The Parliament of the Cayman Islands will consider 12 bills and multiple other items when it convenes on Wednesday, 30 September, for the second meeting of the 2026-2027 session.
The bills include a ban on disposable vapes, new public health and environmental health legislation, and a proposal to require the retendering of fuel supply contracts.
The agenda also includes four government motions, five private members’ motions, a number of parliamentary questions and reports from ministries, portfolios, offices and government-owned entities that are due to be tabled.
Proceedings will be broadcast live on the government’s YouTube channel, CIGTV and Radio Cayman.
Members of the public may also attend the House of Parliament in George Town in person, in business attire, after registering with security.
Bills
Local Companies (Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2026
This bill, sponsored by the Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce, would allow Cabinet to impose a moratorium by order on the grant of licences under the Local Companies (Control) Act, where it is in the public interest.
The moratorium could apply to all licences or only to particular kinds of business. An order would have to set the moratorium’s start and end dates and the types of business covered.
Tobacco (Amendment) Bill, 2026
This bill, sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability, would extend the Tobacco Act’s restrictions on manufacturing, labelling, selling and promotion to vaping products.
It would also ban the import, manufacture, sale, advertising and promotion of disposable vapes.
It would prohibit selling vaping and nicotine products, including nicotine pouches, to minors, and it would prohibit vaping in or within 10 feet of a public place.
Mutual Legal Assistance (United States of America) (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Sponsored by the Portfolio of Legal Affairs, this bill would make the attorney general the Cayman authority for handling US mutual legal assistance requests.
That role currently belongs to the chief justice or a Grand Court judge the chief justice designates.
The solicitor general and the director of public prosecutions would be notified of every request and could take part in any resulting proceedings.
Notaries Public (Amendment) Bill, 2026
This Portfolio of Legal Affairs bill would limit notary appointments to Caymanians, removing permanent residents from eligibility, and would bar anyone aged 80 or older from appointment.
Required experience would rise from three to five years for attorneys and accountants, and from three to six years for managers.
Non-attorney notaries would need to complete training and hold indemnity insurance, and they must never have had a conviction expunged or spent.
Criminal Records (Spent Convictions) (Amendment) Bill, 2026
This bill is a companion to the notaries bill and is also sponsored by the Portfolio of Legal Affairs.
It would add notaries public to schedule 4 of the Criminal Records (Spent Convictions) Act, which established the list of people who must disclose expunged criminal records.
Monetary Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Sponsored by the Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce, this bill would give the board of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority the power to appoint the authority’s chief executive officer, after consulting the financial services minister.
Several related powers under section 13 would move from Cabinet to the board. The chief executive would become a non-voting board member.
Health Practice (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2026
This Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability bill would allow each council under the Health Practice Act to delegate its functions in writing to sub-committees.
Those sub-committees could be drawn from council members or could include staff or agents of the Department of Health Regulatory Services, co-opted persons or others.
Delegation to a sub-committee that includes non-council members would require Cabinet approval.
Sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability, this bill would repeal and replace the Public Health Act (2026 Revision).
It would establish a Department of Public Health and set out the roles of the director of public health, the chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer.
Attending practitioners and laboratory managers would face a CI$2,000 fine for failing to report notifiable diseases without reasonable excuse.
The director could require a suspected carrier to stay at a specified location.
The bill would create a Public Health Risk Emergency Committee with powers to enter premises and order remediation. It would also allow Cabinet to declare a “public health incident of national threat”.
Environmental Health Bill, 2026
This Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability bill would set out a legislative framework for environmental health and continue to establish the Department of Environmental Health.
Its 57 clauses cover statutory nuisances, food safety, air quality, noise, refuse, hazardous waste, swimming pools and the handling of human remains.
It designates “potentially health-impacting trades”, including cosmetology, hairdressing, tattooing and waste management.
Conducting such a trade in a way that harms another person’s health would be punishable by a $5,000 fine, 12 months’ imprisonment or both.
Causing food to become unfit for human consumption would carry two years’ imprisonment, a $10,000 fine or both.
Development and Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Sponsored by the Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure, this three-clause bill would repeal section 42(3) of the Development and Planning Act, which requires regulations made under the act to be affirmed by parliament.
Regulations would no longer be subject to parliament’s affirmative resolution procedure.
The bill would also extend Cabinet’s power to waive fees under the Development and Planning Regulations (2024 Revision).
Fuel Market Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Bodden Town West MP Christopher Saunders is sponsoring this private member’s bill.
It would allow the Utility Regulation and Competition Office to review fuel supply contracts held by providers with significant market power.
