Issues discussed in Parliament include the lack of residence permits for people living on boats

People living on boats are no longer being issued residence or ID cards based on the Register of Occupation Act 2021. This follows concerns that the system was being abused.

The Government is awaiting a report from the Civil Status and Registration Office and says it's something it is looking into.

This was revealed in Parliament today with the Chief Minister also confirming 13 police officers have been employed by Government since June 2020.

It was a constructive start to Parliament with the Chief Minister replying to questions from GSD member Elliott Phillip.

The first asked how many disposable vapes have been imported in the last ten years

Fabian Picardo said the data was not available as there's no legal requirement to collect it. But, he added he'd asked the Collector of Customs to start collating it from this month.

He said, he believed 'drastic action' needs to be taken as regards vaping. He added the Government was in the process of buying systems to detect vaping in secondary schools toilets. Elliott Phillips highlighted the issue of access to vaping for youngsters, referencing the Director of Public Health's statement at the GHA Public meeting that an investigation into the health effects of vaping on the youth was ongoing.

Good news for Eastern Beach users and residents in the area with the Government confirming the multi-storey carparkwill have full capacity over the bathing season.

Chief Minister's questions moved to Finance with the news that the Principal Auditor's reports from 2016 to 2018 are still not complete. The Chief Minister said they were practically finished with Opposition Member Roy Clinton saying it was not good enough that the last report available had been over 6 years ago.

Gibraltar has seemingly complied with the provisions of the tax treaty with Spain over the past two years and is waiting to be removed from Spain's blacklist.

The Chief Minister told Parliament discussions were ongoing on the mechanics for the removal.

Gibraltar should have been removed in March with the Opposition questioning at what stage the Gibraltar Government would feel the need to walk away from it.

It was also revealed the Government had received 84 claims from retired public sector workers in respect of a historic 3% abatement. 68 from the Fire and Rescue Service have been settled and 16 from the RGP are under consideration.

Questions on the Eastside Project ate up a large bulk of the afternoon with the Chief Minister giving a categorical assurance that the project will not 'box in' Catalan Bay.

Over 100 low cost apartments which form part of the project are expected to be completed within 36 months of full planning permission.

On Victoria Keys, Mr Picardo said the reclamation was there for when needed, with the opportunity taken to remove the rubble from the Eastside at no cost to the tax payer.

However plans for this development remain in the air.

Good news for boat owners with berths at the Small Boats Marina to go up for sale. The Chief Minister told Parliament a lot of interest has been expressed and the final technical details are under discussion.

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