The Tobago House of Assembly Act, No. 40 of 1996 — Tobago's Devolved Powers

The Tobago House of Assembly is the elected body responsible for the administration of specific matters relating to Tobago. It is established as a statutory body under Act No. 40 of 1996 (which replaced the 1980 Act). It is NOT a sovereign or federal legislature, its powers are delegated by Parliament and are confined to the matters listed in the Fifth Schedule to the Act.

For investors, this means that some approvals are issued by THA divisions (e.g. certain building permits, health facility licences within Tobago, and lease arrangements over state lands vested in the THA), while others remain with central government agencies (e.g. Town & Country Planning outline approval, EMA environmental clearances, work permits, and Fiscal Incentives).

The Fifth Schedule delegates administrative responsibility to the THA for a defined list of areas, including:

• Tourism.
• Agriculture, fisheries, and food production.
• Physical infrastructure and public utilities within Tobago (in cooperation with central agencies).
• State lands within Tobago, including leases and dispositions.
• Local health services.
• Sports, culture, and the arts.
• Sports and youth affairs.

The list is prescriptive, the THA cannot act outside the schedule without express delegation.

The THA Fund is composed of monies appropriated annually by Parliament and revenues collected in Tobago. The Secretary of Finance submits annual draft estimates of revenue and expenditure to the Assembly, which are then transmitted to Cabinet for consideration and final approval.

Section 43 requires Cabinet to consider Tobago's specific developmental and financial needs — including its physical separation and distinct identity, when allocating resources.

In Attorney General v Tobago House of Assembly [2020] UKPC 8, the Privy Council held that the THA cannot enter into Build, Own, Lease, Transfer ('BOLT') arrangements, or any other long-term financial commitment that is functionally equivalent to borrowing, without prior Ministerial or Cabinet approval. Such arrangements would circumvent the expenditure controls in Part IV of the Act.

For investors contemplating a public-private partnership with the THA, this decision matters: the THA cannot bind itself to long-term availability payments or purchase commitments unilaterally. The Ministry of Finance and (typically) Cabinet must be engaged up-front, attempting to circumvent central government scrutiny will not survive judicial review.

• For projects on state lands in Tobago, expect to engage the THA's Division of Infrastructure or the Division of Land Settlement (via LSA) for the lease/rental arrangements.
• For tourism licences, engage the Division of Tourism.
• For agricultural leases, engage the Division of Agriculture in conjunction with the central Land Settlement Agency.
• For PPP proposals, expect to engage both the THA and the central Ministry of Finance / Ministry of Planning, and to receive Cabinet-level scrutiny.
• For everything else touching central regulators (planning, environmental, telecommunications, work permits, foreign investor licences), the central agencies remain the counter-party even where the project is physically located in Tobago.

There is an ongoing public debate about expanding Tobago's autonomy through constitutional reform (including entrenchment of the THA and enhanced revenue-raising powers). The Commission monitors these developments closely, but for the moment the 1996 Act remains the governing framework and any expansion of THA authority will require action by the central Parliament, not judicial interpretation.