“Allegations are all lies” – FTS official

The Head of Human Resources at the Foundation for Tomorrow Schools (FTS), Jonathan Brimmer, insists that allegations of “unprofessionalism, abuse and dictatorship” made against him by a group of FTS staff are “all false”.

Brimmer refers to the letter that a group of FTS employees claim was sent to all MPs asking for an investigation into several irregularities at the government agency. The employees reported CEO Neville Young and his assistant, Human Resources Manager Jonathan Brimmer, for a raft of irregularities and claims of mistreatment.

While Young refused to reply to The Shift’s questions about the alleged abuses, Brimmer denied all the accusations, calling them “false.”

Brimmer confirms that employees signed a counter-letter, as reported by The Shift, but denies that they were forced to do so.

In his reply to The Shift, the FTS Human Resources Manager said, “I completely deny that the employees were asked to sign the declaration mentioned in your report.”

“This initiative was taken by the FTS employees themselves, who expressed their disgust at the allegations made in the letter allegedly sent to MPs. I was aware of this declaration after it was made,” Brimmer added.

“Since all the allegations made in the letter allegedly sent to MPs are also false, there is no concern about it, nor the need to ask anyone to sign a counter declaration,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, some MPs who contacted The Shift said they never received the letter and expressed their wish to receive it so that they may file the employees’ grievances with the authorities.

The employee’s letter against Brimmer makes several allegations, one of which concerns a project supervisor whose employment was terminated abruptly because the Human Resources Manager refused to acknowledge his medical condition.

This claim is substantiated by a decision by the Industrial Tribunal in 2021, which condemned Brimmer’s conduct and found it irregular. Due to Brimmer’s conduct, the Foundation was ordered to pay the dismissed employee around €22,000 in compensation.

No disciplinary action was taken against Brimmer.

Claims of irregularities at the Foundation have been reported for years, but the government, particularly Education Minister Clifton Grima, has repeatedly ignored them.

This turmoil inside the Foundation has resulted in the lack of performance by the same agency tasked to build new public schools.

Until a few years ago, the Foundation could complete state-of-the-art projects on time and within budget. This has now become a rarity.

The Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools has now become synonymous with a lack of planning, corruption, and years of delays.