Falklands : General Purposes Committee Report (02/25/08)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 29.02.2008 (Article Archived on 14.03.2008)
A meeting of the General Purposes Committee took place on Wednesday, 20 February 2008.
GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE REPORT (02/25/08)
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of General Purposes Committee took place on Wednesday, 20 February 2008 and on Monday, 25 February 2008 Councillor Mike Summers briefed the media on what happened at that meeting and on other meetings that took place throughout February.
On the agenda there were items like:
1. A full discussion about the Housing Policy
2. Zero tolerance to drugs policy
3. Who would attend the c-24 meeting in Canada this year
4. The payment of Student Grants
5. A revision of Stanley Services Ltd Board Members
6. FICS Improvement Programme
7. Post GCSE Programme
8. Chief Executive’s programme for the next year
9. The Budget Process
10. ASSI Report
Other meetings throughout the month included
1. Three days on the Constitution
2. The CPA Visit
3. A meeting with John Pearson – No 2 at the British Embassy in Uruguay
4. Various meetings with FCO Officials on familiarisation visits.
ZERO TOLERANCE:
Cllr Summers explained that the Falklands has adopted a Zero tolerance policy on drugs and this was evident in the recent spate of arrests and convictions recently. “What we wanted to do is be clear about what zero tolerance is and about the policy,” said Cllr Summers. Cllrs would work with police, legislative system and the courts about deportation issues. At present, a person can get deported if he or she has served a prison sentence for drugs offences. Guidance is needed and the matter will be discussed at the Police Committee who will discuss sentencing policy from a police point of view. It is not clear whether Government House has anything written down about deportation or whether it is solely at the discretion of the Governor.
THE PAYMENT OF STUDENT GRANTS:
At the moment student grants are paid by cheque and Councillors discussed better, more efficient ways of paying student Grants.
STANLEY SERVICES LTD:
Tim Thorogood, the Chief Executive, with advice from the Attorney General, excused himself from becoming a board member of SSL due to possible conflict of interest. Cllr Summers will carry on as Chairman and Cllr Clausen will also be on the board as the portfolio holder Tourism and fishery development also SSL’s areas of interest and it is appropriate to have portfolio holders in those areas on the board.
SSL Shares have not been sold but this will be discussed in EXCO next month. It is FIG policy that the shares should be sold.
HOUSING:
Cllr Birmingham wanted to catch up with where we were with the housing policy and joint equity schemes. He raised questions about the sale of properties and Cllr Summers said that Government needed all the housing stock they had and even needed more. FIG’s “plot list” had been taken up and was closed but there was the possibility for plots around the area of the Leading Lights.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S OBJECTIVES:
There were 12 objectives that the Chief Executive would be meeting over the next year. These were discussed. They will be looked at again in six months to see how he is progressing with them.
THE BUDGET:
Councillors discussed ways to decrease expenditure by £.5Million and increase revenue by £.5Million. They need to squeeze out a few options in order to reduce expenditure.
FICS PROGRAMME:
There is an EXCO paper due next month but the Board of Education will be discussing it at their next meeting prior to it going to EXCO. There are issues with the balance between teaching and management for the Head of the Community School.
A.S.S.I.:
There are three airstrips that need looking at – the ones on Beaver, New and Westpoint Islands. All want extensions but only Beaver and New Islands have the potential for this this. Westpoint does not. There were also discussions about FIGAS getting in touch with Britain Norman about approaching the runways with a screen height of less than 50 ft and landing in more than 15kts of headwind.
C-24:
On pervious occasions Councillors had been to Ottawa and Toronto as well as to Washington, DC. However, visits to Canada have fallen by the wayside recently. It is hoped that either Cllr Robertson or Cllr Stevens could go this year if a reasonable price for travel and accommodation could be arranged.
THE CONSTITUTION:
Cllr Summers said that Mr Ian Hendry has done another draft of the Constitution. Issues to be resolved by march/april (hopefully) remain:
1. Governor’s additional powers to take decisions in relation to Mineral Resources
2. Ms Munn has to be satisfied with provisions about Falkland Islands’ Status from the human rights angle
3. The circumstances about when the Governor gets advice from EXCO in relation to senior Government appointments need to be finalised.
Cllr Summers may see Ms Munn when he goes to Europe on business and holiday. Once the final draft is complete it will come back to the public for final consultation. Hopefully our new constitution could be in place by this October.
FCO VISITS:
John Pearson from the British Embassy in Uruguay was in the Falklands on holiday and has an hour-long meeting with Councillors on how public relations and media could help get our message across in Latin America.
Robin Twyman from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was here on a familiarisation visit. He was on the air-bridge negotiating team. He raised no particular issues.
NEXT OF KIN:
The families of Argentine Next of Kin have not asked for a charter flight. H. E. the Governor Mr Huckle is to get a group together to discuss the logistics of a visit by the Next of Kin on a chartered cruise liner. A lot of good will be done if there is pre planning when the Families arrive by sea.
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