Trinidad and Tobago
The Red House, Parliament of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Key Facts
Head of State: President Paula-Mae Weekes
Joined the Commonwealth: 1962
Capital City (location of Parliament): Port of Spain
Unicameral/Bicameral: Bicameral - House of Representatives (42) and Senate (31)
Further Information:
- Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago
- IPU - House of Representatives and Senate
- CPA Country Directory
- CPA Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region
- Commonwealth Secretariat
- UN Data
- BBC Country Profile
- British High Commission Port of Spain
- Trinidad and Tobago High Commission London
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CPA UK and Trinidad & Tobago
CPA UK and the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago have a strong relationship. During the pandemic, members and clerks have participated in multilateral events virtually. Most recently the Westminster Seminar in March 2022 and the Caribbean Clerks Programmes in both 2021 and 2022.
Prior to the pandemic, in January 2020, CPA UK hosted the third programme in the Commonwealth Association of Public Accounts Committee (CAPAC) regional workshop series in partnership with the Parliament of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Chairs, Members and Clerks of Public Accounts Committees from Commonwealth countries across the Caribbean came together to develop and share skills in public finance scrutiny.
Two UK MPs joined the workshop, and they joined a number of additional bilateral meetings with stakeholders in Trinidad & Tobago, in cooperation with the British High Commission in Port of Spain. Topics discussed included environmental conservation and LGBT+ rights.
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CPA UK Recent Programmes
Westminster Seminar on Evolving Parliaments 2022, UK Parliament & Virtual, 14-18 March 2022
CPA UK hosted the Westminster Seminar, our flagship peer-to-peer learning programme for parliamentarians and clerks from across the Commonwealth.
We celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Westminster Seminar, a series focused on parliamentary procedure and practice that started in 1952. To encourage greater inclusivity, this was the first Westminster Seminar in its long history to be in a hybrid format. We were delighted to once again be welcoming delegates back to Westminster and made provisions for virtual participation.
Caribbean Clerks Programme, Virtual, 11-12 January 2022
CPA UK hosted our annual Caribbean Clerks programme on Zoom. This two-day programme brought together clerks from the UK and Caribbean region to share experiences and good practices.
The programme was designed to address regional-specific needs, following consultation with Caribbean legislatures. Speakers from across the Caribbean and the UK contributed their experience and practices in a peer-to-peer learning format.
Caribbean Clerks Programme, Virtual, 13-14 January 2021
CPA UK invited 11 legislatures from across the Caribbean for an online programme designed for parliamentary clerks to increase their capacity and skills in facilitating virtual and hybrid activities.
The programme took place on 13 and 14 January 2021. The topics covered also included communications, both with members and the public.
The CAPAC Caribbean Regional Workshop was attended by 31 Chairs, Members and Clerks from 11 Commonwealth Public Accounts Committees in the region. Participating PACs joined from Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands. Delegates exchanged good practice for financial scrutiny and oversight and collaborated to find approaches to shared challenges. The workshop formed part of CPA UK's work in the Commonwealth Partnership for Democracy (CP4D).
International Parliamentary Conference on National Security and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Cybersecurity & Cybercrime Project, Westminster and beyond, 2016-17
As part of CPA UK's annual themed projects, the 2016-17 project was designed to increase parliamentarians’ knowledge of and build capacity on national security and cybersecurity through engaging interactive discussion sessions and networking opportunities with key stakeholders. The programme focused on a range of themes covering legislation, committee scrutiny, budgets, and engagement with civil society, international institutions and the private sector.
CPA UK, working in partnership with the Parliament of Trinidad & Tobago delivered the Caribbean Regional Workshop on Energy, Sustainability & Development for Caribbean and UK parliamentarians.
The Workshop was one of three regional workshops to be delivered by CPA UK with UNDP as part of an International Parliamentary Project (IPP) following the adoption of the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) by the international community.
CPA UK Delegation to Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain and Scarborough, 1-7 February 2015
CPA UK organised a cross-party delegation of six UK parliamentarians to visit Trinidad & Tobago in February 2015. The visit consisted of six days in Port of Spain, Trinidad, followed by the final day in Tobago. Based primarily in Parliament and a number of Ministries, the programme comprised of bilateral sessions with key stakeholders from across the political and civil society spectrum. The programme also took in a number of other activities such as a visit to the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus and Scarborough General Hospital in Tobago.
