UK Parliament To Study Governance Of Overseas Territories

by Robin Pilgrim, LawndTax-News.com, London

16 August 2007

The UK's Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has announced a new inquiry into the exercise by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of its responsibilities in relation to the Overseas Territories and the FCO’s achievements against its Strategic Priority No. 10, the security and good governance of the Overseas Territories.

In particular, the Inquiry will focus on:

  • Standards of governance in the Overseas Territories;
  • The role of Governors and other office-holders appointed by or on the recommendation of the United Kingdom Government;
  • The work of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council;
  • Transparency and accountability in the Overseas Territories;
  • Regulation of the financial sector in the Overseas Territories;
  • Procedures for amendment of the constitutions of Overseas Territories;
  • The application of international treaties, conventions and other agreements to the Overseas Territories;
  • Human rights in the Overseas Territories;
  • Relations between the Overseas Territories and the United Kingdom Parliament.

The Foreign Affairs Committee last reported on these matters in January 1998, at the time of the Government’s Dependent Territories Review. The Committee has since produced several Reports on Gibraltar, but this will be the first time it has considered the Government’s overall policy on the Overseas Territories since 1998. The National Audit Office (NAO) is currently carrying out a review of the effectiveness of the FCO’s work in relation to the Territories. The NAO is expected to publish its Report in the Autumn.

The Overseas Territories are: Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Antarctic Territory (BAT), the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT/Chagos Islands), the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St Helena and its Dependencies (Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus, and the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI).

Oral evidence sessions are expected to commence in November 2007. Those intending to submit written evidence are asked to do so by Monday 15 October.

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