Why did Marlaska refuse to carry out a new audit on the comparison of police and civil guards?

The comparison between the different State Security Forces and Bodies remains a pending subject for the Government. It is enough to take a look at the payrolls of the agents to verify that The 807 million “inverted” After the pact signed in 2018 they have not been enough. Moreover, That salary gap has increased year after year. So much so that just ten days ago the Basque Executive reached an agreement with the majority of Ertzaintza unions to upload 4,200 euros more a year to each of its agents.

Figure that we must add to the existing gap of 8,251 euros a year, thanks to the “Artimañas” of the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who far from taking measures about it is bound to put more obstacles. This is demonstrated by the fact that it will hide the agents that had appealed the judgment of the National Court that forces him to renegotiate with the unions compliance with that comparison agreement. Specifically, the third and eighth clauses, which contemplated a game of one hundred million a year to encourage the creation of jobs for staff in second activity and reserve, as well as process a law of remuneration equality that ensures end of salary inequalities between bodies between bodies Police

But they are not the only problems of the head of Interior with the justice on account of the salary equalization. Controversy was also the audits process to quantify the exact amount to comply with the equalization. Up to five occasions The Ministry directed by Marlaska to deliver the file has been denied With all the minutes, audit reports, as well as how much relevance documentation was made and approved in the meetings held during the Salary Equiparration Agreement signed on March 18, 2018 between Interior, the police unions and existing Civil Guard associations then. A refusal that reached the courts, being the Central Court of Administrative Contentious Who demanded, without success, the delivery of the file with all the minutes and audits that Interior refuses to provide the agents.

Were the audits manipulate?

Just a year after the agreement was signed, Police unions and civil guards associations They demanded to see those audits, since they did not agree with the amount destined to cover the third and last stretch of the equalization. A figure, 807 million, which interior defended by cape and sword arguing that it was agreed and confirmed by the audit commissioned to the company Ernest & Young, to those who paid 120,516 euros for their work. However, given the insistence of the agents, Marlaska agreed to meet them to inform them in detail.

Those details never arrived, since he just gave them a CD and indicate that the agreed figure was correct, so it ended the comparison agreement. There is plenty of saying that those 807 million were not only enough, but were far from the necessary amount for a “real comparison” with the regional police. But the desire to hide those reports was what gave the alarm. In that CD there was a section of “conclusions” where Ernest & Young said that “in his opinion, The aforementioned 807 million figure is insufficient to reach remuneration comparison “. It must be remembered that this auditor made a report prior to that presented by Grande-Marlaska, which was dismissed by interior claiming that they had not taken into account the equalization “put to place” and did not adjust to the specifications of technical prescriptions. An explanation that did not convince the agents, who They accused the minister of presenting an “letter audit.”

“Pressures” to the consultant

In that original report, Ernest & Young explained that “there are certain concepts that were taken into consideration in the salary mass of the Civil Guard and the National Police compared to that corresponding to the Mossos d’Esquadra that, if not had in account, They would have thrown a higher amount“. The concepts of those who speak are the costume plus, the social action and the residence. Remuneration that, if excluded from the salary mass used by the Secretary of State for the calculation, would demonstrate that The amount of 807 million signed in the agreement would not be sufficient to reach real comparison of the State Security Forces and Bodies with the Mossos or the Ertzaintza.

However, In his second report he changed completely. In this second document, the external consultant assured that the 807 million agreed between the signatory parties of the agreement were “the total and absolute framework” of which the audit had to leave. Thus, it certified that this amount was “correct” and “adjusted” to the existing remuneration reality.

The different unions and associations recriminated to interior the violation of their rights and wondered if there could be some kind of “Pressure” to the consultant to make a “custom” report. Thus, they decided to take legal actions, with the aim of finding out whether in the consultant’s report “professional criteria” were applied or if, on the contrary, there were “interference or pressures” that would have conditioned it.