PATI STATEMENT ST.GEORGE'S PARISH COUNCIL

Introduction:

The St. George's Parish Council (Council) has a legal duty under the Public Access to Information Act 2010, to maintain and update annually an Info1mation Statement. This will facilitate easy access to information by the public and increase the accountability and transparency of the Parish Council, which will endeavor to proactively publish as much information as possible.

Overview of the Public Accessto Information Act 2010 (PATI)

The purpose of PATI is to:-

• Give the public the right to obtain access to information held by public authorities to the greatest extent possible, subject to exceptions that are inthe public interest or for the protection of the rights of others.

• Increase transparency, and eliminate unnecessary secrecy, with regard to info1mation held by public authorities.

• Increase the accountability of public authorities.

• Inform the public about the activities of public authorities, including the manner in which they make decisions.

• Have more information placed in the public domainas a matter of course.

The purpose of this Information Statement is to provide interested paiiies information about (i) the structure, functions and programs of the St. George's Parish Council, (ii) the types of records help by the St. George's Parish Council and (iii) how theycan access thisinformation.

The St. George's Parish Council has twelve (12) persons who are appointed by Minister of Tourism, Culture and Spmi to sit on the Council. Cunently, there are eleven (11) persons serving on the Council namely:-

Mrs. Cindy Weeks, Chairperson

Ms. Quinita Francis, Deputy Chair Mr. Kenneth Baiiram, Councilor Ms. Terlena Murphy, Councilor

Mrs. Michelle Neai·on Richardson, Councilor Mr. Dean Pa1Tis, Councilor

Ms. Kleita Pitcher, Councilor Mrs. Caljohna Smith, Councilor Mr. Ryan Steede, Councilor

Ms. Roseanne Tucker,Councilor Mr. Stephen Tucker, Councilor

The St. George's Parish Council generally holds their monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of the monthat 6:30pm. Meetings are usually held at the St. George's Community Centre located atOld Military Road, St. George's GE05. Occasionally meetings will be held virtually via Zoom.

Contact information

e-mail address: stgeo.parish.council@grnail.corn postaladdress: P.O. Box GE 267,St. George's GEBX

Legislation

Parish Councils Act 1971

Under the ParishCouncil Act the St. George's Parish Council has the following functions:-

• to bring to the attention of the Minister any matters affecting the general welfare of residents in the Parish;

• to consider and advise on any matters which may be refe1Ted to the Parish Council by the Minister;

• subject to the general direction and control of the Minister, to provide and maintain places of recreation and recreational facilities, to preserve and improve the general amenities of the Parish and generally to promote the well-being of residents in the Pai·ish;

• to hold in trust for the residents of the Parish the parochial funds and other property transferred to the Parish Council in pursuance of the First Schedule and to employ the same for the purposes of paragraph (d) in such manner as the Council may, subject to that pai·agraph, determine;

• tomaintain and administer the property known as the St. George's Parish rest home;

• to maintain the pai·ish records transferred to the Parish Council in pursuance of paragraph 9 of the First Schedule; and

• togive effect to any directions given by the Minister undersection 6.

Mission

To improve the quality of life of all residents in the Parishof St. George.

Section B: 2) Obligations under Public Accessto Information Act[s5(l)b]

• Toprovide an information statement for the public and promulgate it [s5],
• To provideother information to the public so that thepublic needs only to have minimum resort to the use of the Act to obtain information [s6].This includes:
  • General information, e.g. activities of the Authority
  • Log of all information requests and theiroutcome
  • Quarterly expenditure (upon request) [s6(5)]
  • Contracts valued at $50,000 or more.
• Torespond to information requestsin a timelymanner [s12-16].
• To track information requests, and provide this data to the Information Commissioner
• Torespond to requests from the Information Commissioner [s9].
• To amend personal information held by the Authority that it is wrongor misleading following a written request by the person to whom the information relates [s19].
• Toconduct an internal review if formally requested [part5].
• Togive evidence for reviewby the Information Commissioner [part 6, 47(4)], or for

judicial review [s49], ifrequired.

• To providean annual written reportto the Information Commissioner of the statusof information requests [s58(3)].
• To do anything else as required under thePATI Act andsubsequent Regulations [s59, 60], including:
  • Fees for requests for information
  • Management and maintenance of records
  • Procedures for administering the Act.
• To train staff and make arrangements so as to facilitate compliance with the Act [s61].
• Todesignate one of its officers to be theperson to whomrequests are directed [s62].

Programmes/ Initiatives:

• Annual Scholarship programme.
• Host various feeding programmes throughout the year usually around the festive season

i.e. Easter and Christmas.

• Distribute gift vouchers to seniors residing in St. George's Parish to assist them with their electric bills etc.
• Host events in the Parish such as a Seniors Tea.
• Host Keep Be1muda Beautiful community clean up days.
• Fundraising events throughout the year i.e.Wine Tasting.
• Operate a Water Standfor Be1muda Day½Marathon Derby.

.  -  - ··-  ,_

Records held by the St. George's Parish Council are as follows:

• Minutes of meetings
• Annual financial statements
• Leases

Minutes are circulated to all Membersof the Counciland are retained by the Secretary.

Currently thereare no administration manuals.

The St. George's ParishCouncil is presently guided by the Parish Councils Act 1971.

The Acting Information Officer for theSt. George's ParishCouncil is Kleita Pitcher. Ms. Pitcher's contact infmmation is:

Telephone: (441) 444-2467

Email: krpitcher@gov.bm

• The St. George's ParishCouncil owns theproperty situated at 18 Secretary Road, Town of St. George GE 03, known as the St. George's Parish Rest Home.
  • Pmtions of thisbuilding is leasedas a carpentry workshop.

• Fees paid to Members for attending monthly meetings:-
  • Chairperson - $100 per meeting
  • Member - $50 per meeting

Every public authority shall update its information statement at least once a year, and make it available for inspection by the publicat reasonable times by [s5(1-5), PATIAct]:

Date Information Statement was updated: 18^th December 2024 Locations of Information Statement

Copies of this Information Statement are available at the following locations:

• Your principal office: there is no principal office                                        NO

• The Be1muda NationalLibrary                                                                     YES

The Bermuda Archives                                                                                 YES

• Available electronically                                                                                 YES

• Council's website (currently no website is available)                                     NO
• Have you published a notice in the Gazette indicating the places where the information statement is available for the public?                                        YES

With the Information Commissioner                                                             YES

Sign:

Name: CindyWeeks

Post:    Chair of the St. George's ParishCouncil (Head of the PublicAuthority)