Risk in overseas territories examined

The UK retains responsibility for 14 overseas territories, 11 of which are permanently populated and opt to remain under British sovereignty. These territories are not constitutionally part of the UK; they have their own constitutions, legal systems and most have a democratically elected government.

Most of these territories also share common features including relative isolation, exposure to disasters, and dependence on one or two key industries. The great majority of territory citizens are entitled to full British Citizenship. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) leads overall policy and maintains the main UK presence in the territories.

This Report reviews the progress since the National Audit Office's last Report on this subject, 'Contingent Liabilities in the Dependent Territories’ (HC 13 1996-97) published in May 1997. It considers whether UK government departments work effectively in conjunction with territory governments to manage and mitigate risk, and whether there are suitable and sufficient resources available by the UK Government to manage the risk to the UK from its relationship with overseas territories.

The Report sets out a number of recommendations:

• Other UK government departments should be required to set out their arrangements for dealing with overseas territory issues
• The FCO, with the support of relevant agencies such as the Treasury, Financial Services Authority (FSA), and Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), should develop a strategy to ensure stronger investigative and prosecution capacity
• The FCO needs to make real progress in developing territory administration.

The Report further concludes that while some progress has been made in managing risk, the degree of success in individual territories and across key areas has been mixed.

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