G8 (UK 2013 Presidency)

Thursday 19th December 2013 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)]

I would like to update Parliament on the outcomes of the UK presidency of the G8 and the costs of the 2013 G8 summit in Lough Erne.

Progress

Since the G8 summit on 17 and 18 June, we have made very good progress on trade, tax and transparency, benefiting countries across the world including the poorest nations. The UK has today published an end-of-year G8 2013 UK presidency report that summarises commitments made at Lough Erne, progress made since June, and next steps. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Trade

The EU and Canada reached agreement on key elements of a comprehensive free trade deal in October, while progress continues on the EU-US and EU-Japan trade deals. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) struck a landmark deal at Bali earlier this month, including measures to cut border bureaucracy. This deal will boost the global economy by £70 billion per year.

Tax

The OECD plans to present a single standard on automatic tax information exchange by February 2014. The OECD is also implementing an action plan to address tax-avoidance and to ensure multinationals report what tax they pay where.

Transparency

G8 countries have published national action plans setting out how they will ensure companies know who owns and controls them. I announced on 31 October that the UK will make its central registry of beneficial ownership publicly accessible. In the extractives sector, US and EU law will require companies to report their payments to all Governments. The US, UK and France, Germany and Italy have announced that they will sign up to the extractive industry transparency initiative. Finally, on open data, G8 members have produced or are preparing open data action plans setting out how Government data will be “open by default” where possible.

On kidnap for ransom, the G8 unequivocally rejected the payment of ransoms to terrorists and called on others to follow this lead. The G8 undertook to work together to prevent kidnaps and to help resolve hostage incidents by sharing best practice and expertise. Since Lough Erne, G8 members have focused on improving co-ordination in travel advice to high-risk areas, strengthening collaboration on kidnap response, and building an international consensus.

The G8 also agreed to continue support for Libya’s democratic transition, and in the margins of the Lough Erne summit there was agreement to train up to 7,000 Libyan troops. On 16 December, the United Nations Security Council issued a presidential statement reaffirming support for Libya’s ongoing democratic transition.

The UK looks forward to maintaining momentum on these issues during 2014, working with the Russian G8 presidency, Australian G20 presidency and other partners.

Benefits for the UK

The successful 2013 G8 summit in Northern Ireland demonstrated to the global community that it is a first-class destination for business and tourism. It showcased this part of the UK by maximising the opportunities for inward investment and highlighting internationally what Northern Ireland, its people and businesses have to offer. The summit prompted a subsequent international investment conference in Belfast on 10 and 11 October which brought together 150 potential and existing inward investors.

Summit costs

The total estimated cost of putting on a safe and secure G8 summit was £82 million, split between the costs of the event itself (accommodation, food, logistics) and the costs of policing and security in Northern Ireland. This cost less in real terms than when the UK hosted the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office managed the logistical arrangements for summit in Enniskillen, the most westerly town in the United Kingdom, at a net cost of just over £10 million. Twelve Government Departments will contribute towards these costs, consistent with the funding of similar cross-Whitehall events such as the Papal visit in 2010.

The Lough Erne summit was also the safest G8 summit in memory, with only two arrests and a broad range of peaceful protests and campaigns in Belfast and Enniskillen. The Northern Ireland Office co-ordinated policing and security for the G8 with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), other security partners and across Whitehall. The total costs of the police and security operation were approximately £72 million.

The PSNI was responsible for the operational delivery of a secure summit, involving almost 5,000 PSNI officers supplemented by 3,600 mutual aid police officers from police forces in England and Wales, and Scotland. This was the first time that police officers from Great Britain had been deployed to Northern Ireland for public order duties under “mutual aid”.

The PSNI operation cost approximately £40 million, of which £26 million was funded by HM Treasury from the reserve and the rest met by the Northern Ireland Executive. The deployment of 3,600 mutual aid police officers cost just under £29 million; central Government Departments are meeting these costs. Additional national security measures and specialist military support cost approximately £3 million; these costs will be met by the Northern Ireland Office and MOD. HM Treasury has supported the process of apportioning G8 policing costs throughout.

The estimated costs of the summit are set out in tables 1 and 2 below.