Conclusions and recommendations
Background
1. We
welcome the actions that the Government has taken to address the
serious concerns we expressed in 2008 about alleged corruption
in the Turks and Caicos Islands. These actions include the appointment
of a Commission of Inquiry, the subsequent suspension of parts
of the TCI Constitution, and the creation of a Special Investigation
and Prosecution Team (SIPT). However, in recent months significant
concerns about the speed and effectiveness of the Government's
plans to reform and "clean up" the political system
in TCI have been brought to our attention. This brief Report focuses
specifically on those concerns. (Paragraph 13)
2. Although this Report
deals specifically with issues relating to TCI, a number of concerns
have been brought to our attention in relation to allegations
of corruption and poor governance in other Overseas Territories—for
example, in Anguilla. We recommend that the Government should
supply us with a memorandum setting out in detail what support
is provided by the UK Government to each of the individual Territory
governments to assist them in tackling corruption and maintaining
standards of good governance. In the event that it is not possible
to supply this information to us before the dissolution of the
present Parliament, we recommend that the Government should make
it available to our successor Committee in the next Parliament
when it begins its work. (Paragraph 14)
Issues of concern
Funding of the TCI Special Investigation and Prosecution
Team (SIPT)
3. We
recommend that, should the need be identified, close protection
should be provided to the Special Prosecutor and the members of
her team, and that the cost of this protection should be wholly
met by the UK Government. (Paragraph 30)
4. We conclude that
the failure of the Government to put in place adequate funding
arrangements for the work of the Special Investigation and Prosecution
Team (SIPT) is of grave concern. This has prevented the Special
Prosecutor from beginning in earnest the work of fully investigating
the allegations raised during the 2008-09 Commission of Inquiry.
Twelve months have passed since Sir Robin Auld produced his interim
report, and as yet no decisive action has been taken to proceed
against those politicians and others suspected of serious corruption.
We further conclude that, the longer this damaging delay continues,
the greater the risk that the moves to eradicate corruption from
public life in TCI may founder, not least by enabling some of
the individuals potentially facing investigation to liquidate
their assets and put funds beyond the reach of the authorities.
There is also a real risk that the delay may lead to a perception
that nothing is being done, thereby resulting in the loss of public
confidence, and subsequently the co-operation of the residents
of the TCI, both of which are essential in order to pursue successful
prosecutions. (Paragraph 31)
5. We conclude that
there are, at present, inadequate safeguards to protect the funding
of the SIPT post-2011. Given the inability to secure funding thus
far, we are not persuaded by the assurances of the Foreign Secretary
that adequate safeguards will be put into place to protect the
funding in future. We fear that the Government is being naive
in relation to the potential financial pressures likely to be
faced by future governments in the TCI, and the capacity of wrongdoers
on the TCI to impede and frustrate the SIPT's investigations.
(Paragraph 32)
6. We note the Government's
argument that the UK taxpayer should not fund the SIPT, on the
grounds that the former TCI Government was responsible for the
present parlous economic state of the Islands, and therefore it
is the Islanders who should pay to clean up the mess they have
created. We conclude that this argument is flawed, for four reasons.
First, on grounds of principle: it ignores the extent to which
the UK Government was also culpable in allowing a culture of systemic
corruption to develop in TCI unchecked, thereby neglecting its
duty of responsible oversight of the Overseas Territories. Second,
on grounds of pragmatism: if the funding of the SIPT has to be
borne by the TCI Government, diverting resources which would otherwise
be spent on healthcare, law and order, or public-sector salaries,
it is likely that this will lead to an erosion of popular support
for the reform process, which will be eagerly exploited by the
opponents of reform. Third, we share the Special Prosecutor's
concern that there is an important principle at stake as to who
should fund the work of the SIPT. The UK Government, having intervened
in the Turks and Caicos Islands, has a responsibility to follow
through with the required financial commitment. Not to do so would
be to risk the UK Government's credibility in its use of reserved
powers. Fourth, it is unreasonable to expect the small population
of the TCI to bear the financial burden, through debt or taxation,
for funding the investigation and prosecution of corruption for
which they were not responsible. We recommend that the UK Government
fully fund the work of the SIPT or risk severely undermining its
own credibility in its use of reserved powers, both in the TCI
and in all the Overseas Territories. (Paragraph 33)
Sir Robin Auld's letter of 23 March 2010
7. We
conclude that Sir Robin Auld's comments in his letter to the Foreign
Secretary of 23 March reinforce our own conclusions set out in
this Report. We urge the Government to commit the resources necessary
to ensure that the process of reform in the Turks and Caicos Islands
does not unravel, at a great cost to the international reputation
of the United Kingdom. (Paragraph 36)
Crime and security
8. We
recommend that the Government respond positively to the Governor's
requests and fund the required number of additional British police
officers for community policing and crime detection through the
Department for International Development (DFID) budget. (Paragraph
39)
2011 and beyond
9. We
welcome the Governor's efforts to bring about political reform
in TCI, and to increase the capacity of the Attorney General's
Office and the capabilities of the Police Service, in order to
make them fit for purpose. We recommend that urgent action be
taken by the Governor, with the support of the UK Government,
to set up a properly funded Integrity Commission, and to secure
and refurbish safe and suitable court buildings for the trials
expected to arise from the work of SIPT, as requested by the Special
Prosecutor. We further recommend that the UK Government provide
the capital and running costs of the Integrity Commission for
an initial period of three years. (Paragraph 45)
10. We conclude that
the overriding aim of the current British administration of TCI
must be to restore democratic self-government in the Territory
as soon as the necessary work of purging its corrupt and dysfunctional
political system has been completed and entrenched. However, we
note the slow pace of the reform process to date, as well as the
delay we have discussed earlier in launching the work of the Special
Investigation and Prosecution Team. We therefore further conclude
that there are solid reasons for regarding the Government's preferred
July 2011 date for the end of direct rule as unrealistic. If elections
proceed on this timetable, there is a real danger of a return
to the status quo ante, and the possibility that politicians
against whom serious allegations of corruption are pending could
seek to return to power. In such circumstances, it is possible
they might seek to use bribery and intimidation to engineer a
return to office, and then use the many means at their disposal
in office to roll back the reform process and undermine the work
of the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team. While we welcome
the steps being taken by the Governor to create new constitutional
arrangements aimed at fostering probity and good practice, we
are not convinced that these can be put unassailably in place
within such a tight timescale. (Paragraph 46)
11. We recommend that
the Government take all reasonable and necessary steps to reassure
the people of the TCI that a new constitution will not be put
in place, nor elections held, until there is absolute confidence
that the necessary reforms have been fully embedded. We further
recommend that, in its response to this Report, the Government
set out clear criteria as to what must be achieved by way of these
reforms before elections take place. (Paragraph 47)
12. It is essential
that the issues identified in our 2008 Report and by the Commission
of Inquiry are addressed and resolved to secure the future well-being
of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Despite the progress that has
been made, the concerns we have raised in this Report suggest
that TCI's future is still far from secure. We recommend that
our successor Committee in the next Parliament continue to monitor
developments in TCI and the Overseas Territories closely. (Paragraph
48)
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