Polio Eradication

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to extend the programme to eradicate polio to ensure an expanded contribution from non-governmental donors.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, since 1988 the number of polio cases has fallen by over 99%. Polio is now endemic in just three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. We remain strongly committed to polio eradication and are exploring with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative how to increase impact and sustainability and how to broaden the funding base, including from non-government donors.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

I thank my noble friend. As she points out, polio eradication is an outstandingly successful development programme. During just one day in India, for example, Rotary International is able to vaccinate 172 children. In the UK, the Government’s match-funding initiative has been able to leverage £123 million from non-government sources from a £40 billion investment. Given the success of this programme, will the Government commit to looking at renewing and extending it with a higher cap in future?

[Baroness Northover]

I start by paying tribute to my noble friend for her own commitment in this area. We can indeed eliminate polio, providing everyone contributes in the way she has indicated. My noble friend is right; the Rotarians were instrumental in securing strong, local ownership in northern India to ensure that all children were vaccinated. It is very much a success story and Rotary International is involved in similar initiatives, I am pleased to say, in Nigeria and Pakistan. We are looking at financing options from 2013, recognising the benefits of match and challenge funding.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, the Minister will know, as she has clearly just said, that there are lessons to be learnt from the example of India, where for 18 months now not a single case of polio has been reported. Could we have a more explicit description of what has been learnt? What efforts have been made to improve the take-up of the vaccine in Pakistan and Nigeria, where fear and suspicion are being peddled by some religious leaders and others to persuade parents to refuse to allow their children to be immunised?

[Baroness Northover]

Yes, the lessons from India are being carried over, and it is excellent to see that India is offering technical support in Nigeria and Pakistan. That is also where NGOs can play a part in reducing levels of suspicion about vaccination. There are a number of challenges, not least from the fact that there is a lot of conflict in the areas where there is not yet adequate take-up. However, that has been eradicated in the DRC and Somalia, so this can be done. It is a matter of making sure that we drive through and finish this particular programme.

[Lord Chidgey]

Does my noble friend recognise that the Global Polio Eradication Initiative currently faces a funding shortfall of up to $700 million, which is jeopardising its potential for completely eradicating polio? With vital programmes facing delay or cancellation and countries that were previously polio-free now facing the risk of re-infection, what targets are the Government setting for restoring the public/private sector global donor fund, which has now dropped to 20 members from 50?

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend is right that we are concerned at the lack of engagement by some countries. This is a window of opportunity. There is a programme to try to eradicate polio by 2018. We will all be aware of what an incredible achievement that would be. We are so close. The United Kingdom has been a major donor in this area. In 2011, 9.04% of the contribution to the eradication of polio came from the UK. Gates is a very powerful player here. We are very pleased to see the Secretary-General of the United Nations convening countries to try to ensure that they are engaged, and the key ones to engage here are Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

[Lord Campbell of Alloway]

My Lords, how do the Government intend to implement this proposal? As yet, that is not clear.

[Baroness Northover]

There is a very clear programme, which the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is taking forward. There is an independent monitoring board, the chair of which is Sir Liam Donaldson, of whom noble Lords will obviously be well aware. There is an effective strategy to deliver this by 2018 but it needs funding. Gates has been extremely effective in leveraging match funding. The United Kingdom, as my noble friend said, looks at match funding. It is important that we engage others in taking this forward, but I assure my noble friend that the programme is there.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon]

My Lords, the Minister rightly spoke of the need to ensure that there is matched funding. What are the Government doing to find and stimulate new sources of innovative finance so that state finance can be used to trigger investment from other sources?

[Baroness Northover]

The Rotarians might be the kind of example that the noble Baroness is thinking of. There have been a number of match-funded programmes, and we are continuing to look at developing this further. It is extremely important that it is not only the donor nations that carry this forward; there must be engagement in the countries in question. It is encouraging, for example, to see the effort that was put in in India and the current efforts in Nigeria. It is by those countries tackling this, taking ownership of it and ensuring that their communities are responding that we will eradicate this disease.

[Lord Skelmersdale]

For how many years does vaccination have to continue before polio can be eradicated?

