DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING PROCESS IN THE BVI
Overview
Development planning was accepted as a function of the government
since 1971 with the establishment of the Development Planning Unit
(DPU) with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The combination of the aid management, project development and
national statistics function in the early 1980’s enabled development
planning to be successfully carried out across ministries, departments
and agencies. This represented the initial development of inter-agency
planning and monitoring mechanism.
The system of project planning in response to sector analysis has
served to establish our approach to national development until 1999
when national development planning embraced the integrated approach.
In the interim sector planning in tourism, business services and
government affairs served as indicative plans for the private sector
to understand government development policies and strategies and thus
allow it to respond in a manner appropriate to national aspirations.
Today the national planning system is a combination project planning,
sector planning and a National Integrated Development Strategy (NIDS)
that considers economic, social, spatial and environmental strategies
simultaneously rather than sequentially. The NIDS serves as an
umbrella strategy or flexible framework under which integrated
objectives are distilled to ensure meeting overarching national goals.
Planning Machinery
In the British Virgin Islands, the highest level of decision-making in
matters of public policy in all fields of national development is the
Executive Council or the Council of Ministers (Ex.Co.) which comprises
all ministers of the Crown and the Governor – the representative of
Her Majesty’s Government. Aside from the Ex.Co., there is the
Legislative Council, the legislative branch of government that must
approve all financial resources allocations. There is also the
Planning and Project Review Advisory Committee (PPRAC) that advises
and make recommendations to the Minister of Finance, Economics and
Development Planning. The Governor is the chairman of the Ex.Co. while
the Chief Minister is the chairman of the PPRAC.
The Executive Council is assisted by three entities, the Planning and
Review Advisory Committee (PPRAC), the Ministry of Finance, Economics
and Development Planning (MFED) and the National Integrated
Development Strategy Management Team (NIDS Team). The PPRAC, a
committee of ministers and top managers in the Public Service is
chaired by the Chief Minister, is responsible for assessing the
suitability of investment proposals, analyzing development issues and
monitoring implementation of national development. The MFED is
responsible for national financial management, including resource
allocation, budgeting and internal audit. The NIDS Management Team is
responsible for investigating and recommending on national development
issues using an integrated and strategic approach.
Planning on the national level is undertaken by a number of agencies,
committees and line ministries throughout the single level national
government. The planning machinery essentially consists of the
Legislative and Executive arms of government working in both
directions. Beginning at the level of departments, agencies and public
corporations, the planning machinery works its way up through the
inter-agency NIDS framework, special committees and line ministries.
The next level is Executive Council, the Executive Arm of Government
and finally the legislative arm where planning priorities receive
resource appropriations. Generally the Line ministries and planning
departments serve as the secretariats. These departments include the
Development Planning Unit, the Town & Country Planning Department,
the Social Development Department and the Conservation, the Department
of Health and Fisheries Department.
The main focus of planning at the national level is on the public
expenditure programme over the three year or medium term planning
period. The overall public sector expenditure targets and allocations
to the various sectors, ministries and parastatals are approved by the
Executive and Legislative councils, respectively on the recommendation
of ministries.
Planning at the national level is a joint responsibility of the
central planning agencies and the ministries of the Central
Government. In this context the ministries are responsible for
formulating development strategy, preparing development programmes and
developing measures. The overall public sector development expenditure
is endorsed by the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. The
ministries play a key role in developing priorities under the NIDS
framework for their areas.
Through the NIDS process, planning is done in collaboration with the
private sector. This process involved extensive public consultation,
research, validation agencies and industry representatives participate
in a series of consultative sessions to produce national development
strategy.
Planning Process
Planning in the BVI is an integrated, inter-active process between the
political administration, the professional planning agencies and the
line ministries as shown in Chart 3, which implies a top down and
bottom up process including the private sector.
The structure helps to ensure national ownership and representation
from throughout the BVI.
At the national level the Executive Council in consultation with the
Ministry of Finance, Economics and Development Planning has general
authority over the national planning process, reviews the
implementation of strategies, establishes national development
priorities, assesses prospects and analyzes potential. The Executive
Council reviews the broad macro-economic framework, growth prospects
and targets prepared by the Development Planning Unit as part of the
NIDS framework. The Development Planning Unit together with the
Planning and Projects Review Advisory Committee incorporates
parameters of the PPRAC.
The Legislative Council receives and endorses the priorities of
planning of the Executive Council. The Legislative Council is the
ultimate authority on level and particulars of resources in the public
expenditure programme. The Development Planning Unit, together with
the other planning agencies of the NIDS Team examine and report on
such factors as the international economic situation, resource
availability, constraints, implementation capacity and policy
limitations.
To initiate the process on an annual basis, the Ministry of Finance
issues a Call Circular to all departments and ministries. The
Circular, among other things, contains guidelines for project
submissions, submissions processing and procedures, the financial
upper limit of the plan and the timing and criteria for programme
proposals. The recipients of the Call Circulars are then required to
distill their strategies in programmes and projects for
implementation. The programme development selection processes are
merged and bidding for implementation resources takes place at the
Budget Caucus.
On the other hand, planning takes place from the bottom up in the line
ministries with the conversion of sectoral plans and strategies into
specific programmes and projects. The MOF, lines ministries and the
Development Planning Unit play key roles in matching micro-level
programmes and projects with the macro level sector plans, targets and
strategies. The MOF Call Circular initiates the budget cycle setting
the general guidelines on the priority areas, the criteria for project
selection and the qualifying procedures for projects to enter the
cycle. Additionally, the Call Circular spells out the financial
parameters that are to guide ministries and departments in preparation
of their capital and current programmes of expenditure. The Call
Circular also contains the legal framework and procedural changes for
the budget.