The office could act on its own initiative or at Cabinet’s direction and would assess whether a contract still offers best value to consumers and the public purse.
National Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Also sponsored by Saunders, this bill would redefine “alien species” as a species whose natural range over the preceding 100 years does not include the Cayman Islands or does not include a specific island.
It would also replace section 3(13) of the National Conservation Act.
Under the new subsection, the National Conservation Council could delegate its powers only where necessary and only with Cabinet’s specific written consent.
Cabinet could revoke that consent and direct the council to revoke delegated powers. The bill’s memorandum describes the change as confirming Cabinet’s constitutional executive authority.
Government motions
Government Motion No. 1: Children (Advisory Panel) Regulations, 2026
Social development and innovation minister Isaac Rankine is asking parliament to affirm regulations for a panel that would advise and assist the commissioner for children and young persons.
Members would be aged 13 to 23. The panel would meet at least five times a year.
The regulations would take effect only once the Children (Amendment) Act, 2024, comes into force.
Government Motion No. 2: Whistleblower Protection Act, 2015
Premier André Ebanks is asking parliament to support the modernisation and strengthening of the Whistleblower Protection Act, 2015, which the motion notes has been in force since 1 February 2018.
The motion would commit the government to policy development, stakeholder consultation and legal review to decide which amendments are appropriate.
That work would consider stronger protection for people who make protected disclosures, more practical reporting channels and ways to address retaliation.
Government Motion No. 3: Cayman Islands Sovereign Wealth Fund
Premier Ebanks is also seeking support in principle for a sovereign wealth fund held for the benefit of the people of Cayman.
Under the motion, the fund would be “protected by governance arrangements intended to outlast any administration”.
The motion states that no public money should be committed until research, consultation and due diligence are complete.
A working group of qualified people would carry out that work. The government would then return to parliament with proposals, including any legislation and appropriation required.
Government Motion No. 4: Deed of Indemnity for Planning Appeals Tribunal
Planning minister Jay Ebanks is seeking parliament’s authorisation to issue a deed of indemnity to the 13 members of the Planning Appeals Tribunal. Cabinet would indemnify members against claims and losses arising from their tribunal work, provided they acted in good faith.
Cabinet would also advance their legal costs within 28 business days of a demand. The indemnity would exclude wilful misconduct, bad faith and fraud.
Private members’ motions
Private Member’s Motion No. 11: Proportionate regulation for company management
Opposition leader Joseph Hew is asking the government to consider amending the Companies Management Act to create a ‘Registered Company Manager’ category for people managing fewer than 20 entities.
George Town East MP Roy McTaggart is seconding the motion.
Those managers would register with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and pay proportionate fees.
They would remain subject to requirements on anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, beneficial ownership, sanctions and customer due diligence.
Private Member’s Motion No. 12: Sex offender register
Deputy speaker Pearlina McGaw-Lumsden, seconded by Red Bay MP Roy Tatum, is asking the government to consider introducing a sex offender registry bill.
It proposes a confidential law-enforcement and safeguarding register that would not be publicly accessible or searchable. Information could be disclosed only when necessary to protect children, vulnerable persons or the public from an assessed risk of serious harm.
Private Member’s Motion No. 13: Penalties for offences against children
Bodden Town East MP Dwayne Seymour, seconded by Saunders, is asking the government to consider three measures:
- a comprehensive review of legislation on sexual offences against children
- higher maximum penalties for those offences
- mandatory minimum prison terms for the most serious offences, with judicial discretion preserved in exceptional circumstances
Annual reports
Cabinet has cleared annual reports from the following bodies:
- The Ministry of Tourism and Trade Development, for 2025
- The National Drug Council, for 2025
- The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, for 2025
- The Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre, for the year to 31 December 2024
- The National Trust of the Cayman Islands, for the year to 30 June 2025
- The Children and Youth Services Foundation, for 2025
- Judicial Administration, for 2025
- The Port Authority of the Cayman Islands, for 2025
- The Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage, for the period to 31 December 2025
- The Health Services Authority, for the period to 31 December 2025
- The Ministry of Home Affairs, for 1 January to 30 June 2025
The Council of Older Persons’ Highlights and Activities Report, covering 2017 to 2025, has also been cleared for presentation
Other items
Cabinet approved the unaudited quarterly financial report for the period ended 30 June 2026 for tabling.
It also approved a supplementary plan and estimates for 2025, with an accompanying supplementary appropriation bill.
The deputy governor was authorised to table seven government minutes.
Separately, the premier told parliament on 24 June that a report on the key decisions from the government’s Cayman Forward Forum would be presented in September.