[Baroness Northover]

One strain of polio has already been eradicated. In India, for example, the last case of polio was a number of months ago, and it will be given a clean bill of health by 2014. Vaccination has to continue for some time afterwards, as the noble Lord will appreciate, to make sure that there are no as-yet-undetected cases. That is built in to the way the programme is being taken forward to 2018.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Thursday 8th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Doocey]

My Lords, I have great pleasure in moving this Motion standing in my name. In doing so, I declare an interest: in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, I chaired both the London Assembly and Metropolitan Police committees responsible for monitoring the Games. I also served on the Home Office Olympic Security Board. My focus in this debate will be on the specific legacy promises made when London won the bid to host the Games and not on any other consequence of the Games.

Before the Games started, the doom and gloom merchants had a field day. They predicted that London would lose the bid, the infrastructure would not be completed on time, the transport system would be chaotic and security would be a nightmare. They were wrong on all counts. Yes, there were a few hitches, but they were inevitable in a project of this size. The Games were a huge success and we should pay tribute to everyone who contributed to that success, from the brilliant athletes and volunteers to the wonderful police and military personnel. They all did our country proud.

We should also recognise the enormous contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Coe, who secured the Olympics for Britain, and who, together with the noble Lord, Lord Deighton, John Armitt and Sir David Higgins, proved that we are capable of putting on a show like no one else.

I would also like to pay tribute to the LOCOG and ODA staff, who worked so hard behind the scenes to make sure that everything ran very well. In particular, let me mention the Olympic security team at the Home Office. I can testify personally to the skill and dedication of this extraordinary band of people, who worked tirelessly to anticipate and deal with every conceivable security problem in order to keep us safe.

If the 2012 Games had consisted of nothing more than a sporting event lasting a few weeks, I could end on that very happy note. However, that is not the case. A major reason why London won the bid to host the Games was its promise of a lasting legacy. The Games cost around £9 billion, which would be unacceptably expensive if all we could show for it was six weeks of sport. So, if we wish to honour the promise of a legacy and secure the best possible value for our £9 billion, there remains some serious work to do.

London originally promised in the bid document that,

“the most enduring legacy of the Olympics will be the regeneration of an entire community for the direct benefit of everyone who lives there”.

It is also promised that the Olympic Park will provide local people with significant improvements in health and well-being, education, skills and training, job opportunities, cultural entitlements, housing, social integration and the environment. Those were bold promises, but will they be met? There has been some very good progress to date, but much of the legacy still hangs in the balance and urgent and sustained action is necessary to ensure that London does not fail.

My first area of concern is the sporting legacy for disabled people. LOCOG deserves particular praise for delivering the first fully integrated Games, with the Paralympics as much a part of the games as the Olympics. The result was the most successful Paralympic Games ever, which inspired large numbers of people and did much to raise the profile of disabled people.

However, to provide a legacy for children with disabilities who are being educated in mainstream schools, as most are, we need PE teachers to be appropriately trained, to know what specialist equipment is available and where to get it. These teachers do not currently receive this training automatically but are instead expected to undertake training voluntarily in their own time, which is quite extraordinary. The Government must change this system. They should also make funds available to schools to bring in outside coaches to help.

My second concern is grass roots sport. The Olympics were to be used to encourage more people, especially young people, to participate in sport. The Games have undoubtedly inspired many young people, but the challenge we have is to leverage that enthusiasm, particularly in our schools. The Government abandoned the unrealistic target of using the Games to inspire 1 million people to play more sport but more down-to-earth programmes have succeeded brilliantly. For example, the London Youth Games has helped to get more than 2,000 disabled young people into sport and large numbers of young people to qualify as sports officials.

Unfortunately, most of the sports funding to schools is targeted at secondary schools, where it does the least good. Targeting resources on primary schools would be much more effective as it would encourage young children. If children can find fun and enjoyment in physical activity at a young age, they are much more likely to take an interest in sport when they get older. This funding should also be ring-fenced so that schools cannot spend it on other things, as some currently do.

The other legacy issues I wish to highlight concern the promised benefits to the local communities neighbouring the Olympic Park. This side of east London is one of the most disadvantaged parts of the country. The people who live there were promised better homes, jobs and other amenities, but there are serious doubts about whether these promises will be met. Take housing, for instance. The Olympic bid document promised that up to 50% of the new housing in the park will be affordable homes for rent and sale. When Boris Johnson became Mayor of London he downgraded this to a target of 35% affordable housing, with a minimum of just 20% across the site. In Chobham Manor, the first of five new developments to be built in the park, the plans promise only 28% affordable housing, of which only 21% will be family homes, with the rest comprising small flats. This will miss the promise in the original bid document by more than half and is barely above the mayor’s minimum target.

