The final meeting of the 2025-2026 parliamentary session got under way on 29 April with the passing of six bills and the tabling of reports covering housing, planning, OfReg and the Ombudsman’s office.
Proceedings began with MPs paying tribute to women who have made significant contributions to Caymanian life, many of whom were sitting in Parliament’s public gallery, before reports were presented to the House.
These included the 2025 Cayman Islands Public and Affordable Housing Policy and 10-Year Strategic Plan and the Development and Planning (Amendment) Regulations, 2026.
Development plans
Development and planning regulations are the focus of a subsequent parliamentary debate, but introducing the regulations, Planning Minister Jay Ebanks said that they “address specific gaps that have become evident in the system” around minimum setback requirements from the coastline and minimum road widths for developments.
“This is about ensuring that infrastructure keeps pace with development,” he said, as well as “strengthening the alignment between planning and infrastructure”.
The 2024 annual report of the Cayman Islands National Attractions Authority was also tabled, as was the OfReg 2024 annual report and reports covering the Office of the Ombudsman.
Six bills were passed unanimously, two of which covered various aspects of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority. The Airports Authority (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2026 updated the Airports Authority Act to allow CIAA to collect fees from aircraft operations for air navigations services, including validating past fees and penalties.
Explained Ebanks, “While the airports authority has provided air navigation services in line with international standards for years, it did not openly list these fees as the formal head of revenue. In a well-governed jurisdiction like ours, the gap matters.”
The Airports Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was described by Ebanks as an essential piece of legislation needed to ensure that the security presence within Cayman’s airports was efficient and effective.
“Let me be clear about what this legislation is and what it is not,” he said. “This bill is not about turning our airport into a fortress. It is not about treating our people as suspects or making visitors feel unwelcome. It is about making sure that the relaxed professionalism, the environment we are proud of, can be sustained legally, securely and in full compliance with international standards.”
The bill gives airport security officers the power to stop vehicles within the designated airport security zone, to conduct a visual inspection of the vehicle exterior, interior, and contents and the power to control vehicle access, ensuring the operational zones remain secure.
Opposition MP Kenneth Bryan and independent MP Chris Saunders raised concerns about the possible risk to the public presented by untrained enforcement officers and possible infringement on people’s rights, while Attorney General Samuel Bulgin added to the debate by pointing out that the bill stated any searches of vehicles or persons could not be intrusive.
Additional bills passed
Other bills passed were the Auditors Oversight (Amendment, Validation and Repeal) Bill, 2026 which will replace the Auditors Oversight Authority Act as well as tightening up appointments and validating past actions and decisions, and the Health Practice (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
This, said Health Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, would give more effective oversight by the relevant professional councils and regulatory bodies and would allow Cabinet to prescribe general standards for professional practices.
The final two bills were the Parliament (Management) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which formalised the Office of the Leader of the Opposition with staffing support and introduces constituency office managers for MPs as well as increased constituency funding, and the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill, 2026 to comply with standards set out by the Financial Action Task Force.
Following the committee stage and third readings, all six bills were passed with only minor amendments.
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With all these generous allowance increases for M.P.’s ,the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Speaker can the public/taxpayer have a summary of what the total salaries/allowances are for each category.There seems to be no controls over what these idividuals award themselves and the public have the right to know what it’s costing them.