THE Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Act outlines the process whereby the assembly handles its finances.

Section 41 of the act, directs the finance secretary to submit draft estimates of revenue and expenditure each financial year for the assembly's approval.

Once approved, the draft estimates are sent to Cabinet for approval.

These estimates must be submitted to Cabinet before the end of the third quarter of each financial year.

An extension of one week is allowed in instances where the THA fails to complete its consideration of the draft estimates for the assembly to complete this exercise, and allow the chief secretary to submit the draft estimates to the Cabinet.

Section 42 (2) states that, in cases where the chief secretary is unable to submit the estimates, the Finance Minister "shall proceed to prepare such draft estimates as he thinks fit and may take into account any draft estimates subsequently submitted by the assembly."

Section 43 indicates that in circumstances as outlined in section 42 (2), the Cabinet gives due consideration to the developmental needs of Tobago in the context of Trinidad and Tobago.

The financial resources allocated to Tobago must be fair and practicable, based on certain factors.

Those include the physical separation of Tobago from Trinidad by sea, restricted opportunities for employment and career fulfilment on the island and Tobago's isolation from the principal national growth centres.

Section 44 states where the THA is dissatisfied with the whole or part of the allocation provided to it by Cabinet, it can refer the matter to the Dispute Resolution Commission (DRC) which resolves disputes between the THA and Government on budgetary allocations to the assembly and related matters.

The commission consists of the Ombudsman or any other person with judicial or quasi-judicial experience agreed to by Government and the THA, two government members and two THA members.

Before the DRC becomes involved in any dispute between the Government and the THA, section 58 states the matter is referred to the prime minister who refers it to the Cabinet for consideration.

The DRC is formed once the Cabinet fails to resolve the dispute.

When the commission resolves a dispute, its chairman communicates this to the prime minister and chief secretary. The prime minister and chief secretary respectively lay the recommendations of the DRC in Parliament and the assembly.

The THA normally receives an allocation of between 4.03 and 6.9 per cent the budget per annum. This arose out of a DRC ruling in 2001.

While the percentage of the budget which the THA receives is outlined in the DRC recommendations, the underlying legal basis for the funding of the THA is found in Section 141D of the Constitution.

Under the former People's Partnership government, the THA won a court matter which gave it the ability to borrow money for its own use without seeking help from central government to do so.

This section creates the THA Fund which comprises monies appropriated by Parliament for the