Tristan : St Helena EXCO REPORT 70 – 31st May 2011
Submitted by Tristan Times (Juanita Brock) 01.06.2011 (Article Archived on 17.06.2011)
Our open agenda today had just one item – the Tobacco Control Bill. This Bill has been the subject of a great deal of consultation and discussion for many years and it has the purpose of protecting non-smokers from the dangers of passive inhalation whilst trying to assure smokers of a degree of freedom
EXCO REPORT 70 – 31st May 2011
Our open agenda today had just one item – the Tobacco Control Bill. This Bill has been the subject of a great deal of consultation and discussion for many years and it has the purpose of protecting non-smokers from the dangers of passive inhalation whilst trying to assure smokers of a degree of freedom. In an attempt to ensure public assent, there have been press releases, phone-ins, seven constituency meetings and one-to-one discussions. The bill itself has suffered many amendments as Councillors have responded to consultation. At the end of it all, Councillors felt that it is now time to move the legislation to Legislative Council on 27th June in order to have the debate in public and make the relevant decisions.
We then moved to the closed part of the meeting. I have explained before why some business is classified as suitable for “open” discussion and some for “closed”. In a sense the open discussion is much healthier as any member of the public can attend, but there are times when the interests of individuals or commercial sensitivities dictate that we have to operate behind closed doors. The same principle applies of course to this report. I am not able to reveal everything that has been discussed at EXCO, but I try to come as close as I can to reporting all that I am able to.
I mention this now because we had five matters on the closed agenda and two of them must remain closed for the time being.
The question of our postal charges was raised in our next paper by the Financial Secretary. It is of concern that many of the charges for local services have not been increased over a period of some years in spite of inflation actually increasing the cost. Postal rates have remained the same since 2007 and so the income from this source has reduced significantly in real terms. Nevertheless, the recommendation was that the charges for all local mail would remain unchanged, but that we would link the charge for overseas mail to UK costs for a similar service, but only at a rate of 60% of that cost. This will mean an increase on letters to say the UK of 10p, from 40p to 50p. However the overall increase to the revenue from postal services will only be 7.9% which is well below the rate of inflation over the last 4 years.
We then discussed a letter that was written to the Governor in Council by the Chamber of Commerce on 14th May. The letter gave the Chamber’s view of the positioning of the CEED within our economy. The word CEED is in this case spelt C-E-E-D and refers to the Chief Executive of Economic Development. This appointment will be announced shortly. EXCO agreed that the points made by the Chamber will be given due consideration, and further clarity on the responsibilities of the CEED will emerge over the next week or so.
At past EXCO’s some Members have asked where the line is drawn on Human Resource issues between Councillors’ responsibility and that of line managers. The difficulty arises because Councillors are obviously responsible for policy issues such as headcount and structure, but have little direct say in the employment of individuals. I had prepared a brief paper outlining the difference between the two areas and indicating that the terms and conditions of specific individuals’ employment contracts are outside of politicians’ remit. However they should be able to raise matters through the proper employment channels of the Chief Secretary and the Governor.
Under AOB I asked Members to consider what part we might play in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next year. On Sunday 3rd June 2012 there is to be a huge flotilla on the Thames that will be headed by Her Majesty and each Overseas Territory has been asked whether they would like to take part in some way. We will be discussing the prospects at a future meeting, so if anyone has any good ideas, then please make them known.
The meeting closed at 1.30 pm
Andrew Gurr
Governor
31st May 2011
Tender Board to Publish Details on Successful Tenders
St Helena Government is committed to improving transparency across its operations. As a further step, the Economy and Finance Committee has agreed that contracts awarded by the Tender Board will be publicised on a quarterly basis. Details will include the name of the successful tenderer, the total contract price and a brief outline of the contract awarded.
Chairperson of the Economy and Finance Committee, Councillor Tara Thomas, explained that “greater transparency across SHG’s operations will enable the public to hold public bodies and politicians to account. This is a first step and we will be working closely with directorates over the coming months to identify ways in which we can move further on honouring SHG’s transparency commitment”.
The Secretary to the Tender Board will hold a register of all tenders that are awarded with the name of the successful tenderer and the value. This register will be available for inspection at the Secretariat in the Castle by all interested persons.
The decision on each tender will also be communicated on a quarterly basis on the SHG website www.sainthelena.gov.sh
Economy and Finance Committee
1 June 2011
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