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Marcella Mittens, a recent graduate of Canterbury Christ Church University, has achieved First-Class Honours in her BSc Business Management and Tourism Studies degree. She was also recognised as the student with the highest overall mark in her class, and her outstanding academic performance on the Tourism, Events and Hospitality Course further solidified her position as a top student.
Marcella’s combined honours degree provided a deep understanding of both business and tourism, with a particular focus on island tourism. The programme was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing Marcella to explore industry recovery and resilience strategies, especially in the context of St Helena.
A highlight of the programme was a study trip to Malta, where Marcella gained valuable insights into island heritage, culture, and sustainable tourism practices.
The business modules of her degree aligned closely with the Chartered Institute of Management, covering essential topics such as management, leadership, project management, and economics. During her studies, Marcella was selected to represent Canterbury Christ Church University in Germany, where she studied at SHR Heidelberg University. This experience allowed her to develop innovative business designs and gain a global perspective in the business field.
For her dissertation, titled “Navigating Change: Local Insights on St Helena Tourism Development, Economic Transformations, and Governance Dynamics, with a Focus on the New Airport Development”, Marcella explored the impacts of the new airport on St Helena’s tourism and economy. Through interviews with residents and local businesses, Marcella gained valuable insights into the expectations, concerns, and governance processes surrounding tourism development on the island.
Marcella commented on her experience:
“Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my university experience. The diverse range of subjects I studied, from tourism to business management, provided me with a solid academic foundation and broadened my understanding of global issues, particularly within the context of island tourism and economic development.”
“Additionally, the experience of living and studying in a different country helped me develop valuable life skills, including independence, adaptability, and cross-cultural communication. These experiences not only enriched my academic journey but also prepared me for the complexities of a globalised world.”
Portfolio Director for Education, Skills and Employment, Marie Horton, commented:
“Congratulations to Marcella Mittens on achieving First-Class Honours in her BSc Business Management and Tourism Studies degree! Her dedication and perseverance, especially amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, are truly commendable. Marcella’s passion for island tourism and her insightful dissertation on St Helena’s tourism development demonstrate her potential to make a significant contribution to the field.”
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#StHelena #Education #Graduates #FirstClassHonours
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SHG
25 October 2024
The Customs and Immigration Sections have recently undertaken a review of their processes with the initial focus placed on the passenger experience at the airport. As a result of this review, changes to the processes will be implemented gradually with the first two happening from Saturday 2 November 2024, concerning landing cards and passenger declarations.
With immediate effect, passengers will not be required to complete a landing card on entry to St Helena and a red (goods to declare) and green (nothing to declare) channel have been implemented within the Customs arrivals area. It is hoped that this decision improves the customer experience whilst maintaining the high levels of security for St Helena. Officers will continue to obtain the requisite security information via desk interviews where necessary. The arrivals area has been redesigned with a focus on instructional posters. This redesign creates a more streamlined and sanitised look. The tourism advertising will still be on display once passengers have passed through the secure area.
These new processes will be reviewed after an initial three-month period and members of the public will be updated with regard to any further developments.
#StHelena #Customs&Immigration #EffectiveEfficientAndAccountablePublicSector
By April 2025, anyone wishing to travel to, or transit through, the UK will require permission in advance. Permission can be granted by way of an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) or Visa. This will exclude British citizens (which includes British Overseas Territories citizens) and Irish citizens.
New ETA implementation dates have been announced by the UK Government:
| Travellers | Can start applying for entry via ETA from: | Can start travelling with an ETA from: |
| Non-Europeans | 27 November 2024 | 8 January 2025 |
| Europeans | 5 March 2025 | 2 April 2025 |
Over the next six months, ETAs will be rolled out to an additional 83 non-visa nationalities.
ETAs cost £10 and are linked digitally to a traveller’s passport. All ETAs are valid for two years (or until the expiry of the traveller’s passport) and permit multiple entries into the UK for up to 6 months at a time. The new approach will allow more robust checks to be carried out on all people travelling to the UK.
Further details, including a list of eligible nationalities, ETA processing times and additional instructions, are available on GOV.UK. at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-get-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta.
#StHelena #ElectronicTravelAuthorisation
HE the Governor has recently approved revised Procurement Regulations which replace the 2018 Procurement Regulations. The new Procurement Regulations aim to streamline processes and reduce administrative burdens, while ensuring compliance.
The new regulations will come into full effect on Friday 1 November 2024. These changes are designed to reduce administrative burdens for SHG colleagues, and any immediate significant challenges are not anticipated.
