Falklands : General Purposes Committee Meeting Report (August 2006)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 30.08.2006 (Article Archived on 13.09.2006)
Cllrs Summers and Clausen update us on what happened during this committee meeting.
GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT FOR AUGUST 2006
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the General Purposes Committee took place on Wednesday, 23 August. On Friday, 25 August 2006 Cllrs Mike Summers and Andrea Clausen gave a press briefing about the meeting at Gilbert House.
A BRIEF RUN-DOWN OF MEETINGS:
Cllr Summers gave a brief run down of the meetings held by Councillors throughout the month as well as what happened at General Purposes Committee. He began by saying that there were discussions on how to approach the C-24, what the strategy has been and what the way forward will be. Other overseas meetings were discussed and it was thought that more focus should be aimed at overseas meetings Councillors attend.
A discussion with Publicans about no smoking gave insight into what a ban on smoking in public places would mean to them. Also discussed was apprenticeships and how they can be organised, terms of reference and the best solution, taxation on pensions and the policy issues that need to be reviewed, a change in the law to make it illegal for anyone under 16 years old to possess tobacco products, a draft report on the Constitution and discussion about a petition on the holiday credit scheme.
APPROACH TO ATTENDING MEETINGS OVERSEAS:
The approach to C-24 and other meetings that Councillors attend was one of co-ordination and focus. Cllr Summers and one other would attend meetings about Foreign Matters and Cllr. Davies and one other would attend the C-24 Meeting in New York. Cllr. Cockwell plus one other will attend Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meetings and Cllr Clausen and one other will attend meetings and the forum on European Community matters. Cllr Summers and another member will focus on the Overseas Territories Consultative Council. This focus is intended to use one Councillor with experience to attend relevant meetings, while giving experience to other Councillors in the relevant area of focus. All Councillors will have an opportunity to go to the Party Conferences and not everyone will do everything.
With reference to focus on the C-24 meeting in New York, Cllr Summers stressed that we need to attend it to get our point across and use our focus to put out a constant stream of messages in a planned way.
HOLIDAY CREDIT SCHEME:
A discussion on the reduction in the Holiday Credit Scheme brought the fact that it will not return to £1.00 a day any time soon into focus, with Cllr Summers saying that the petition organised by Carol Stewart-Reid and its 800 signatories. “If there was free money on offer, why wouldn’t you sign it,” Cllr Summers said. He continued that from Council’s point of view they have the responsibility to set a sensible budget dealing with priorities for public expenditure. Though the holiday credit scheme, “it has a place, otherwise it wouldn’t exist,” Cllr Summers added. Some people benefit more than others but when three of four Illex seasons have failed badly, fisheries income is £15Million opposed to £26Million during good times so we have to be careful about the budget. “Giving away money to go on holiday is not the most important priority,” Cllr Summers continued. The holiday credit scheme will be reviewed from time to time. And, as resources become available it could be reinstated at a higher level. “If we don’t have the wealth, how can we distribute it,” Cllr Clausen said. We simply don’t know how the fishery is going to perform at this point in time. Cllr Summers added a paraphrase about the first sentence of the accompanying statement on the petition: “The holiday credit scheme is the only thing that some Falklands people get from fisheries income. That is errant nonsense. It is rubbish, he said. Most of the services the government delivers to the community in the Falklands is a direct result of fisheries money. He mentioned education, health service and roads as well as the new tax system.
APPRENTICESHIPS:
It is envisaged that money for apprenticeships would go up but it is still thought that there should be a 50/50 split in an apprentice’s salary – 50% from FIG and 50% from the private sector. Now the scheme is over-subscribed. Councillors are going to look at the pay structure again. At the beginning of an apprenticeship the trainee should not be paid the same rate as a tradesman. There is no reward for completing the apprenticeship. The Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce will have a discussion about apprenticeships and recently members were asked to fill out apprenticeship questionnaires. “All apprentice wages should beequal and this is not a simple issue,” Cllr Summers said.
UNDER 16S POSSESSING TOBACCO:
It is illegal for under 16s to smoke however, Police find it difficult to enforce this and the law is vague. Councillors want to tighten up the law and there should be provision for confiscation of tobacco products on school property. A debate has been proposed and it has been suggested that 18 be the legal age for possessing and smoking tobacco. The age at which a person begins smoking is important to that person’s health. It should be made easier for authorities and police to enforce the law.
POLICY ON TAXATION OF PENSIONS:
In reference to Mr. Jones’ letter in the paper, the law existed before he left and it was his responsibility to check it out prior to leaving. This view was in the Taxation department’s reply in the paper.
SECOND REPORT ON THE CONSTITUTION:
A draft report will be finalised and distributed in the next few days for people to have a look at. The document will be considered at EXCO and discussions with members of the public will follow this. Hopefully this can be presented to the FCO in November as it is thought that a September date would not allow public consultation.
MEETING WITH THE MOD:
There are new staff members at MPA and an air of co-operation. Cllr Summers reported disbelief at first in that there had been several attempts at better co-operation and they were not fruitful. Councillors were happy with the latest meeting. Cllr Clausen said the atmosphere seemed a lot warmer and more areas can be visited with new people. The meeting was useful for both sides. Areas discussed included an offer to share the wind turbine project and better use of the air-bridge. The MOD and FIG are happy with the 747’s spare capacity that can be used effectively. There were options for seats at different rates. Both parties are hoping a civilian contractor will manage the allocation of seats. Chris Simpkins attended a key MOD/FIG/FO meeting in July. It was a positive meeting and a working group will look at the practicalities. The present contract ends in April but there should be a tender process to see who will take it up.
Finally, there was a comment about the ministerial form of Government. While it might be nice to be called a minister, the practical end of that kind of government means that ministers would have to be paid.
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