TCI Cabinet report of meeting on 29 May 2013
His Excellency Governor Ric Todd chaired the meeting of the TCI Cabinet in the House of Assembly Building on Grand Turk.
The TCI Cabinet.
The Premier and all Ministers were present at the meeting, apart from the Minister of Border Control and Labour who was abroad on official business.
At this meeting Cabinet:
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Agreed to the implementation of a revised Government Travel Policy proposed by the Premier. The policy will be published in the Gazette. It covers expenditure on travel and subsistence by Government officials and CEOs of statutory bodies when overseas on official TCIG business and defines procedures Government departments must follow when arranging international travel for TCIG employees in order to enhance public accountability and transparency.
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Agreed amendments to the NIB Ordinance proposed by the Minister of Finance, on the basis of advice from the NIB, following from the NIB’s most recent actuarial review. It further agreed to defer finalisation of the amendments and the passage of the bill to the House of Assembly pending further advice from NIB on the timing of the next actuarial review.
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Agreed to the draft 2013 / 2014 Budget, presented by the Minister of Finance, subject to the clarification of some issues between the CFO and the Budget Director. The Budget will be presented to UK Ministers for approval imminently.
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Agreed to a proposal from the Minister of Finance that TCI sign up to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters. The Convention will facilitate the efficient and reciprocal exchange of tax information between TCI and existing signatory jurisdictions and reaffirms TCI’s commitment to working with the international community to improve global financial transparency. Cabinet also agreed that the Premier would write to Prime Minister Cameron, Chair of the G8, about the G8 tax transparency agenda.
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Agreed a proposal from the Deputy Premier for a budget of $2.5m in FY 2013/14 for existing and new scholarships and the priority areas for those new scholarships. Decisions on the allocation of scholarships within these guidelines and budget will be taken by the Scholarship Board. The Board will proceed with the allocation and ensure applicants are informed in a timely manner regarding the status of their applications. Details of the scholarships awarded will be published in the Gazette.
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Agreed to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hortman American University (HAU). The MOU will set out indicative terms and conditions under which HAU would be permitted to establish a medical school in TCI and is analogous to the MOU entered into with GU MED for a similar proposal in 2011.
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Considered a note from the Civil Aviation Authority, presented by the Minister of Finance, about a number of initiatives which the Authority planned. It agreed to these initiatives subject to the resources for them being found from the CAA’s existing budget provision.
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Discussed two proposals submitted by the Minister of Finance from businesses wishing to establish manufacturing facilities in TCI. It agreed that a manufacturing policy should be developed in order to take forward these and other manufacturing proposals.
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Discussed a paper from the Deputy Premier about the situation at Clement Howell High School on Providenciales. It underlined its determination to resolve overcrowding issues in the short and long term. Cabinet confirmed that its favoured short term solution was to “split” the site and decided to return to funding issues to deliver this at its next meeting
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Agreed that a draft Ordinance on Fractional Ownership presented by the Minister of Finance, which allows multiple persons to hold separate registered fractions in property as proprietors in common, should be presented to the House of Assembly.
Further information on the issues addressed by Cabinet will be provided by Ministers in due course.
Cabinet decided that its next meeting would be on Wednesday 12 June.