Whilst wording has been subtly amended throughout and definitions enhanced, the key changes which bring process benefits are:
- The threshold before the full regulations apply has increased to £30,000. Several other thresholds have also been increased to account for rising global prices since the previous regulations were issued.
- Any procurements above £30,000 must be placed on the Rolling Procurement Plan before any procurement activity can take place.
- There are still regulatory controls for items and services below £30,000, but there is greater flexibility for portfolios to gather quotations independently. Process Maps to demonstrate this are available on the SHG website at https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/documents/Process-Maps-2024.
- The regulations will focus scarce skills and expertise where they are required and also ensure that Executive Council and other key stakeholders are aware and involved as early as possible in the process when appropriate.
Copies of the Terms of Reference for the Procurement Board and process maps which will hopefully help guide people through the new processes, can be found on the SHG website at https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/government/public-information/.
To discuss the revised regulations in further detail please contact officers within Treasury and Procurement Services via the Castle Reception on 22470.
#StHelena #ProcurementRegulations #EffectiveEfficientAndAccountablePublicSector
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There is evidence to suggest that over the weekend dated 18 to 20 October 2024, a vehicle had been driven up Side Path Road from the Brow, and driven down Field Road. This incident has been reported to the Police.
The public are reminded that Side Path and Field roads are currently closed for ALL public access i.e. pedestrians and vehicular. This is fundamentally to promote the health and safety for members of the public and the contractor’s staff, as live construction sites are inherently dangerous places.
Additionally, the actions of this irresponsible driver/s could have caused damage to the fresh concrete laid as part of the road pavement which would have cost tens of thousands of pounds to remove and replace and, as a result, delayed the re-opening of both Side Path and Field Road.
#StHelena #Field Road #EDIP
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SHG
29 October 2024
Towards the end of 2023, expressions of interest were invited to operate the SHG subsidised Public Bus Service beyond February 2024. There was no interest from any operators to provide the full service which was in place at that time, therefore interim arrangements were agreed with three separate contractors to ensure continuity of some services from 01 March 2024. This arrangement was for an initial period of six months to enable SHG to consider policy options for the future delivery of a public bus service but was later extended to 30 November 2024. This interim arrangement has resulted in a higher subsidy payment with fewer timetabled journeys. The interim arrangements are not financially sustainable; additionally the reduction in the number of journeys have impacted those members of the community who relied on the service for social travel purposes, travel to and from work or late night travel at weekends.
Various options for continuation of a public transport bus service were therefore developed. The primary aim being to ensure financial sustainability in a Public Transport Service that required investment to deliver a reliable and accessible service to those who have no other means of travel. These options were considered in June this year by Executive Council who agreed the recommended option, which was for SHG to assume responsibility for providing the service for an interim period of up to five years. During such time the wider public transport needs would be assessed based on data obtained, alongside any developing interest from the Private Sector to operate the service recognising the importance of good asset management to ensure longevity of such a service.
To enable SHG to provide this service, funding for the procurement of three new 22-seater buses was approved from the FCDO Essential Equipment Fund, with a fourth funded from the Central Support Service Transport Trading Account. Two buses have been delivered to the island, with the others scheduled to arrive before the end of this calendar year.
The new SHG operated service will commence on 01 December 2024, utilising the pre-March 2024 timetables thus resuming the late night travel, journeys to the airport at weekends and reinstating other daytime journeys that had ceased at the end of February 2024.
From 01 December, the routes and buses will no longer be identified by letters such as, A, B, C etc. but rather by route numbers, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Buses will have signage to indicate they are Public Transport Service buses, along with LED displays to indicate route number and destination.
To ensure a sustainable public transport bus service into the future, ticket costs for ‘hop on, hop off’ journeys will be as follows:
Single journeys of up to 3 miles – £2.45
Single journeys of 3 to 6 miles – £3.15
Single journeys of over 6 miles – £3.60
Tickets for children up to and including 10 years of age will be half price.
It is important to note that prices have remained the same since March 2016 and that SHG is continuing to subsidise the service with an annual amount of £87,000.00. If not subsidised the above journeys would have cost:
Single journeys of up to 3 miles – £5.85
Single journeys of 3 to 6 miles – £6.45
Single journeys of over 6 miles – £7.08
More details about routes, timetables, and other relevant information will be released in the coming weeks. SHG extends its sincere thanks to all contractors who have contributed to the continuity of public bus services since March 2024, with special recognition to Colin’s Garage and Joshua’s Taxis for their longstanding commitment in providing transport services for the community since 2003 and 2012 respectively.
