MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Commons to scrutinize relations with Overseas Territories

Foreign Office headquater at London

UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee is inviting written and oral submissions on the relationship between the Foreign Office and UK Overseas Territories, including Gibraltar.

The MPs, some of whom visited the Rock in July will conclude their report following the outcome of a National Audit Office report that also looks at the relationship between the UK and each territory. The central theme of the inquiry is the security and good governance of the Overseas Territories. In particular, this inquiry will focus on; 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 and Human rights in the Overseas Territories. Relations between the Overseas Territories and the United Kingdom Parliament are also being probed. This is the first time the Committee, which has produced several largely supportive reports on Gibraltar, has considered the British Government's overall policy on the Overseas Territories since 1998. The Committee intends to begin hearing oral evidence in November, after the report of the National Audit Office (NAO) review of the effectiveness of the Foreign Office work in relation to the Territories. The Committee has put out a call for written evidence, with a deadline for submissions of 15 October. The Foreign Affairs Committee is responsible for scrutinizing the "administration, expenditure and policy" of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its associated agencies. The National Audit Office (NAO), largely since the late 1980s in the wake of the Barlow Clowes Affair and the Spanish pensions' liabilities, has been concerned about UK contingent liabilities. In recent years, whilst Gibraltar has moved on considerably within the EU membership, the NAO focus has particularly centered on the Caribbean islands. The 2002 Overseas Territories Act gave many territory citizens the right of abode in the UK (already granted previously in Gibraltar), in return for cooperation by their governments in taking steps to prevent money laundering, tax evasion, and other abuses of their liberal financial regimes. The current study will examine how the FCO has led for UK government in managing such risks, notwithstanding demands for greater autonomy from territory administrations.