Executive Council met on Thursday 24 April. After a series of heavy Agendas, this one was slightly lighter. We dealt with a number of issues which I think will be of interest to the public.

One such issue is Camp Education. Members agreed that it was better, where possible, that children in Camp should attend school in Stanley – subject, of course, to the families concerned being in agreement. Executive Council therefore approved a proposal for a taxi service to bring children living in the North Camp into Stanley each day to attend the Infant and Junior School. The taxi service will now go out to tender. Since the scheme will remove the need for one travelling teacher post, it should result in a significant net saving for the taxpayer.

We discussed policy on the provision of dental implants. This is an expensive procedure because it involves treatment in the UK. Executive Council concluded that each case should be decided on its merits, but that only two cases a year should be paid for from public funds.

Executive Council agreed that four further UK charities should be recognised in the Falkland Islands for tax purposes. This means that you can now make tax-deductible donations in the Falkland Islands to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Trust and Cancer Research UK.

We considered a couple of housing issues. First, Executive Council agreed to continue the Housing Assistance Programme run jointly by Standard Chartered Bank and the Falkland Islands Government, but to revise the terms of the programme with effect from 1 July. The new terms will be published in due course, once final agreement has been reached with Standard Chartered Bank.

Our second housing issue concerned the question of who is eligible for the allocation of plots in East Stanley. Executive Council considered a particular category of people, namely those who have approval for a licence to hold land to build a house in Stanley, but who do not have either Falkland Islands status or a permanent residence permit. Executive Council decided that people in this category should not be allowed to apply for Government serviced residential building plots in East Stanley, unless they are partners of Falkland Islands status holders or permanent residence holders.

Executive Council considered whether the law should be changed to bring the Public Service within the scope of the Employment Protection Ordinance 1989. Basically, this would put the relationship between members of the Public Service and their employer (whether the Falkland Islands Government or the Falkland Islands Development Corporation) on much the same basis as that between a private sector employee and his employer. Executive Council agreed that the next stage should be to consult public sector employees and the Civil Service Union about this proposal.

Executive Council approved two Bills for submission to Legislative Council. The first amends the Education Ordinance to reflect the change in the academic year due to take place later this year. The second amends the Road Traffic Ordinance to allow young people to ride motor cycles to the south of Stanley Bypass.

Executive Council endorsed a paper presented by the new Chief Executive, Chris Simpkins, setting out his priorities for his term of office.

Listeners may recall that, following last year’s failure of the squid to arrive in Falkland waters, it was decided to restrict the validity of work permits for relatively unskilled positions to one year wherever possible. Executive Council decided that, given that the economic position has now improved significantly, work permits could once again be issued for two-year periods, provided of course that the vacancy had been advertised locally.

Next, a subject of interest to the farming community. It concerns the wild cattle on Wickham Heights. Executive Council agreed a proposal that the Department of Agriculture should work in partnership with consenting farmers to capture or cull all the wild cattle living on the Wickham Heights. The Department's role would be to provide appropriate support to the farmers who wished to carry out the exercise, in particular ensuring that animal welfare standards are adhered to and that animals which are to be kept are checked for TB and Brucellosis.

Finally, ExCo agreed to schedule a special seminar devoted to the Fisheries Policy Review for Thursday 22 May.