Given the current difficulties in the property market, there will be pressure to dilute these targets, because developers can make much more money building small flats than building affordable family homes. However, this must be resisted. We must ensure that we do not end up with another Canary Wharf—an island of affluence in a sea of deprivation. The Mayor of London has responded to criticism by claiming that there will be more affordable homes compared with most developments in London and the host boroughs. However, this is disingenuous. The benchmark is the Olympic legacy promise, not other commercial developments.

Another important legacy promise to local communities concerns employment and training opportunities. If these promises are to be fulfilled, it is essential that more stringent measures are taken to ensure contractors provide jobs and training for local people. LOCOG set targets for 7% to 12% of its employees to be previously unemployed and for 15% to 20% to live in the host boroughs. Although these very unambitious targets were met, and exceeded in some cases, it was impossible to tell how many of the beneficiaries were genuine local residents because there was no system in place to verify residency. It is difficult to see how the original target of getting 70,000 previously unemployed people into employment will ever be met. Future contracts for all park venues should enshrine the sort of high standards already set in the park by John Lewis, which employs 950 local people, 250 of whom were previously long-term unemployed.

Local communities were promised the use of all sports venues in the park after the Games, and the mayor originally set a target of 90% community usage. However, he has not put any systems in place to ensure that this becomes a reality. The London Legacy Development Corporation is keen to encourage community usage but is under huge pressure also to avoid any public subsidy. Unless this issue is addressed, there is a high risk that community usage could be sacrificed for commercial profit. In July 2011, the London Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Sport Committee heard from numerous expert witnesses, all of whom said it would be virtually impossible for sports venues to be financially viable without public subsidy. This is an issue that requires open and public debate. The mayor should make 90% community access a precondition for all sporting venue operators.

The £9 billion spent on the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was never intended to provide only a few weeks of sport. It was also to be a long-term investment and the financial bedrock of a lasting legacy. The fate of this legacy is at the mercy of the Mayor of London. He is free to take the easiest option, which would mean giving in to private developers without ensuring that local people benefit from homes and jobs. The result would be a very poor return on our £9 billion investment, and the Government have a duty not to let this happen.

The 2012 Games were a brilliant achievement, but we cannot rest on our laurels. We must constantly monitor progress and hold those responsible to account to ensure that the legacy matches the achievement. London promised a real and long-term legacy. When that has been delivered, we will have achieved a legacy as good as the Games. I beg to move.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, before we move into the general debate, I remind noble Lords that this is a time-limited debate and that Back-Bench speeches are limited to seven minutes. When the Clock hits seven minutes, noble Lords have had their time.

Wales: Economy

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Wednesday 7th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord German]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking regarding the challenges faced by the Welsh economy, and how they are ensuring that the Welsh and United Kingdom Governments work closely together in the interests of the Welsh people.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, because the Question for short debate of the noble Lord, Lord German, will now be taken as last business, the time limit becomes 90 minutes rather than 60 minutes. Speeches should therefore be limited to 10 minutes; the speech of the noble Lord, Lord German, remains as 10 minutes and the Minister’s as 12 minutes.

[Lord German]

My Lords, I begin my speech today by paying tribute to my noble friend the Minister and welcoming her to her new position as well as her first appearance at the Dispatch Box. I hope that nothing that I might say, or that other noble Lords might say, gives her any difficulty in responding to questions about Wales that we pose in this debate.

The economic health of Wales is the most important issue of all facing our country. Jobs, prosperity and the well-being of our people depend upon it, but there are some worrying underlying trends which are holding Wales back. I want to examine those issues today and to look at some potential solutions.

Despite 13 years of a Welsh Assembly, economic performance in the country still languishes at the bottom of the league. There is an overdependence on the public sector, and lower private sector development than is needed to pull Wales up by its bootstraps. In 1989, GVA per head in Wales was 84% of the UK average; in 2009—these are the latest figures available—it was 74%. GDP in Wales in 2010 was 80% of the European average, compared to 111% in the UK as a whole, and in west Wales and the valleys that fell to 68%. In the last quarter, public sector employment in Wales represented nearly 26% of the total workforce, higher than in any other part of Great Britain.

