S.Atlantic : Cllr Tony Green Attends 5th International Parliamentary Governance Seminar
Submitted by SARTMA.com (Juanita Brock) 30.01.2011 (Article Archived on 13.02.2011)

I briefed councillors on Friday about my attendance at this seminar and so I'm now able to share this information. Having been nominated by my fellow councillors in August last year I duly attended this CPA Governance Seminar from 14 to 26 November 2010. The Seminar took place in London, Brussels and Cardiff.

Cllr Tony Green Attends 5th International Parliamentary Governance Seminar

By Tony Green

I briefed councillors on Friday about my attendance at this seminar and so I'm now able to share this information. Having been nominated by my fellow councillors in August last year I duly attended this CPA Governance Seminar from 14 to 26 November 2010. The Seminar took place in London, Brussels and Cardiff.

The entire Seminar was about Good Governance and was designed to contribute to delegates' greater understanding of the principles and structure of governances in parliamentary democracies.

We started out with 53 delegates from across the Commonwealth. The entire programme was very demanding involving long hours and a reasonable amount of travelling. On two occasions when having to travel to Brussels by Eurostar the first week and to Cardiff by Coach the second week, it meant having breakfast at 5 am on both occasions, followed by the travelling, then a full day's session which ended with an evening reception in Brussels and the long return journey home when we went to Cardiff.

In London, the sessions were held at Portcullis House, next door to the Houses of Parliament. During the two weeks there were about 80 Speakers, including from House of Commons and House of Lords. In fact, the opening welcome and introduction was given by Sir Alan Hazlehurst, MP (Conservative) and Chair of the CPA UK Executive Branch. Sir Alan later asked me to convey his best wishes to you all. He came to St. Helena in 1972 as part of a CPA delegation, apparently the first to visit the Island.

All presentations and discussions fell under the following main headings - Principles of Good Governance, International Governance and Organisations, Supranational Governance and relations, National Governance, Devolved Governance and Local Government. Each of these had some four or five sub-areas and so the range of discussions was wide. There was no holding back with delegates wanting to make a point or ask questions so you had to 'fight' to get an opportunity to have your say.

What is good governance and why does it matter? One definition of Governance is that it's the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented, or not implemented. One of our earlier Speakers showed us a slide headed 'Government' and 'Governance', which listed the traditional meaning being: government = instruments of governing, while governance = the process. He also went on to say that political scientist in the last 20 years have used the term in different ways to highlight the major shifts that are happening in the nature of national and global government.

What also is important is to recognise that governance needs to apply at every level, in our case both the public sector, which includes the Administration, and private sector, Council Committees, Legislative Council and at Executive Council levels.

So what do we have to look out for to apply good governance?  A few of the key elements are:

Participation

• Allowing/enabling men and women to take part either directly or through legitimate institutions and representatives.

• Taking part allows freedom of association and expression.

Rule of Law

• Fair, legal frameworks that are enforced impartially and ensures protection of human rights.

• Government enforcing transparent laws, regulations and codes.

• Impartial enforcement requires an incorruptible police force.

Transparency

• Government actions, decisions and other decision making processes are open to an appropriate level of scrutiny by other parts of government, civil society and in some cases, outside institutions.

• Decisions taken and enforced in a manner that follows rules and regulations.

• Information freely available and directly accessible.

Responsiveness

• All stakeholders need to be given a response within a reasonable time.

• Government to have the capacity and flexibility to respond rapidly to social changes, taking account of the expectations of civil society, and is willing to critically re-examine the role of government.

• This is a responsibility of institutions and processes.

Consensus Orientated

• Mediation of the different interests in society to establish how the best interests of the entire community can be achieved.

• Requires a broad and long-term perspective to allow time for sustainable human development.

Equity and Inclusiveness

• The inclusion of all members of society in what we do.

• The most vulnerable of society are of particular importance as they require the opportunities to maintain or improve their well-being.

Effectiveness and Efficiency

• Government should strive to produce quality outputs, including services delivered at best cost and ensure that the outputs meet the original intention of the policymakers.

• Making the best use of resources to meet the needs of our society. Of particular importance are the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment.

Accountability

• Accountability in all parts of Government, Civil society and the private sector.

• Government able and willing to show the extent to which its actions and decisions are consistent with clearly defined and agreed objectives.

• These bodies are accountable to those affected by their decisions and actions.

Forward Vision

• Anticipate future problems and issues based on current data and trends.

• Develop policies to take account of future costs and anticipated changes.

In Brussels, in different sessions at different venues, we heard about the roles of the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.

When we went to Cardiff we had a day at the National Assembly and also had a short time sitting in watching and listening to the First Minister's Question Time. He had a massive folder in front of him and answered the rapid questions that were put to him using only these notes with no one sitting behind him to refer to. During my short time in Cardiff I had a visit from Clare Clancy who spoke affectionately of St. Helena and asked that her good wishes be conveyed to everyone.

I also had to do a presentation during our second week. It was under the heading 'Effective Oversight outside Parliament' and in particular I had to address the question 'how can parliamentarians most effectively provide oversight for the public sector'.

The final few days of the Seminar were held back in London. One of the MP's attending one of the sessions was Megg Munn, Labour MP. She told me that she still follows developments here with great interest, including that of the airport.

On the last evening of the Seminar, immediately it was all over, I and a few other delegates from other Overseas Territories met with four MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Overseas Territories. They were Andrew Rosendale, Peter Bottomley, Michael Ellis and Henry Smith. This was a short but useful discussion but more importantly it provided the opportunity to exchange contact details so that we can always as politicians communicate anytime with MPs direct.

So a good experience and overall to note that good governance is the benchmark by which processes of government are measured and graded.

The question is often and rightly asked what's the use of attending these conferences/seminars?

Personally I feel that you will get out of it what you put in. I'm sure it’s becoming more apparent these days the impact political decisions have on all our lives. The more we understand our roles and sharpen our skills, the more chance there is of having a broader background and skill base to make better decisions. As we were told right at the beginning of the Seminar, it's important to note that it is the role of Parliament to hold government to account.

I decided to take some leave in UK during December and early January and it just had to be the coldest Christmas period for the past 100 years!

Tony Green

Councillor