Hugh McGarel-Groves, CFO, TCI Government said in reply to Lillian Missick: “I very much welcome the contribution of the consultative forum to this discussion of the role of the Advisory Council and Consultative Forum in signing off the next TCIG budget.
“TCIG is currently engaged in a process with the Permanent Secretaries and their teams to map out their budgetary requirements for next year, taking into account the effect of the ongoing reforms of the civil service, for example. This will shortly lead to a draft budget that requires the approval of UK Ministers, the Advisory Council and Consultative Forum.
“UK Ministers have requested an involvement in the earlier framework setting stage of the budget process, where total levels of revenue and expenditure will be set, leading to determination of net surplus available to fund the capital programme and the proposed fund for loan repayment.
“They will not be directly involved in the subsequent review and finalisation of detailed revenue and expenditure components, which is rightly the crucial role of the Advisory Council and Consultative Forum during the middle part of May. Given the challenges faced by TCI, and the importance of this budget, it is clearly wrong to describe this vital national contribution as ‘nothing more than a rubber stamp’.”
