Former DGAIA director Ricard Calvo claims a 'Persecution of separatism supporters'

This morning, several officials from DGAIA and the Department of Social Action during the 2016-2020 period are appearing before a parliamentary committee. That is, in the years when the alleged irregularities reported by the Audit Office occurred. 

The first to appear was Ricard Calvo, who served as Director General of Child and Adolescent Care from January 2016 to August 2017. His role has been highly controversial, because he joined DGAIA after having chaired several foundations that were awarded contracts in a supposedly irregular manner. 

Ricard Calvo has denied the main accusation, stating that the contracting was done in accordance with the law and always prioritizing the protection of all minors. He has repeated ERC's basic argument on this matter: "In a context of the application of Article 155, of persecution of separatism, and of searching for any argument to go against the political leaders of that time, it is clear that after two years in which the prosecutor's office has searched and searched, they determine that there is no irregularity in this regard."

he alleges political persecution

Calvo has said that he received the "political mandate" to "promote innovative policies" to "improve the situation of children and young people in Catalonia." However, he has argued that in a "situation of overwhelm" they did not have new budgets because they were extended." He also pointed out that, when he took office, DGAIA had 80% of its activity outsourced to "non-profit" foundations.

One of them, Plataforma Educativa, had been led by Calvo himself, who had twenty years of experience in the sector. However, he has denied any conflict of interest by citing the 2019 public procurement ethics committee report. According to this report, "the director general did not influence the procurement processes."

Calvo himself has defended the procurement process questioned in the Audit Office's report. He states that before he arrived, many residential places were cut, which caused tension and overcrowding in the service. "Without a budget but with the same needs, new contracts could not be made," he argued.

For this reason, he acknowledged that "the majority of contracts in 2016 were extensions of contracts signed between 2008 and 2013." However, he added that these extensions were covered by the second provision of Decree 3/2016 on urgent measures in public procurement. "What it clearly describes is that these social services that came from contracts prior to the entry into force of the 2016 law could continue to be provided with the entities." 

the opposition strongly criticizes

As expected, Calvo has had the protection of ERC. Moreover, its spokesperson Ester Capella has stated that ERC updated and improved the procurement systems. However, the opposition has strongly criticized Calvo and Esquerra.

Junts has questioned the criteria by which emergency was used as the usual contracting method. They have also criticized Calvo for "endorsing" contracts to entities of which he had been a part. 

PP has denied political persecution, recalling that Article 155 only lasted eight months. In addition, the conservatives have referred to the "abuse of outsourcing." As well as to the "workers and professionals who reported a lack of transparency."

The harshest criticism has come from Vox, which has accused Calvo of using revolving doors for personal gain. "You were the manager of a group of foundations (Plataforma Educativa) that manage minors under guardianship and former wards. That benefited from the many million-euro contracts flagged by the audit office and the anti-fraud office," said Vox's spokesperson. 

"After this, you were appointed director of DGAIA, as the public official responsible for awarding the million-euro grants to the foundations you chaired. It was €98M awarded directly to the foundations where you had been. When you're caught, you say it's political persecution," she added, also referring to "institutionalized corruption."