Wales went through its last industrial revolution in the mid and later 20th century, with the virtual ending of coal and heavy, smokestack industries. The replacement was with inward investment companies from around the globe, producing goods for the UK and European markets. That was a difficult transition, but it was a transition. Unfortunately, some of that has remained, but much has moved on to areas of cheaper labour cost. Once again, Wales needs to look for a different pattern of economic development, which is why the UK and Welsh Governments need to work together.

The levers that affect economic change are split between the Welsh Government and the UK Government. Working in different directions would at worst be pointless and could also result in overlapping or duplication of support and effort. By way of example of the split of those levers, we can take employment issues. The Work Programme remains with the UK Government but the Welsh Government provide apprenticeships. Financial support between SMEs is split between some of the banking provision and work that the UK Government do and the small, support grant aid that the Welsh Government provide. On exporting activities, the Welsh Government lead trade delegations, and so do the UK Government; sometimes they work hand in hand, but sometimes they do not. Essentially, the microeconomic and macroeconomic measures that Governments can take are split between two Governments.

We await the report of the Silk commission, which will undoubtedly propose changes to the ability of the Welsh Government to use financial levers. These are crucial, because the Welsh Government will benefit from financial incentives to boost the Welsh economy. I am therefore somewhat surprised that Labour seems to have rejected income tax powers. It is not about the variation of income tax—whether it is 1p up or 2p down, or whatever—but about raising the tax base overall in Wales, which will give the Welsh Government a better income. The more successful that the Welsh Government are in raising the tax base of Wales, the more money they will have to spend on public goods. And it is important that the Welsh Government should have financial incentives to do better; it goes alongside borrowing powers. You cannot use one without the other.

The other issue is the use of European funding. Wales will in all likelihood have a third round of the highest level of European support, subject to a budget which I understand some in the other place are striving to reduce. But there is a need to refocus the use of that European money and concentrate on private sector development—small company growth, new business formations, supply chain support, new financial support mechanisms, exporting, and redoubling the effort that we put into skills development and training. Convergence funding is very likely to continue, because GVA in west Wales and the valleys in 2010 was 68% of the European average, well below the current 75% qualification threshold for the highest level of funding. To measure that against the figure for the UK as a whole, it was 111% of the European average.

The recently published Heseltine report suggested bringing together many structural funds to try to create an armoury of financial weapons, with the ESF, ERDF, the marine and fisheries fund and the European agricultural fund for rural development, so that there could be an organised direction for European funding, particularly to aid the goals of small and medium-sized enterprise growth, skills and training. I would like to know the Minister’s attitude towards the proposed Atlantic strategy, which of course is now in its formation and which would serve the purpose of doing just that for Wales.

Where are the opportunities for the future? Manufacturing is a key Welsh advantage, and always has been in recent decades. In 2010, manufacturing made up 18% of the Welsh economy, compared to 12% of the UK as a whole. The automotive sector, pharmaceuticals and steel production are key areas for development but there is now a need to look at new and emerging sectors where there is an added value and an export advantage. For example, we need to encourage joint ventures between companies from outside Wales and companies with know-how within Wales. There is a need to bring the know-how and the finance together to create wider markets.

As regards research and development, Welsh higher education can and should do more to grab the available funding for innovation. We have really good examples of progress in this area. Some of our universities are to be congratulated on what they have done but we need to replicate that and expand it. Research and development expenditure in Wales represents only 2% of the UK spend in this area and the split in Wales is 46% investment from the private sector and 54% from the public sector. However, the figure is too small in terms of encouraging the innovation and development which companies in Wales need.

Small companies make up 99% of businesses in Wales and represent 43% of all company turnover. Many of them urgently seek credit to enable them to expand, so getting the cash to these companies must be a priority. However, noble Lords will know that small business formation in Wales has gone down each year since 2004. In 2004, some 11,525 VATable threshold companies were created, but only 7,500 were created in 2010. They decreased in number through each of the good years as well as the lean years. Therefore, renewed emphasis on supporting the small business birthrate is needed.

The M4 syndrome whereby people believe that they are doing different things and achieving different purposes must end. There must be a common purpose between the Welsh Government and the UK Government, so perhaps now is the time for a joint task force: not a review or a policy document but a group which can recommend action, support both Governments, suggest new approaches and enable better working together. This could draw on the best brains and build on best practice in all these areas. I believe that a new arena for co-operation is needed. Wales is in need of an injection of new thinking to drive its economy upwards and off the bottom rung. There is more need than ever to work together because not working together will damage the prospects of the very growth which is so needed in our country.

