WHILE some in the Channel Islands would like to see a written constitution, Gibraltar’s has been received with mixed feelings. Chief Minister Peter Caruana says the constitution means that, for the first time the UK Government has recognised that the people of Gibraltar enjoy the right of self-determination under the UN Charter.

However, opposition leader Joe Bossano said that whether Gibraltar was still a colony or not was still to be decided following a UK submission to the UN.

The new constitution means that the number of elected MPs will increase from 15 to 17 at the next general election and the attorney general and the financial and development secretary will no longer sit in the house of assembly, which is now called the Gibraltar Parliament.

* The Cayman Islands is also developing a new constitution and it is a subject of disagreement between the governing party and the opposition. Talks, which were halted in 2004, have begun again with the UK Government.

* Bermuda’s economy should grow by 3-3.5% this year, compared with inflation of 3%, according to Finance minister Paula Cox. Announcing her budget, the minister said the elderly would benefit from increased pensions and benefits and public-sector employees would be able to continue working beyond 65.

Public services will cost £448m. and £11m. will be spent on paying debts. Capital spending will total £73m. in the colony, which has a population smaller than Guernsey’s.

* The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are working together to exclude local auditors from the strict requirements of the EU’s eighth Company Law Directive.

This requires auditors of companies listed on EU stock exchanges to be subject to public oversight in an attempt to tighten rules relating to audits.

According to Isle of Man Today, the islands have had talks with the Financial Reporting Council in the UK in the hope that it will act as the oversight body for local auditors rather than the islands having to do it themselves.

The paper said the EU Commission had reacted positively to a submission from Jersey and Guernsey, but no formal acceptance has been received that meets equivalence criteria.

* Bermuda’s payroll tax is forcing some businesses to move work out of the colony, according to The Royal Gazette. Although the rate remained unchanged in the recent budget, employers have to pay more as wages increase and as demand for labour grows.

One reinsurance company has moved its accountancy, legal claims and IT departments to Nova Scotia and its research and development and catastrophe-modelling teams to Hyderabad.

* The average wage in the Isle of Man increased by more than 9% in the year ending June 2006. According to the Treasury, full-time workers earned an average £536 per week. Guernsey’s average wage was about £550 in 2003.

* The minister of Employment Relations in the Cayman Islands has called for the introduction of a minimum wage.

Cayman Net News said there were cases of security guards being paid as little as $3.33 an hour (about £1.73) for a 100-hour week with no overtime rate.

* A total of 584 people were unemployed in the Isle of Man in January – 35 fewer than the previous January and just 1.4% of the workforce.