to close the file opened at the beginning of February. In addition, the former vice president and attorney for Citizens Francisco Igea published on Twitter the communication from the Board to Casado about the completion of the file and called on the spokesman and counselor for Economy and Finance, Carlos Fernández Carriedo, to report it, as he did when he beginning.
At the beginning of February, the Junta de Castilla y León opened confidential information on the alleged payment of a course on leadership by a pharmacist to the former Minister of Health in León for two days, November 11 and 12 last year, a seminar that Verónica Casado did not include it in her government agenda. In addition, this action also affected the alleged increase in the salary of an interim nurse without the qualifications required to be head of service.
In March, the Commission agreed to request additional information from Verónica Casado, as well as from the Ministry of Health to find out if she breached the Code of Ethics and Austerity for Senior Officials. After the work carried out, this body met again on June 21 under the Presidency of the Minister of the Presidency, Jesús Julio Carnero, and adopted a decision after 45 minutes of deliberations.
From the analysis of the documentation sent by the Ministry of Health, the Commission stated that it appears that the course ‘Leadership and health transformation program’ was organized and coordinated by the former cabinet of the former Minister of Health. In addition, he pointed out that the senior positions were registered from the team itself, considering that it could be of interest for health management both in the Ministry of Health and in the Regional Health Management.
The members of the Commission affirmed that it cannot be considered that the Code of Ethics has been breached, since the senior officials attending the course were neither aware of nor intervened in the organization of the course. For their part, regarding the former counselor, they considered that the arguments put forward regarding the reason for the course are “far from the interest in receiving a gift or a benefit.”
“It cannot be concluded that there was a claim to obtain a gift or a benefit as a gift or present, or offer or promise in response to expected behavior, so it is understood that the Code of Ethics has not been breached,” states the minutes. However, it is recommended that training for managers and also for public employees be carried out through those bodies that have been assigned such functions, leaving a record of the legal instrument used to organize and deliver said training.
Similarly, the members of the Commission have ensured that it cannot be considered that the former Minister of Health has breached the Code of Ethics in its point 5.3 and 5.4, criteria on transparent action.
In its verdict, the commission has had the opinion, as members, of the general secretary of the Ministry of the Presidency, Santiago Martín; the Professor of Criminal Law at the University of León, Miguel Díaz, and the Professor of Administrative Law at the University of Salamanca, Pedro Tomás Nevado-Batalla Moreno.
Miguel Díaz has defended that he did not consider that the Code of Ethics had been breached and he doubts about the possible breach of the agenda of senior officials, considering it appropriate to review its content so that doubts that may arise in its application are dispelled.
Finally, Pedro Nevado states that he does not consider that there is a breach of the Code of Ethics either, and Santiago Fernández recalled that it must be updated.
