Falklands : Executive Council Report for April 2006
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 02.05.2006 (Article Archived on 16.05.2006)
The Governor's Report on the Meeting of Executive Council on Thursday, 27 April 2006.
Removed temporarily by request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
GOVERNOR'S REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ON THURSDAY 27 APRIL 2006
I chaired the monthly meeting of Executive Council on Thursday 27 April 2006. It was good to be back in the chair again after missing the last two Executive Councils because of unavoidable absences overseas.
As usual at this time of year, we spent some time discussing various aspects of the forthcoming budget. We considered proposed budgets for the Falkland Islands Development Corporation and the Falkland Islands Tourist Board, as well as proposals from the Post Office and the Health and Social Services Department. The decision-making process is still in train, and the details will of course be published later in May. I would however like to say a few words about the proposals from the Tourist Board. Executive Council attaches a great deal of importance to the development of the tourist industry, and is ready to recommend the commitment of substantial additional funds in order to bring that about. It was therefore disappointing that some elements of the tourist industry appear to have found it difficult to provide the information which would have enabled the Tourist Board to justify the substantial additional funds which they were seeking. Without such a justification members felt unable to commit additional public funds for the development of tourism. They hope however that the Tourist Board, with the cooperation of the industry, will be able to resolve these problems and make their case.
Issues connected with young people and child protection have been taking up a good deal of the time of the public service in recent months. Executive Council considered two related reports. The first concerns the British Overseas Territories Child Protection Programme, which is being funded jointly by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development. The report sets out the recommendations made by Chris Hanmer of NCH, following her two visits to the Falkland Islands. It contains a wide range of recommendations, and is being published. The second report had been prepared by the Young People's Working Group, and is also being published. Executive Council decided that a small Working Group should be established to bring together and prioritise the complementary recommendations in these two reports, with a view to producing recommendations for the action which should now be taken. Proposals for the composition of the Working Group and a timetable for future work will be brought to Executive Council's May meeting.
Executive Council also considered a paper by the Director of Health and Social Services recommending some cost-neutral changes to the structure of the Social Work Department. As part of these changes the building currently housing the Welcome Centre will be vacated and returned to the FIG housing pool, while Longdon House will, following certain alterations, provide the main office base and a range of other facilities for the social work staff. These changes will facilitate a shift of emphasis to enable the Social Work Department to concentrate resources on working with families and individuals in order to maintain family units.
A wide range of people have benefited over the years from FIG's employment programme. Executive Council considered a paper from the Training and Development Manager which recommended a number of changes to the programme, including the establishment of an independent corporation to manage the programme, in order to increase its effectiveness. We had a full discussion of the paper, and members recommended a number of changes. The revised version of the paper will be published.
FIPASS is one of the Falkland Islands' most important facilities. It is essential for the future of the Falkland Islands economy that adequate dock facilities should continue to be available, but FIPASS is already beyond its planned span of life. The Marine Officer had therefore submitted a paper recommending a programme of substantial restitution work on FIPASS over the next 3-4 years in order to extend the life of the structure for a further 20-25 years. Members concluded that there needed to be more detailed discussion about the future of FIPASS before decisions could be taken on this proposed expenditure (which totalled over £3 million), but did acknowledge that some key work needed to take place in the near future. They therefore agreed to request the Marine Officer to produce a prioritised list of work which needed to be completed in the 2006/07 financial year, for submission to the May meeting of Executive Council.
Executive Council considered a request from Stanley Cathedral for financial assistance towards the recruitment costs of a new Rector. Executive Council gave their agreement to this request and to the proposal that the assistance should be in the form of a moratorium on mortgage repayments on the Deanery totalling £2,500 in 2006/07.
Listeners/readers may recall that Executive Council recently decided to extend the exemption of defence contract employees at MPA from local taxation. It was felt however that this created certain anomalies vis à vis Falkland Island residents. Executive Council therefore agreed to amend the relevant Ordinance in such a way as to bring Falkland Island residents recruited to work at Mount Pleasant for exempted defence contractors within the income tax regime.
