fp Turks and Caicos

During his short visit to the country, U.K. Foreign Minister Henry Bellingham revealed a few new changes coming up for the public service.

Many in the public service are questioning what the future holds after U.K. Minister and Chairman of the Turks and Caicos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group Andrew Rosindell released his report suggesting major changes for the public service: “The Civil Service needs to be completely reconstructed.”

That sentiment was not shared by Bellingham. “I don’t accept there needs to be absolute whole scale turning upside down of the civil service in that way here. I think it much better to work with the permanent secretaries, with the departments by bringing in U.K. experts where it is appropriate.”

Where Rosindell suggested the Immigration Department in particular should be the first to be closed down and re-opened under new management as an urgent priority, Bellingham revealed the current plans for the department.

He noted that a U.K. project fund of which he is in charge is funding an Immigration Advisor scheduled to arrive any day in the TCI.

“She is obviously going to be working with Clara Gardner with the Border Control and Labour Department, looking at how they can improve the procedures, looking at how they can raise their game,” he explained.

“It is absolutely vital we get this right in immigration. This is a small country, and immigration is a very big issue. This is where the U.K. can help.”

Both Bellingham and Rosindell agree that money is not the solution to the problem, but bringing in more support for the public service who can eventually train and mentor those who work in key departments.

“If there was not a chronic financial crisis in the U.K. left by the last government, there is a rake of a similarity there. We have taken over from a government that was fiscally irresponsible, and the new government here will have done the same. And with more money, we could throw money at these problems, but we can not do that.”

What he says the U.K. can do and will do is bring in more advisors to offer support for the reform process.

Bellingham also noted that the Department for International Development is funding a public service reform advisor who is due to arrive shortly. He said this advisor will be a technical advisor looking at those points.

In addition, the appointment of Clare Gardiner as the new Chief Financial Officer of the country will help to improve the public sector especially when it comes to project funding and spending of the government funds, Bellingham said.

The National Insurance Board is also on the list of areas Gardiner will take a closer look at, according to Bellingham. Earlier this year, the government undertook an exercise to clear a backlog of overdue accounts. His Excellency the Gov. Gordon Wetherell said a list of those in arrears has been presented to the Consultative Forum as a matter of course, and efforts are now being made to bring those accounts up to date.

“We need total transparency across the whole public sector,” Bellingham said, and it will start with enforcement on government spending.

Click HERE to read Rosindell's report.