International Development

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Tuesday 6th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will seek to include goals in relation to conflict and security in the successor to millennium development goals after 2015.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, conflict-affected and fragile states are the furthest from reaching the current millennium development goals. Conflict and security are also often overriding concerns for poor people. The Government recognise that a post-2015 framework will need to reflect the particular challenges faced by these countries, and address the root causes of poverty in all developing countries.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer, and I understand completely the Government’s commitment to this agenda. The reality is, however, that in conflict-affected and fragile states, children are twice as likely to be undernourished, babies are twice as likely to die before the age of five, and none of these states is likely to reach any of the millennium development goals by 2015. Will the Government use their position of leadership, as a co-chair of the high-level panel on the post-2015 development framework, to take responsibility for the next generation? Will they ensure that, unlike the previous millennium development goals, the next set of goals for the international community reflect the importance of justice, security and peace, without which there cannot be development in these affected states?

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Lord is right about how the effect of conflict wipes away development gains. He refers to the high-level panel which the UN set up; the Prime Minister is one of its co-chairs, and it met last week. Given that it is seeking to address the causes of poverty, it is acutely aware that, as he says, no fragile and conflict-affected state will reach any of the MDGs.

[Lord Chidgey]

Is my noble friend aware that the aid effectiveness forum in Busan launched a new deal for fragile states, to give voice to the 1.5 billion people who did not benefit and are not benefiting from the MDGs? What position is the United Kingdom taking on the new deal’s five peacebuilding and state-building goals—the PSGs—which are quite separate from the MDGs?

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend will be aware that my right honourable friend the previous Secretary of State for International Development was instrumental in trying to ensure that the peacebuilding and state-building goals were addressed at Busan. The current Secretary of State is taking this forward. We are very strongly in support of what was decided at Busan, and in fact, we are already taking this forward in South Sudan and Afghanistan, and are applying the principles in other countries as well.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea]

My Lords, do the Government believe that democracy and the rule of law should have a higher role and profile in the new goals?

[Baroness Northover]

We are at the beginning of working out how to take forward millennium development goals that will be signed up to internationally. However, I note that the UN task team that is considering what might underpin this is looking at social development, inclusive economic development, environmental sustainability, and peace and security. It is well understood that justice, fairness and security are all important in underpinning the relief of poverty.

[Lord Hylton]

My Lords, are non-recognised entities in the former Soviet Union and other special areas such as the Gaza Strip or ethnic minority regions of such countries as Burma and many others receiving their fair share of aid and technical assistance?

[Baroness Northover]

I may need to write to the noble Lord with details but I assure him that, as I think he knows, a great deal of United Kingdom assistance goes to support the people in Gaza.

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne]

Following the Minister’s most helpful answers and given that not one of the conflict-ridden and sensitive countries has reached a single millennium goal, will the Government consider recommending to the United Nations that for those countries the single millennium goals in place now be retained rather than put something more complex in place which they would never reach?

[Baroness Northover]

There is a strong argument for keeping the current MDGs. They have been a great international focus and have done a great deal to relieve poverty around the world, get children into education and so on. I am somewhat sympathetic to that. However, these are to run until 2015. The important thing now is to build on the progress that has been made, carry forward the things that work well and learn some of the lessons of those MDGs: for example, universal education for children does not necessarily mean that those children in schools are actually learning something. All those things need to be addressed. However, my noble friend is right: we have to build on what has already been set in place.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead]

My Lords, the Minister will, of course, be aware that women face disproportionate disadvantage and discrimination and that they are behind in all the development goals, especially in conflict-affected and fragile states. Will the Government call for a new post-2015 stand-alone goal on gender inequality and a specific target on violence against women and girls?

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is quite right about the disproportionate effect on women and girls. She will know that of the eight current MDGs, gender equality is the third and maternal health is the fifth. Given that the groups are looking at the causes of poverty and noting the disproportionate effect, as she has, I would be astonished if gender equality did not run right the way through any replacement of these MDGs.

