The Advisory Council met on Wednesday 18 May at the NJS Francis building, Grand Turk.
The Council engaged in discussions with the visiting FCO team on constitutional reform in the TCI. Members offered recommendations for amendments to various provisions in the latest draft, including the balance between the powers of the governor and elected officials, the governor’s discretionary powers, the institutions to protect good governance, the electoral system and dual citizenship, and the term ‘Belonger’ to describe a TCI national. The FCO team led by Ian Hendry, Overseas Territories Constitutional Advisor to the FCO, assured Councilors that their recommendations and concerns would be reported faithfully to Ministers in London.
The Permanent Secretary, Education and members of the Education Board updated Council on the development of new policy guidelines to govern the Scholarship programme. The new guidelines tighten loopholes in the current programme and streamline other aspects including the list of accredited Universities.
Council considered an update from the Ministry of Border Control and Labour on the priorities in its business plan for 2011/12. Council noted that
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a new PRC recovery task force was being established to clear the current backlog (of PRC and existing naturalization/registration applications), but Council advised the Ministry that
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the current moratorium on new PRC applications should not be lifted, until revised criteria for PRC were set in place. Proposals will be presented to the Advisory Council for consideration on 15 June.
Council also welcomed the development of clear published criteria to be applied to applications for visas, and the other work in progress to tighten up the visa issuing process, including making more use of the existing legal provision that visas should be applied for and issued at UK posts overseas rather than in the TCI.
The Council also welcomed an update from the Labour Commissioner on the proposals for setting up of a new Employment Services Department within the Ministry to bring together all employment related services, including labour clearances and work permits, and the development of a long term Employment Strategy for the islands. They expressed concern at the current numbers of unemployed Belongers, and asked in particular about the employment prospects for returning graduates. The Labour Commissioner indicated her department could assist when unemployed Belongers came forward to register, by providing counseling, job placement, and CV writing. It was noted that the resourcing of this important work was currently under review as part of finalising the Ministry’s business plan in the light of the public sector reform programme.