#StHelena #PublicBusService #EffectiveEfficientAndAccountablePublicSector
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SHG
29 October 2024
In November 2022, it was announced that St Helena would receive funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) bespoke 2022/2023 Improving Essential Equipment in Overseas Territories Programme. At that time
St Helena was allocated up to £1,800,000 for the purchase of equipment of critical importance to the island. This was in areas including healthcare, emergency services, port operations, road maintenance and the airport.
In November 2023 an additional £577,000 was made available for the purchase of an ATC Data System upgrade for St Helena Airport, Chromebooks for Prince Andrew School, and a care package including bariatric chairs, lifting system, beds, mattresses, hoists, falls sensors and suction equipment. Table 1 shows a breakdown of the cost of this equipment.
Table 1
| St Helena Airport – ATC Data System Upgrade | |
| Item | Cost |
| ATC Data System Upgrade & Installation | £362,804.42 |
| Education, Skills and Employment – Chromebooks | |
| Item | Cost |
| 180 Chromebooks | £86,220.00 |
| 180 Laptop Bags | £2,070.00 |
| 600 Google Workplace Subscriptions | £1,500.00 |
| 230 Google Chrome Licences | £6,900.00 |
| Health and Social Care – Care Setting Upgrade | |
| Item | Cost |
| Vivid Care Bariatric Chairs | £34,105.00 |
| Winncare Mangar Lifting System & Cushions | £28,407.94 |
| Harvest Healthcare Beds and Mattresses | £25,936.36 |
| NRS Hoists | £1,150.00 |
| NRS Mattresses | £17,500.00 |
| NRS Falls Sensors | £2,332.28 |
| Medisave Suction Equipment | £8,572.89 |
| Overall Programme | |
| Actual Spend: | £577,498.89 |
In May 2024, a further £1 million was allocated. Portfolios were required to submit prioritised lists of equipment accompanied by supporting business cases, from which Ministers shortlisted and selected high priority items. These were endorsed by the Steering Committee comprising of HE Governor, Chief Minister, SHG and FCDO officials. Equipment selected from this tranche of funding included the purchase of recycling bins, a recycling glass plant, public transport buses, hospital equipment for both general and specialist surgeries, occupational therapy equipment and pressure relieving mattresses, immigration equipment such as a Resident Permit Card Facility and Passport Scanners, a document management system, education resources and fire protection equipment.
Table 2 below shows the estimated cost of each of these items. SHG can confirm that the procurement process has commenced and further information relating to the equipment procured will be released as items arrive on island. The balance of this programme, is being allocated to the Airport to invest in a security upgrade to ensure regulatory compliance.
Table 2
| Key: |
| ENRP – Environment, Natural Resources and Planning |
| CSS – Central Support Services |
| HSC – Health and Social Care |
| SSHA – Safety, Security and Home Affairs |
| ESE – Education, Skills and Employment |
| AGC – Attorney General’s Chambers |
| Item | Cost |
| ENRP – Household Recycling Bins | £75,000.00 |
| ENRP – Glass Grit Recycling Plant | £91,402.83 |
| CSS – Public Transport Buses (3x) | £181,500.00 |
| HSC – Oertli Faros Phaco Machine (required to carry out cataract surgery) | £51,377.26 |
| HSC – Endoscopy equipment | £218,534.17 |
| HSC – Ergometer | £6,079.19 |
| HSC – Pressure Relieving Mattresses | £14,876.08 |
| HSC – Occupational Therapy equipment | £9,185.50 |
| HSC – Physiotherapy equipment | £1,745.57 |
| HSC – Diathermy equipment | £15,000.00 |
| SSHA – Immigration EVisa System, Resident Permit Card Facility & Passport Scanners | £170,560.00 |
| SSHA – Fire Fighting Equipment | £80,763.94 |
| ESE – Health, Safety and Science equipment | £33,080.00 |
| AGC – Document Management System | £15,120.00 |
| Freight from Round 2 (22/23 & 23/24) | £16,088.39 |
| TOTAL: | £980,312.93 |
SHG would like to express sincere gratitude to the FCDO for the generous funding made available in 2023 and 2024. This funding has enabled SHG to make significant improvements, enhance safety and efficiency and provide valuable resources to our community.
#StHelena #EssentialEquipment #FCDO
A team from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will be conducting a visit to St Helena from Saturday 26 October 2024 to Saturday 2 November 2024. The purpose of this visit is to assess the current suitability of primary school education buildings on the island and inform the decision-making process for the Primary Education Review.
