WE may not be doing it here in Bermuda, but it's good to see that it is being undertaken elsewhere - and yes, Mr Editor, I am writing once again about one of my favourite subjects: parliamentary reform.

It was just before the holiday break that I learned that the people of Nevis had been promised a Christmas package of legislation in 2007 to improve governance there. Their new Premier Joseph Parry (pictured at right) has announced his intention to deliver on legislation designed to make ministers and civil servants more accountable.

Premier Parry has been reported by the Caribbean Net News agency as saying that the legislation will include the following:

[bul] A permanent Integrity and Fairness Commission to hear complaints from the public and, where appropriate, to investigate ministers and civil servants along with regulations which will clearly outline procedures for the management and accounting of Government finances;

[bul]An Integrity Act to govern the conduct of ministers and senior public servants; and,

[bul]A Procurement Act which will require the establishment of a central Tenders Board to award contracts and layout procedures for competitive bidding.

"We will not only pass these Acts", Premier Parry is reported as having said, "but we intend to put in place proper mechanisms and systems to ensure that these laws and regulations are respected and complied with so that the people of Nevis could be assured that their tax dollars are well spent".

What's most interesting here, Mr. Editor, is the local connection. It was only eighteen months ago that Premier Parry, then an Opposition member in the Nevis Assembly, was a delegate to the 30th Regional Conference of the Caribbean, Americas and the Atlantic Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which was held in of all places - yes, you guessed it - Bermuda. I, too, happened to have been a delegate and I recall having insightful and instructive conversations with Mr. Parry on the need for reform, here and there.

He was no recent convert either. He was an advocate on the need for change and I suspect that his advocacy was a direct result of his parliamentary experience, having served and worked on both sides of the aisle.

Mr. Parry, then just a member of the Nevis Reformation Party, and in Opposition, was first elected to the Nevis Island Assembly in 1987, but he had served in Government as a Minister prior to that.

He was elected leader and Premier in Nevis five months ago.

What it took there was a change in Government and a politician determined to keep his promises.

Here at home, parliamentary reform remains on hold. Proposals for change advanced by the Opposition United Bermuda Party continue to languish before the Rules and Privileges Committee of the House of Assembly, which is chaired by the Speaker, but governed by the PLP Government majority, and which rarely even meets.

Stymied, Mr. Editor, is a good word to describe the current state of play.

Meanwhile, we continue to kid ourselves, if not seriously misrepresent what actually takes place in our Parliament.

I have had a riff on this before, Mr. Editor, but no apologies for doing it again.

We hand out to our visitors to the House a little booklet on the history and procedures of the Sessions House a.k.a. the House of Assembly on the Hill (pictured left).

Here's an offending excerpt headed "Scrutinising Government":

"A major role of the House of Assembly is to subject the policies and actions of Government to public scrutiny. The Government runs the country, but Parliament holds the Government to account. When Government Ministers make statements in the House of Assembly, they are interrogated by the Opposition and by individual Members.

"MP's (sic) can also question Ministers during Question Time. Written questions must first be put and the answers may be requested orally, or written. All answers are included in the published Official Report of proceedings."

The theory's sound.

The practice isn't.

There is no interrogation as alleged, or at all. MPs can only ask questions ten days in advance and even then they are not always answered.

More, much more, needs to be done to bring about more effective public scrutiny and to hold Governments to account, here and elsewhere.

But, as I have mentioned before, there is growing support for change (mostly from without, sadly), the most recent of which came from a Study Group established by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to develop what can only be described as minimum standards for modern legislatures.

This week, on the eve of a New Year Mr. Editor, I share with your readers those standards which the Group entitled "Recommended Benchmarks For Democratic Legislatures."

It doesn't take long to spot the areas in which Bermuda has fallen behind.

The irony here is once again the local connection.

"These benchmarks", reads the report, "are the outcome of a Study Group hosted by the Legislature of Bermuda on behalf of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the World Bank Institute with support from the United Nations Development Programme, the European Parliament and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs."

Hosts indeed.

We may dabble, Mr. Editor, but sorry, we don't actually do reform here in Bermuda.

But I suppose there's always next year.>