The Annual Overseas Territories Consultative Conference involving Ministers and officials from the Overseas Territories and the British Government will be taking place in London next week. The Anguilla Government will be represented by Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, whose delegation includes Minister of Finance, Victor Banks, Opposition Member Edison Baird, Foster Rogers, Permanent Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, and Public Relations Adviser, Curtis Richardson.

Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming

There is a common general agenda for that particular meeting, but the Anguilla delegation has been granted a separate meeting on December 6 with the Minister for the Overseas Territories, the Hon. Meg Munn. At that special chamber session Chief Minister Fleming and his delegation will raise a number of matters which the Anguilla Government is desirous of having addressed as quickly as possible.

One of the matters is a request for an interim amendment to the Anguilla Constitution to create a position for a fifth Minister of Government. Mr. Fleming explained that with the increasing development of Anguilla the current four Ministers were unable to cope with the growing responsibilities facing them.
The other matters the Anguillian delegation will discuss include the following: aviation arrangements between Anguilla, French and Dutch Territories; extending the contracts of the UK Policemen on the island as well as securing additional assistance in fighting crime; and assessing information and procedures for Anguillians applying to UK colleges and universities under the new admissions policy.
The Chief Minister continued: “We will also be discussing with Her Majesty’s Government, building the capacity of the Immigration Department, the Royal Anguilla Police Force and Her Majesty’s Customs to secure Anguilla’s borders. Under this topic we will be looking to see what help we can get in the area of procurement of modern equipment such as boats, helicopters and other aircraft, training, joint border control/training exercises with French and Dutch St. Maarten, technical/legal support for matters relating to national security and other matters of high national importance and technical assistance in finance.” That is the extent of the separate Anguilla discussion points.
The agenda for the general Overseas Territories Conference on December 4 and 5 will include statements in the House of Commons by Chief Minister Fleming and his fellow Overseas Territory’s leaders on their islands’ relations with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and what can be done to enhance those relations. Mr. Fleming said this was a first-time feature of the meeting and he was looking forward to the occasion with much interest. On the second day of the conference he will deliver a paper entitled “Access to UK Health Care.” Anguilla has an arrangement with the UK Government where up to five persons unable to obtain specialist medical treatment can get it in England free of cost. He will be calling for that number of patients to be substantially increased for Anguilla.
Other matters for discussion affecting the territories include constitutional modernisation; international tax cooperation, air safety, the environment, immigration, disaster preparedness, relations with the European Union, criminal justice, the role of the Governor and elected Heads in crime, financing proposals, technical support for regional witness protection, a forensic facility and other aspects of crime management; a UK action plan for combating international corruption, human rights and a report on the management of risks in the Overseas Territories.
Mr. Fleming along with Mr. Baird and Mr. Richardson left Anguilla on Wednesday. They will be joined in London later by Mr. Banks, who is still in Anguilla, and by Mr Rogers who will be travelling from Brussels where he has been on official business.

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