In 2022, Sir Gary Hickinbottom’s commission of inquiry identified gross failures of governance in the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory. The inquiry found that, with limited exceptions, the people of BVI had been badly served in terms of governance.
In the aftermath of these findings, and the arrest and subsequent conviction of the former Premier in the United States of America, the United Kingdom Government agreed an implementation framework with the new Premier, Natalio Wheatley, to drive the delivery of vital reforms to address the serious deficiencies identified by the commission of inquiry.
An Order in Council that would allow for an interim Administration was also drafted for use in extremis, should the BVI Government have failed to complete their stated programme of reforms.
In November 2024, during a visit to BVI, I announced that I would review progress, taking into account public consultations held by the Governor and the BVI Government, a final report from the Governor, reviews by FCDO officials, and a self-assessment by the BVI Government.
I can inform the House that the new BVI Government, working closely with the Governor and BVI public servants, have made important progress and engaged constructively.
While progress has been slower than initially envisaged, a number of significant pieces of legislation have been passed and the agreed framework actioned. Given the progress made, an interim Administration is not required or justified, and thus the draft Order in Council is now being revoked.
However, the hard work of ensuring continued implementation of these changes now begins. In discussions with Premier Wheatley, I have re-emphasised the importance of building on these strong foundations, to secure good governance that is sustainable in the long term and delivers for the people of BVI. To that end, I have also instructed the Governor to establish a monitoring mechanism, with twice yearly public reports. I have been clear that we reserve the right to take any appropriate actions necessary in future, in line with our responsibilities to the security and good governance of BVI and the interests of both BVI and the United Kingdom.
We will continue to support BVI in a spirit of partnership, and we have set clear expectations that there must be no repeat of the failings in governance that lead to the commission of inquiry.
Separately, we continue our work with BVI to deliver improvements in financial transparency in line with commitments made at the last Joint Ministerial Council, most recently discussed during the recent visit of Baroness Margaret Hodge at my direction and in my conversations with Premier Wheatley, as well as our work on sanctions enforcement and on areas of common focus such as environmental protection. I want to thank Departments across HM Government for their support in this work and the Governor, the Premier and their teams.
I nevertheless remain deeply concerned about the findings of a review of law enforcement agencies in BVI by His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire rescue services, which identified a number of serious issues. We are working to support immediate improvements to law enforcement capability, including the critical implementation of vetting processes. It is vital that these and other changes are made with urgency and appropriate funding provided, to keep the people of the British Virgin Islands safe and to combat the serious and organised crime that impacts BVI, and on the United Kingdom, the region and our partners. I will not hesitate to act if urgent improvements are not made.
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