Anguilla House of Assembly

Joined the Commonwealth: 19 November 1926

CPA Branch formed: 1 January 1992

Unicameral/Bicameral: Unicameral – Anguilla House of Assembly (13)

Parliament/Legislature website: click here 

Parliament on social media: Facebook

Number of Departmental/Ministry Oversight Committees: 1 (Public Accounts Committee)

Names of House Management (such as Privileges or Procedure) Committees: Administration Committee.

Standing Orders: click here

Recent CPA Bilateral Programmatic Activities/News: 

• In April 2023 - the 2nd Commons and Overseas Territories Speakers’ Conference (COTSC) was held at the Anguilla House of Assembly on a theme of ‘Deepening Parliamentary Democracy in the British Overseas Territories - A Roadmap to 2030’. The conference was hosted by the Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly, Hon. Barbara Webster-Bourne and representatives attended from Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, St Helena, Turks and Caicos and Gibraltar as well as the United Kingdom. Read more by clicking here.

• In March 2023, the Anguilla House of Assembly endorsed a new Code of Conduct and Register of Interests. The Code of Conduct and Register of Interests were developed by the Administration Committee of the Anguilla House of Assembly with support from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) through a Technical Assistance Programme. The motion, presented by Hon. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, acknowledged ‘the community’s expectations of high standards from their elected representatives as well as the desire of Members of this honourable House to enhance propriety and to strengthen the community’s trust in the Assembly’. Read more about this development here.

• In September 2021, the Anguilla House of Assembly commissioned a review of its governance, organisation and administrative arrangements. The CPA supported the review by deploying two technical advisors who met with key stakeholders and produced a report. The report can be downloaded here.

• At the 23rd Meeting of the Anguilla House of Assembly on 23 July 2021, the Legislature proposed the Standing Orders, House of Assembly (Procedure) Rules, 2021 which, together with the House of Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Amendment Act 2021, was assented into law by the Governor of Anguilla on 30 July 2021. The law created a new set of Standing Orders for the Assembly, the first time they had been comprehensively updated since the first set of Standing Orders were enacted in 1976. This result was a culmination of an 18 months’ Technical Assistance Programme led by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in partnership with the House of Assembly of Anguilla. Read the full article here.
• Members from the CPA Anguilla Branch participated in the CPA Fundamentals Programme for Parliamentarians on parliamentary practice and procedure and international good practices of parliamentary democracy in 2019 and 2020.
• In February 2020, the Anguilla House of Assembly became the eleventh legislature to use the CPA Democratic Benchmarks framework to conduct an Assessment. The overall objective of the exercise was for local stakeholders to measure the progress of their Legislature in achieving democratic and good governance standards by comparing their practices to the Benchmarks that have been developed and adopted by Commonwealth Parliamentarians and by extension the CPA. See more about the CPA Benchmarks here.
• The CPA Post-Election Seminar which ran from the 20-24 July 2020, provided a valuable opportunity to help shape the parliamentary careers of the newly elected and returning Members of the House to develop their skills and understanding of parliamentary democracy. The programme covered areas focusing on parliamentary practice and procedure, administration and financing of Parliament, public outreach and engagement, the role of select committees as well as key Commonwealth values and principles, such as the Latimer House Principles on the Separation of Powers. Watch the opening ceremony here. 
• The CPA Anguilla Branch has committed to undertaking a long-term CPA Technical Assistance Programme (TAP), which commenced in July 2020, to fulfil the recommendations contained in the Benchmarks report.
• In December 2020, the CPA Headquarters Secretariat welcomed two delegates, representing the CPA Anguilla Branch, at the first ever Virtual Commonwealth Youth Parliament where participants debated a number of issues including youth unemployment and COVID-19.