Ingram National Park Visitor Centre

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Wednesday 31st October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walton of Detchant]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has decided to close Ingram National Park Visitor Centre in the Breamish Valley in Northumberland.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, the Defra grant for the Northumberland National Park Authority this year is £2.9 million. It is for individual parks to decide on their spending priorities. The Northumberland National Park Authority has decided to close this centre as part of a wider review of all its visitor services.

[Lord Walton of Detchant]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that disappointing reply. Is she aware that this well appointed centre, situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty, provides not only excellent car parking but the only public toilets for miles, a delightful woodland walk and a series of superb displays highlighting the history, geology, flora and fauna of the Cheviot area, displays of great educational value? Will she try to persuade Defra to think again and to try just a little harder to save this invaluable centre?

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, I remind the noble Lord that it was not Defra that made this decision but the Northumberland National Park. It is of course of great regret to us when such closures take place. The park is working very closely with the Ingram village hall and the displays that the noble Lord mentions will in fact be moved there, as I understand it, so that they are still available to people. The park is also offering additional information points in local businesses such as shops, pubs and community centres. There will also be additional services offered by the park rangers. I would point out that on Hadrian’s Wall the park will have the great advantage of a new centre, The Sill, which is getting Heritage Lottery Fund money. It will become a major centre there and the noble Lord may wish to visit it.

[Baroness Maddock]

My Lords, although there has been a consultation going on about this, and indeed about the centre in Rothbury, for nearly two years, is my noble friend aware that the final decision came as a great shock to many local people? Is she further aware that the Liberal Democrat-run county council has been extremely successful in reinvigorating the tourist information centres? I hope that, like me, she is rather surprised that the national park has not been able to reach a partnership working arrangement with the county council. Can she further tell me whether other national parks have closed visitor centres?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Northover]

I have no evidence that any other centre in a national park has been closed. I have had a look at the tourist centres across the county. The noble Baroness is quite right that there are a number of other such centres, which are obviously very welcome. One would hope that they would work closely with the national park in this regard. The chair of the authority has not closed the door. He said:

“We are looking very hard at alternative ways of providing an effective visitor information service and have not closed the door to any new suggestions people may … put … to us”.

Therefore, I suggest that the noble Baroness gets in touch with him.

[Lord Naseby]

My Lords, I have not been to the visitor centre in question, but is this decision not very strange at a time when we are promoting tourism in this country, when local and public money has been put into the centre over quite a long time and when there are also facilities available from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other similar bodies? I went to a celebration—and indeed gave a speech, as your Lordships will understand—at the Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon. That is kept going by the joint activities of local people and Cambridgeshire County Council. Perhaps a second reflection might be appropriate. I hope that the Minister will be in a position to push this forward herself.

[Baroness Northover]

I am sure that the authority will be looking very closely at what noble Lords are saying today and seeing what can be done to take this forward. This was a small centre, as I understand it, with two members of staff. The much bigger one is on Hadrian’s Wall. As I say, that is going to be added to and will become a centre of national significance. I am extremely pleased that that has been possible at this time.

[Lord Judd]

Amid the plethora of new planning regulations and the rest, will the Minister assure the House that right across Government in all departments there is a commitment to the national parks because of their vital contribution to the spiritual and physical well-being of our nation, particularly our young people?

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Lord is quite right and I invite him to have a look at the website for this park and see exactly what it offers. With regard to the commitment, I point out that the park was given just over £3 million last year and this year it has been given £2.9 million, so that is not a huge reduction in what is going to the park. We are fully committed to supporting the national parks. We know how important they are.

[The Lord Bishop of Wakefield]

My Lords, having been last week in both the Ingram valley centre and indeed the Rothbury centre, as I often am, I was appalled to think that there will effectively be no human face anywhere in the northern part of the Northumberland National Park. The place at Once Brewed on Hadrian’s Wall is something like 75 miles away and will do nothing to ensure that there will be anyone there to welcome people. Although the amount of money reduced seems small, it disproportionately affects the operations of the park, which is the smallest national park. Will the Government please think of ways of trying to assist the national park in rethinking this decision in order to have a human face somewhere in the northern part of the park to welcome people?

