1 Introduction
1. The 14 Overseas Territories[1]
for which the UK continues to have responsibilities are spread
across the globe (see Figure 1 below). The Territories vary greatly
in their population and economic and social development. Bermuda
has a population of approximately 66,000 people and is a leading
financial centre. By contrast, the Pitcairn Islands are home to
only 47 people and are reliant on UK aid.
Figure 1: Map showing location of UK's Overseas Territories
Source: National Audit Office
2. With the exception of Gibraltar,[2]
the Foreign Affairs Committee has not reported on the Overseas
Territories for over a decade. Its previous inquiry into the Overseas
Territories took place in 1997 when the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO) was carrying out a review of the then-named Dependent
Territories.[3] Since then
a number of major policy changes have taken place, including:
the extension of British citizenship to almost all citizens of
Overseas Territories; the appointment of a FCO minister with specific
responsibility for the Overseas Territories; the establishment
of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council (an annual forum
in London for heads of Territory governments); and the extension
of the "home" university tuition fee rate to all Overseas
Territories students wishing to study in the UK.
3. In July 2007 we decided that another Foreign
Affairs Committee inquiry into the Overseas Territories was overdue.
We resolved to inquire into the FCO's exercise of its responsibilities
in relation to the Overseas Territories and its achievements against
its then Strategic Priority No. 10, the security and good governance
of the Overseas Territories,[4]
and announced the following terms of reference:
- 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; and
- relations between the Overseas Territories and
the United Kingdom Parliament.
4. We received over 200 written submissions.
Many of these are published with this Report, but a significant
proportion of submissions have been treated in confidence.[5]
We are very grateful to everyone who contributed evidence to our
inquiry. We also held five oral evidence sessions. In December
2007 we heard evidence from all the representatives of Overseas
Territory governments who had travelled to London for the Overseas
Territories Consultative Council, with the exception of Bermuda.
We would like to thank Hon Osbourne Fleming, Chief Minister, Anguilla,
Hon Ralph O'Neal, Premier, British Virgin Islands, Hon Kurt Tibbetts,
Leader of Government Business, Cayman Islands, Councillor Mike
Summers OBE, Member of the Legislative Council, Falkland Islands,
Dr Hon Lowell Lewis, Chief Minister, Montserrat, Mr Leslie Jaques
OBE, Commissioner, Pitcairn Islands,[6]
Hon Brian W. Isaac MLC, Member of the Executive Council, St Helena
and Dr Hon Michael E Misick LLB, MLC, Premier, Turks and Caicos
Islands, for appearing before us. We are also grateful to our
other witnesses: Louis Olivier Bancoult, leader, and Richard Gifford,
legal representative, Chagos Refugees Group; Hon Joe Bossano MP,
Leader of the Opposition, Gibraltar; Hon Peter Caruana QC, Chief
Minister, Gibraltar; Mr. Jim Murphy MP, Minister for Europe, James
Sharp, Head of Western Mediterranean Group, and Ivan Smyth, Legal
Adviser, FCO; and Meg Munn MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of
State, Leigh Turner, then Director, Overseas Territories Directorate,
and Susan Dickson, Legal Counsellor, FCO.
5. In March 2008 we visited four Overseas Territories.
We divided into three groups: one delegation visited Bermuda;
the second group went to the Cayman Islands and the Turks and
Caicos Islands; and the third group visited the Falkland Islands,
with a brief stop on Ascension Island. The discussions we had
on our visits were very useful and we are grateful to our interlocutors
for taking the time to meet us. Full details of our programmes
are listed in Annex 1.
6. Our Report is split into two parts. Part One
is thematic. We consider the Overseas Territories' constitutional
relationship with the UK, including the process of modernising
their constitutions and the extent to which they are consulted
and represented by the UK on issues that affect them. We also
examine the quality of governance in the Territories; the FCO's
management of the potential liabilities to which the Territories
expose the UK; and progress on resolving sovereignty disputes.
Finally we draw conclusions on the Government's overall approach
to the Overseas Territories.
7. In Part Two we consider each of the Overseas
Territories individually. We summarise their geography, history
and constitutions. We also outline the evidence received from
each Territory in our inquiry, and highlight relevant recommendations
from Part One of our Report. We hope Part Two will be a useful
reference point for both the reader unfamiliar with the individual
Overseas Territories and for the reader wishing to find all our
recommendations on a particular Territory in one place.
8. Our Report is published two months after the
Public Accounts Committee reported on the FCO's management of
risk in the Overseas Territories,[7]
following a report by the National Audit Office on this issue.[8]
While our Report has a wider focus, we have found the Public Account
Committee's and National Audit Office's reports very helpful in
informing our thinking on this particular aspect of the UK's relationship
with the Overseas Territories.
1 The Overseas Territories are Anguilla, Bermuda, the
British Antarctic Territory, the British Indian Ocean Territory
(Chagos Islands), the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands,
the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, the Pitcairn Islands,
St Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Sovereign
Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus, and the Turks &
Caicos Islands. Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha are Dependencies
of St Helena. Back
2
Since 1999 the Foreign Affairs Committee has produced the following
substantive Reports on Gibraltar: Fourth Report of Session 1998-99,
HC 366; Ninth Report of Session 1999-2000, HC 863; Sixth Report
of Session 2000-01, HC 319; Eleventh Report of Session 2001-02,
HC 973; and Eleventh Report of Session 2002-03, HC 1024. Back
3
Foreign Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session 1997-1998,
Dependent Territories Review: Interim Report, HC 347 Back
4
During the course of our inquiry, the FCO replaced its ten Strategic
Priorities with a new strategic framework. The new framework's
four policy goals do not make specific reference to the FCO's
responsibilities with regard to the Overseas Territories. Back
5
See paras 127 to 131, Chapter 2 for further discussion of our
reasons for doing so. Back
6
Mr Jacques is not an elected representative, but a Commissioner
appointed by the FCO to play an intermediary role between the
Governor (who is also High Commissioner to New Zealand) and Pitcairn's
Island Council. Back
7
Public Accounts Committee, Seventeenth Report of Session 2007-08,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Managing Risk in the Overseas
Territories, HC 176 Back
8
Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Foreign and
Commonwealth Office: Managing risk in the Overseas Territories,
HC (2007-08) 4 Back
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