I read with interest Recommendation B27 of the British Virgin Islands Commission of Inquiry Report, which addresses the issue of appointments to statutory bodies. This has been a vexed issue in Anguilla for many years. Anguillian authorities might find it useful to give some attention to this recommendation as a possible means of addressing this vexed question. Recommendation B27 states: –
“As part of the proposed Constitutional Review, I recommend that consideration is given to establishing a Statutory Boards Commission, which would be responsible for the process of selection and revocation of statutory board membership, and monitoring the internal policies and procedures put in place by statutory boards (such as declarations of interests and conflicts of interest, at least pending overarching provisions in, e.g., the Integrity in Public Life Act 2021 and new Registration of Interests legislation) intended to strengthen good governance. Whilst this Commission could have representatives appointed by (e.g.) the Governor, Premier and Leader of the Opposition, I recommend that it has a majority of members appointed from BVI civic society. Those appointments should, of course, be the subject of an open and transparent process.”
At least one Minister in the Anguilla Progressive Movement Administration has demonstrated a willingness to revisit the usual process followed when appointing statutory board members. This was the subject of the editorial published in The Anguillian of 16th July, 2021. While, in my opinion, the initiative shown by Minister Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers requires much more deliberate and well thought out consideration to be meaningful, her initiative showed a willingness to do things differently. The editorial is set out in full below.
“Is Meaningful Change Being Effected?
‘Change can’t wait’ is the slogan that saw the Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM), sail to a resounding victory at the Polls on 29th June, 2020. It follows, therefore, that the electorate should expect change. Is this expectation being realised?
According to the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, in her recent evaluation of the APM’s first year in office, the APM has failed to deliver on many of its promises of change. But are there pockets of change seeking to manifest themselves and are they to be welcomed?
The Honourable Minister of Social Development and Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, has shown an inclination to make a change in relation to the appointment of persons to government related boards. While the inclination is apparent, the methodology being used, and the apparent silo-like approach, raises questions.
It is understood that generally, ministers, acting in consultation with their permanent secretaries, identify individuals considered suitable to serve on the board under consideration. Since assuming responsibility for Social Development and Education, when appointments to boards under her remit have become necessary, Honourable Minister Kentish-Rogers has requested persons to submit an expression of interest, if interested in serving on the relevant board. For Anguilla, this is somewhat of an unorthodox step, which one anticipates is intended to ensure equality of opportunity and an opportunity to ensure board appointees are genuinely interested in serving and properly qualified to serve. One also assumes that this new process is intended to dispel the long held belief that nepotism and cronyism are rampant in respect of the appointments to boards by politicians.
While this perceived noble intent must be admired, it is unlikely to be achieved as currently being rolled out. So far, the Minister has called for expressions of interest in relation to appointments to the Social Protection Board, the Child Justice Board and, most recently, the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School (ALHCS) Board of Governors. In each request, for expressions of interest, persons have been advised of the requirements to serve, the stipend offered and to whom they must submit their expressions of interest. It has not escaped notice that there is no indication of how successful appointees will be selected, and in each instance interested persons are required to communicate their interest directly to the Minister, via her email address. There is no requirement to send expressions of interest to her permanent secretary or to the Ministry’s email address.
The cynics among us might question this apparently noble intent, and suggest that while giving the appearance of greater integrity in the appointment of boards, it is merely an illusion, as what will stop the Minister from extending personal invitations to persons she wishes to appoint and appointing them, after receipt of their requested expressions of interest. I am of the belief that the Minister needs to go a step further and consider establishing a selection structure that can withstand careful scrutiny.
The Minister’s apparently noble gesture would also have greater credibility if it was understood to be a policy change to be reflected across the whole of government. This does not appear to be the case. In fact, the apparent policy change appears to be a work in progress, even within the mind of Minister Kentish-Rogers. This is seen in the recent revision of the call for expressions of interest to serve on the ALHCS Board of Governors. The previous indication of a stipend for members has been removed and interested persons are now expected to offer their services pro bono due to the severe budgetary constraints that are affecting the Government and the Ministry of Education. The sceptics among us will, in the face of contrary actions by Government, question whether this is indeed necessitated by budgetary constraints or is simply a devaluing of Education.
Is Minister Kentish–Rogers seeking to effect meaningful change, or is she simply making a grand gesture? If the Minister’s sincere desire is to effect meaningful change she would do well to remember that, good ideas if poorly implemented will not bring about meaningful change.”
The most recent report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee, chaired by Mr. Don Mitchell QC CBE, contained a recommendation similar to that in the report of the BVI Commission of Inquiry. Will Minister Kentish-Rogers, and her APM ministerial colleagues, take guidance from the recommendation of the BVI Commission of Inquiry and move to implement the constitutional recommendation, and thereby effect meaningful change in relation to Statutory Board appointments? I anticipate that many persons would agree that this would indeed be a meaningful and welcome change.
