Falklands : Report of Executive Council Meeting held on Wednesday 25 July 2012
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 28.07.2012 (Article Archived on 11.08.2012)
Executive Councillors attending were The Hon Jan Cheek, The Hon Sharon Halford and the Hon Dick Sawle.
Report of Executive Council Meeting held on Wednesday 25 July 2012
by the Honourable Dick Sawle
Executive Councillors attending were The Hon Jan Cheek, The Hon Sharon Halford and the Hon Dick Sawle.
Under a few matters arising from the previous meeting it was reported that we hoped that the results of the Census that took place in April of this year would be made available by the end of August.
After going through the customary legislative task status report, we moved on to the first paper which deals with Retirement Pensions. This is a publically available paper and simply deals with an increase in pension payments. The 4% increases in pension payments are planned to take into account increases in a variety of items that flow from the recent budget decisions. However, instead of having those increases take effect in January of next year, the purpose of this paper is to bring forward the payment date to July of this year, given that the budget increases have already taken place. This means that a weekly retirement pension increases from £123 to £128 and the married couple’s supplement increases from £69 to £72.
We ratified a loan request that came via FIDC, but the details of this are not public as they relate to individuals.
We then also approved a mechanism that will enable FIG appointed board members on Stanley Services Ltd to react more quickly to investment requests made by the Stanley Services Board. Simply put, it streamlines the process and gives FIG the ability to react more quickly to circumstances whilst at the same time ensuring that all MLAs are fully informed. Further details are not public as they relate to a private limited company, but it is good to see the level of investment that SSL is putting back into our economy.
The next item on the agenda was a paper entitled “FIPASS Action Plan 2012 to 2018”. The title of the paper is fairly self-explanatory. We are all aware that FIPASS in its current form cannot cope with the immediate demands that will be placed on it over the next few years. The paper spells out some immediate actions that need to be taken in terms of survey work, design options, and prioritises actions that are required to be taken. Some figures will be edited from the paper, but the remainder will be a public document.
We then dealt with a paper on the Import Substitution Programme. It has been clear for some time that this programme has not been working as well as it was intended to work. Improvements had been made (for example reducing the amounts required to be invested), but this paper seeks to widen the scope of the programme to include Stanley based businesses but does set a maximum of £50,000 total project cost for each application. Funds already held in this scheme will also be allowed to carry over in the budget into the 2012/13 financial year. Whilst a number of people in Camp have already taken up this much simplified scheme, it is now hoped that there will be an even greater take up and the funds will be well spent. Further information is available in the paper or of course direct from FIDC.
We then approved a paper that signs us up to a non binding agreement concerning the Kyoto protocol and went on to consider the next paper which concerned public speaking on planning matters. This will go out for public consultation in due course. The aim of this paper is to allow the public to not only attend but also to speak either for or against any planning matter or of course any appeal. Whilst this is desirable and in the spirit of fair play, the legislation that will be required to make this come into force may be delayed due to the heavy pressure of other legislative priorities. However, having been approved, it will simply be a matter of exercising patience if you wish to speak out on such matters. Again, the details of how this will work in practice are in the policy paper which of course is a public document.
We then dealt with a couple of weight restrictions on two bridges, the Chartres River Bridge (32mt) and Boxer Bridge (26mt). Approval of this simply gives legal effect to the restrictions.
Next was a policy paper on the minimum wage. The proposal is that the Adult minimum wage be set at £5.05 per hour and that the minimum wage for those aged between 16 and 18 be set at £3.10. These amounts will be reviewed after one year and in due course there will be legislation to allow it to be enforced.
There will be a number of exempt people and likewise there are a number of people who must receive the minimum wage. For example, those people serving prison sentences or carrying out community service orders would not be eligible, but it would apply to short term contract workers, part-time workers and casual labour. Again, this paper is available to view the details of the policy and further detail will emerge once legislative drafting has begun.
For some time now we have all been aware of the fact that the laws of the Falkland Islands have not been revised or consolidated for many years. With the advent of potentially huge economic development, this has now become even more of a priority than was previously the case. This is a huge task and one which we plan to take in smaller more manageable components. The information in this paper gives the report of the working group set up to deal with this issue, notes that one of our legal team is already attending a conference on the subject and that a consultant be appointed to assist with the process and also steps that have been taken to tender the work out. Other jurisdictions have also been researched but little of great relevance to our situation has emerged.
The next paper concerned a lengthy document which relates to safeguarding procedures and fostering guidelines. Both manuals are available and are lengthy documents. These policies come into effect within the FIG immediately and ensure protection to both carers and children. Children being those under the age of 18.
We then moved onto a paper which dealt with the requirement to move funds from one vote to another in order to allow for specialist consultancy work to continue. The specialists involved are mainly concerned with telecommunications and aviation, but a new regulator post and how it might be funded will be brought to Exco in December 2012.
Forecast demands for aggregate from the quarry are set to increase. As a consequence, we approved the establishment in the next item of an additional five seasonal plant operators for the quarry for one season.
Turning to the next paper we were able to further define and clarify the Exco decision in 2010 which relates to the process for disadvantaged groups to recover their Falkland Island Status. By way of background, when the Constitution changed in 2009, a small group of people who were not present in the Falklands at that time had their status “suspended”. This was an unintentional consequence of the change in the Constitution and it was always accepted by the previous Assembly and by this one that this was unforeseen and should be rectified. This was effectively done in 2010, but the process of application for status by such people was not clarified. We therefore agreed that any such person, on returning to the Falklands and becoming ordinarily resident should simply have to write a letter stating their reasons for qualification together with a criminal record check. We hope that this will make the application process simple and efficient.
Again, on immigration matters, we maintained the maximum number of Permanent Residency Permits allowed in any one year at 44. In 2009/10 there were 16 granted, in 2010/11 there were 11 and in 2011/12 to date there have been 16.
We also considered applications for the granting of the Falkland Islands Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour. This is a great honour for people to have and relates not to their job or how well they may have done it, but to how much they have given to our community outside of their work which can take a number of forms. The result of the applications received will be announced formally in due course.
Finally, we appointed two lay members to the planning and building committee, Mr Brian Summers was re-appointed and Mr Tom Elsby was appointed for the first time. Congratulations to them both and many thanks for taking on this role.
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