As announced in July this year, the Primary Education Review is considering various options, including:
- Maintaining the existing school structure
- Consolidating into a single school
- Creating a primary two-school system
The FCDO team will undertake an options appraisal to help secure an Economic Development Investment Programme (EDIP) business case. This will contribute to determining the best course of action for primary education on the island.
During their week-long stay, the FCDO team will visit all three primary schools, interacting with pupils, staff, parents, and community members. They will also meet with key stakeholders, including Chief Minister Julie Thomas, Chief Secretary Susan O’Bey, Acting Governor Tasha Harris, recent graduates, Chevening Scholars, the Education Review Stakeholder Group, the Autism Parents Support Group, and the St Helena Youth Parliament.
These engagements will provide valuable insights into the current state of primary education buildings, their suitability to meet our declining pupil numbers, their suitability against the COBIS standards framework and gather stakeholder opinions on the education system. This information will help identify potential areas for improvement and ensure that St Helena’s primary education system meets the needs of its young people and contributes to the island’s overall development.
#StHelena #EducationReview #FCDO
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The public may be aware of the recent discussions in both Houses of Parliament earlier this week, in relation to the SHG’s Agreement with UKG regarding future migrants in BIOT. In answer to the question raised, Stephen Doughty MP, Minister of State for Europe, North America and UK Overseas Territories made the following statement on Monday afternoon.
“The House is aware that a political agreement has been reached with Mauritius about the long-term future of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Once any treaty with Mauritius comes into force, following its proper parliamentary scrutiny, Mauritius will be responsible for any migrants who arrive there.
However, we needed to find an interim contingency solution for the period before that agreement comes into force. Given that there is no permanent population, BIOT has never been an appropriate long-term location for migrants due to the logistical challenges of providing appropriate care in such a remote place without civilian infrastructure.
On 15 October, a new memorandum of understanding was reached with the Government of St Helena so that any new migrants arriving in the interim period will be transferred to St Helena. The intention is for that agreement to last until the treaty with Mauritius comes into force, recalling that, in practice, no new migrants have arrived on Diego Garcia since 2022.
We are hugely grateful to the St Helena Government for their assistance. Their Chief Minister has said:
“This arrangement presents a unique opportunity for a British Overseas Territory to be in a position to assist the UK, and we are pleased to be able to work in close partnership with the UK Government towards a mutually beneficial solution.”
The UK Government have agreed to provide one-off funding of £6.65 million to St Helena to improve health and education outcomes, and upgrade government infrastructure. This is consistent with our long-term support to the community in St Helena, which is of course crucial.
This is a long-term, consistent partnership. We will support St Helena by providing technical support, and funding the transfer and subsistence costs for any migrants affected.
Of course, this is not the first time that St Helena has supported the wider UK family. The agreement is testament to its integral place in our family. We thank it for its support”.
Minister Doughty reinforced that this is contingency planning. These arrangements would only apply to any new migrants who arrive from the date of the arrangement until the UK’s agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago comes into force. It will not apply to any migrants already on BIOT.
Following this the UKG and the SHG are publishing the MOU in relation to this agreement, as well as Minister Doughty’s letter to the Chief Minister. Both documents can be viewed at https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/documents/Letter-from-MinOTs-to-St-Helena-Chief-Minister and https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/documents/UK-St-Helena-MOU-BIOT-Migrants.
Councillor Robert Midwinter departed the island on Saturday 19 October 2024 to attend a Legislative Strengthening Seminar to Address Gender-Based Violence and Modern Slavery in Supply Chains. This seminar has been organised by the CPA UK and will be held in London. It acts as a follow-on session to the seminar which Councillor Midwinter attended in November 2023, however on this particular occasion he has been invited to participate as a panelist during one of the sessions. As with the previous seminar held in Nairobi, Kenya, costs relating to his attendance at the seminar are fully funded by external sources. Whilst in London, Councillor Midwinter will also be undertaking meetings in relation to other items of interest to St Helena.
Councillor Midwinter is scheduled to return to the island on Saturday 2 November 2024. Whilst away, he is still contactable via email at cllr.midwinter@helanta.co.sh, and Councillor Ronald Coleman has kindly agreed to also cover St Paul’s District Area during this period, contactable via Ronald.Coleman@helanta.co.sh.
The Hon Cyril Gunnell, Speaker of the St Helena Legislative Council said:
“It is pleasing that our Elected Members, when opportunity presents, responds positively. Not only will our representative bring to the seminar St Helena’s perspective in this matter but also the interaction with CPA colleagues will provide valuable information to assist dialogue here on island.”