St Helena : St Helena EXCO Report 12 May 2009
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 16.05.2009 (Article Archived on 30.05.2009)

We began by looking at the summary of Undertakings Given and Resolutions Made at the Legislative Council that had been between 26th March and 1st April.

EXCO REPORT 30 – 12^th May 2009

I found this a particularly interesting Executive Council. We had a number of fascinating issues to discuss and quite a few current concerns were raised under Any Other Business.

We began by looking at the summary of Undertakings Given and Resolutions Made at the Legislative Council that had been between 26^th March and 1^st April. You may recall that this was a particularly long LEGCO and it was hardly surprising that there were 22 undertakings and 8 motions that appeared in this paper. Many of the undertakings given during the LEGCO have already been achieved. Among those that are worthy of additional comment is the promise to examine whether immigration and embarkation of passengers from the RMS can be speeded up. It has subsequently had to be slowed down substantially due to the swine fever scare. 

The paper itself is a very useful check to Public Officials in that it enables them to make sure they are acting and reacting as our Councillors wish, and there was no argument that such is what is happening.

The Financial Secretary then presented an Information Paper on the reform of our budgeting process. This initiative stems from the PSMP (Public Sector Modernisation Programme), and it has several very desirable features:

Ø       It will enable us to match our policy with our planning for 3 years’ ahead. Thus the Sustainable Development Plan, which will be updated next year, will provide genuine policy guidance and prioritisation to our financial planning.

Ø       The 3 year horizon will also be useful as we will roll it forward with each year and then we will always be looking at the coming 3 years.

Ø       The idea is also to make sure that our Departments are output rather than input focussed. That is a grand way of saying that it is what government actually does that is important, rather than what we merely say we are going to do.

All that may seem like a good dose of common sense and I believe that to be the case. It may have the fancy title of “Budget Process Reform”, but what it actually achieves is entirely straightforward. It will help us very significantly in our negotiation with DfID over our future funding (called DAPM), which is due to take place within the next year.

We then turned to our most controversial topic of the morning – fuel prices. You will all be aware that we adjust our fuel prices once a quarter in order to pass on any savings or additional costs that may come from the most recent shipment delivered to Rupert’s. You will also appreciate that it isn’t just the raw cost of the fuel, we have to pay for the transport, which can vary considerably from the previous delivery, as well as for the currency risk. Fuel is unfortunately purchased in dollars and our currency here is sterling. So as the pound has declined in value against the dollar over recent months, we can buy fewer dollars for each pound than we could say a year ago. That means that even if the actual oil is at the same price as before, it could well cost us more.

I am sure you can guess what comes next. In spite of the fact that oil prices have stabilised recently, the last shipment actually cost us more for both diesel and petrol. However, a review of overhead costs for the operation of the Fuel Farm carried out by the Finance Department revealed that we would be able to make savings and need not necessarily pass on the whole increase to the consumer. Thus a modest change was recommended by the Financial Secretary.

Nevertheless Councillors were not entirely comfortable with some of the issues surrounding the recommendation, and it was agreed to revisit the detail and bring an amended paper to the next EXCO in 2 weeks’ time. It was however decided that there would be no increase in the cost of fuel for fishing whatever any subsequent decision may be.

Under Any Other Business the freshly returned Attorney General presented us with his recommended timetable for the consideration and consultation of the draft Constitution. I spoke a great deal about this two weeks’ ago, and we will be starting the process by having discussion at an Information Legco this coming Friday.

The issue of the ongoing saga of the wind turbines was also raised and we agreed to have a thorough look at that at a subsequent InfoLegco. Questions were asked by Members concerning progress with Rock Stabilisation and the proposed Bailey bridge. We were able to give assurances that both are progressing and indeed the bridge should be in place during June.

The vexed issue of who is responsible for the public toilets in Jamestown and why are they perpetually in need of attention was raised and the Chief Secretary assured us he is dealing with that, as with many other issues.

We also considered the fact that the legislation banning smoking in public places has now been drafted and will thus enter the full final consultation stage in the near future. Although this topic did not get much attention form the public at the policy stage, members felt that it would generate real debate now that it is within sight.

I agreed to look in to the matter of where we might be able to obtain funding for the relocation of the Public Library and I also said I would talk with the Public Health Department about the possibility of wheelie bins helping in the eradication of rats.

Exco has one of its regular meetings with the board of Solomons tomorrow and we briefly discussed the issues on our agenda.

Finally I brought Councillors up to date with how I see the Airport Consultation process after Mark Lancaster’s visit. I said that I thought his visit had been very useful indeed and that such first hand experience of our situation here can only serve us well at Westminster. The promise of a Green Paper from the Conservatives in the near future is especially welcome, particularly as Mark made no secret of the fact that he believes that any further delay in reaching a decision can only be damaging to our economy.

Rosemary Stevenson, the Consultation Coordinator will be with us from Sunday 14^th June until the 22^nd and that will present us with a real opportunity to make our feelings known. We are working hard to make sure that her programme gives everyone the chance to meet with her and if you wish to do so personally, pleas let Sharon Wainwright know so that an appointment can be made.

As you can see, we covered quite a few topics at this meeting, which finished a 12.55 pm.

Andrew Gurr

Governor

12^th May 2009

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