Once the issued Call Circular is received by ministries, the internal
process of adopting to national development thrusts, directions and
related policies designed to achieve balance across sectors and
regions begins in honest. National objectives would have already been
established through the National Integrated Development Strategy
(NIDS), sectoral plans and other strategies. Ministries and
departments proceed to prepare their budgets based on these
deliberations.
Of course, planning is not only at the national priorities or ministry
level. The BVI Planning system is also characterized by a strong
orientation towards project planning together with monitoring of
implementation and post-implementation analysis. Studying these
processes provide information that is valuable for future
decision-making. As well, these types of studies provide us with
estimates of the absorptive capacity of the economy, allow us to gauge
the efficiency of programme and policy implementation and informs how
more effective approaches to planning might work.
Planning Horizon
The adopted National Integrated Development Strategy (NIDS) sets the
broad thrusts and strategies in shaping the national agenda over the
long term. It establishes the broad flexible framework under which
detailed social, environmental, spatial and security objectives are
developed and the long term targets consistent with the vision for the
BVI. The Medium Term Framework (MTF) is the second level and it
essentially outlines the medium-term socio-economic strategies, growth
targets and various other indicators of the government’s development
pursuits. The MTF sets the role of the various sectors, including the
private sector thereby highlighting investment policies and
strategies.
The third level in the planning framework is the Planning and
Priorities Review (PPR) process carried out by the NIDS implementation
mechanism (the technical sub-committee). The PPR process determines
the implementation progress and recommendations for corrective action
and other adjustments to Cabinet (Executive Council). The PPR process
considers alternative policies and strategies.
The final level of planning is preparation of the annual budget in
conjunction with the MFED. The process takes in the views of the
private sector through the Business Forum, one-to-one consultancies
and special audiences. In addition the final level of planning takes
on the budget preparation process ensuring consistency between the
budget and the national development strategy. This makes the national
annual budget a rolling plan in the overall implementation of the
national development plan.
The Rolling-Plan
The BVI Planning system accommodates short, medium and long term
considerations allowing opportunity for changes in light of new
information or the desire to take up new or additional development
choices or options. The Planning and Projects Review Advisory
Committee (PPRAC), the MFED monitor development and policy
implementation to be in a position to take advantage of new
opportunities and respond rapidly to changing situations. The PPRAC
reports form essential information for the donor community and other
stakeholders in the BVI economy.
The PPRAC monitors shortfalls between planned and realized targets to
obtain information necessary to design and develop policy options to
find better solutions to the issues identified. Variables monitored by
the DPU and the MOF includes current account positions, public sector
financial positions, inflation, output and employment.
Changes in the environment necessitate policy responses that are
timely and effective. The various planning instruments such as
reviews, caucuses and forums present opportunities to assess
implementation and progress towards planning targets. Of course all
policy changes are approved and sanctioned by the Executive Council.
Policy Development
The evolution of BVI development policy has gone through three
distinct periods that coincided roughly with the past three decades:
the Decade of Transformation, the Decade of Expansion and the Decade
of Consolidation equating to the 1960’-1970’s, the 1980’s and
the 1990’s respectively.
During the 1970’s policies concentrated on accommodating foreign
direct investment in tourism and part-time, high income residents to
complement tourist activities. In addition policies focused on
relevant infrastructure and utilities development together with
strategies to ensure environmental protection. But, essentially
policies were export-oriented and geared towards foreign direct
investment and to a lesser extent human resources development with the
beginning of heavy immigration and the transitioning from an
agriculture and fishing subsistence economy. Essentially the Decades
of Transformation ran from 1963-1979 taking in the early and late
development of tourism, particularly the marine-oriented areas.
The Decade of Expansion featured explosive growth in financial
services and extraordinary growth in tourism together with the related
concentration in human resources development, immigration and
infrastructure. This decade somewhat represented a continuity of the
transformation with the exception of financial services being
developed on a grand scale. Policies were somewhat shifted from purely
accommodating to somewhat regulating and considering the overall
impact on our man-made and natural capacities to absorb activities.
The Decade of Expansion witnessed a concentration of policies to build
the infrastructure and the legal framework for financial services and
the advent of policies to address the fast rising social dislocation
issues.
The Decade of Consolidation was characterized by policies designed to
consolidate the gains of the Decades of Transformation and Expansion
while meeting the challenges associated with the expanding demand for
basic social services, environmental management and security of the
individual. Certainly policies were needed to come to terms with the
increased scrutiny of international financial services, the
international trade in services and the global competition between
land-based and cruise tourism. The role of government in promoting and
regulating certain international services were increasingly coming
under scrutiny and far ranging policies to address this trend were
needed. Government’s new and decisive role in economic management
and its responsibility to ensure integrated management of our
environmental, human and other assets required a more expansive grid
of policies and strategies to ensure simultaneous rather than
sequential development.
The essence of government policy response to the need for
consolidation and integration is encapsulated in the NIDS. It is a
strategic approach designed to foster integrated development as the
best option to ensure sustainable development as an intermediate step
to raising the standards of living and improving the quality of life
of British Virgin Islanders.
Conclusion
The national development process is well mapped out but not
necessarily implemented as designed. A great deal of cooperation and
co-ordination among ministries and agencies are required to operate
the various mechanisms for implementation of the full range of
development policies. It is a process that recognizes the importance
of the political processes to the planning process. The BVI planning
system is no doubt being seriously challenged by global and domestic
events; however, is has facilitated the development process by
affording the ability to respond to windows of opportunity an solid
long term decision-making.
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