The mechanism for charging for electricity has created controversy over the last few weeks. Executive Council considered a paper from the Director of Public Works on this subject. Executive Council agreed the recommendations by the Director of Public Works, namely that: all electrical meters should be set to the credit mode; reading of meters by FIG should be carried out on a six monthly cycle; and charges for usage in intervening quarters should be based on either customer readings or estimates by PWD. Members did however take careful note of the points made in the recent public debate. They therefore expressed the intention of making available in future electricity meters which showed the usage of electricity in kilowatt hours rather than in money terms. This would introduce the element of flexibility into the operation of the system which some customers were seeking. These meters would be provided at government expense where government considered that to be necessary, or otherwise at the customer's expense.
Listeners/readers will be aware from the media of the international concern about the possibility of a bird flu pandemic. Government, led by the Director of Health Services, has been undertaking a great deal of work on contingency planning, to prepare for such an emergency extending to the Falkland Islands. Executive Council considered and recommended the adoption of the Pandemic and Serious Infectious Disease Contingency Plan, and referred to Standing Finance Committee a recommendation that £13,000 per annum be spent on the stockpiling of a range of drugs and medical supplies for use during an emerging pandemic. I should like to take the opportunity personally to congratulate all those concerned on the very thorough and painstaking work which has gone into this comprehensive plan. The Plan is being published.
Executive Council agreed in principle in August last year that the Falkland Islands should join the UK in ratifying the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. However, before taking the final decision to do so, FIG sought clarification of the implications of such a decision from the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Having been reassured by DEFRA that ratification will not place any significant burdens on FIG, Executive Council agreed that the UK Government should now be informed that the Falkland Islands wishes to be included in ratification of these international treaties.
Executive Council considered a request from an individual for the export of a significant quantity of animal parts - mainly from southern sealions, black-browed albatross, rockhopper penguins, southern giant petrels, and certain other birds. After careful consideration, members agreed the recommendation of the Environmental Planning Officer that the application should be refused. It was also agreed that the Endangered Species Protection Ordinance 2003 should be amended to include any species of albatross and petrels listed in the Agreement for the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels, in order to prevent their export, and moreover that the possibility of ACAP species being included on the CITES species list should be investigated by the Environmental Planning Officer.
Continuing the environmental theme, I should report on the latest developments with regard to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by Desire Petroleum in connection with its plans to drill exploratory wells to the north of the Falkland Islands. Executive Council agreed to approve the EIA, subject to the following conditions:
- that an operational addendum containing details of the drilling contractor and drilling unit when known should be submitted to the Mineral Resources Committee in consultation with the Environmental Planning Officer;
- that the addendum to the EIA should be published in the Gazette;
- that Desire Petroleum comment on and supply information as required by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment's External Review recommendations. (These latter are being published.)
Executive Council approved the publication of the Revised Edition of the Laws (Amendment) Bill 2006, for submission to Legislative Council. The Bill makes it possible to publish the revised edition of the laws on CD-ROM rather than on paper as in the past.
As the current phase of house-building in Stanley nears its conclusion, Government has been considering future housing strategy. Executive Council had before it a paper from the Chief Executive. The paper, which is being published, recommends a shift of emphasis away from Government-led and subsidised building towards future development being led by the private sector. While not entirely ruling out the provision of some subsidised plots in the future, members endorsed this approach. They also asked Stanley Lands Committee to prepare a detailed draft housing strategy, incorporating the principles identified in the Chief Executive's report, to report back to Executive Council within three months, and to consult the local construction industry on the proposals for promoting building capacity and development of greenfield sites. Members also requested Standing Finance Committee to examine the proposed new FIG/SCB mortgage scheme and make final recommendations to ExCo in July.
Work is underway on immigration policy. There is still much to do to complete the current policy review and make recommendations for changes. Meanwhile, Executive Council approved an overarching immigration policy statement, as follows:
"The Falkland Islands immigration policy seeks to encourage, on a gradual and controlled basis, such permanent immigration as is in the interests of the Falkland Islands, taking into account the need:
(a) to increase the human capital of knowledge, ability and skill in the Falkland Islands;
(b) to develop and increase enterprise and innovation in the Falkland Islands; and
(c) to safeguard social cohesion and promote integration in the Falkland Islands."
This policy will inform the work which will be continuing over the next few months and which is likely to result in recommendations for amendments to current immigration legislation.
Finally, members noted three papers from the Director of Fisheries which had been submitted for information in connection with the work being carried out by the Fisheries Department in preparation for the introduction of the new fisheries regime. These papers covered the process of drawing up the eligibility registers and noted the applications which had been received, and provided information about the grant of individual transferable quota in the toothfish and loligo fisheries.
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