[Baroness Northover]

I remind the right reverend Prelate that how the national park decides to spend its resources is not a decision for Defra. I am sure that the national park will be listening. As I say, it is working closely with the Ingram village hall committee to try to ensure that information is available and it is doing a number of other things. I was also incredibly impressed by the number of volunteers who were involved in this park, as with others, and it may well be that some work needs to be done to try to see how that can be brought forward to make sure that there is the kind of coverage that the right reverend Prelate refers to.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall]

My Lords, I thought that the Minister told the House that the funding for this park was being reduced from £3 million to just short of £2.3 million.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall]

In which case, I withdraw my question.

[Baroness Northover]

I would like to clarify that last year the figure was over £3.1 million, this year it is £2.9 million and next year it will be £2.7 million. I realise that that is a reduction, but it is for the national park to work out how it is going to prioritise things.

Local Government Finance Bill

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Wednesday 31st October 2012 Lords Chamber

The Bill was returned from the Commons with the amendments agreed to.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn during pleasure to enable an exchange of messages with the other place and Her Majesty the Queen. I hope that we will resume in 30 minutes for the signification of Royal Assent.

Treatment of Homosexual Men and Women in the Developing World

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Thursday 25th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Lexden for introducing so effectively this important debate on the treatment of homosexual men and women in the developing world. We have heard from him, the noble Lord, Lord Black, and others the terrible circumstances that many homosexual people face across the world.

I am glad that we have given sanctuary to Toby, whose terrible case my noble friend Lord Lexden cited, but I recognise that he can never fully recover from his appalling experience. I hear what my noble friend Lord Lester has said about religious fundamentalism and how this may be becoming worse. I welcome the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester’s statement that discrimination is “an affront” to Christian values. I welcome his clear condemnation of such discrimination. I also commend the work of the Human Dignity Trust, Kaleidoscope and other organisations that are working to address these issues internationally.

We are talking about people who are often scared to be who they are. In many cases they conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity from their family, friends and societies. They often rightly fear victimisation, violence, detention, imprisonment and even death, simply because of who they are.

We are absolutely clear that human rights are universal and apply equally to all people. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 affirms as much, but we hear from my noble friend Lord Lexden and others how these rights are breached. However, I can confirm to the noble Lord, Lord Lester, that criminalisation of homosexuality is clearly a violation of international law. We have strong commitments both to international human rights and to international development. Development cannot be achieved without respecting rights, and my noble friend Lady Jenkin is right to link those.

UK aid is used to promote an environment in which all people can claim their rights in open societies. We look for ways to ensure that people who are marginalised or excluded for whatever reason, including sexual orientation, can access the information, service and resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty. It is often those people who are at the risk of human rights abuses in developing countries who need our help the most. In 2011—various noble Lords referred to this—we strengthened our partnership principles. These require that before providing direct support to Governments, we assess their shared commitment to reducing poverty, respecting human rights, improving public financial management, fighting corruption and being more accountable to their own citizens.

The noble Lord, Lord Smith, noted the actions taken in Malawi. Recipients of aid are aware of the pressure in relation to human rights, and I hope that that is also reassuring to the noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin.

The noble Lord, Lord Collins, asked about the assistance that we provide to support the development of relevant movements world wide and what we do to encourage charities to support these movements. As other noble Lords, including the noble Baroness, Lady Nye, and others, have noted, civil society plays an important role in supporting the rights of homosexuals in developing countries. We provide targeted support to locally led groups so that they can tackle discrimination and support communities in accessing the resources and services that they need. For example, through a £52 million partnership with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, we are supporting members of the LGBT rights organisations in improving access to health services.

The noble Baroness, Lady Nye, was right that it is very important to support groups in civil society, but she pointed out the difficulties of being, as it were, heavy-handed—a point reiterated by the noble Lord, Lord Collins. Clearly, working internationally to ensure the recognition of human rights law is very important, although I heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Nye, that that can be counterproductive. She also asked what we are doing to challenge these countries. Obviously, how we approach this matter varies from country to country.

Noble Lords have heard what is happening in Malawi. I point out that we have raised our concerns about the Bill in Uganda at the most senior levels. The former Minister for Africa raised this when he met President Museveni in March and he did so again with the vice-president in August. We have also raised our concerns regarding the Bill in the Ukraine, and that has been reiterated through the EU. In Ethiopia, Lynne Featherstone, my honourable friend in the Commons, has raised this issue with the former Prime Minister. In Russia, we have made it clear that legislation is incompatible with Council of Europe guidelines.

My noble friend Lady Brinton asked about Somalia and Sierra Leone. In relation to Sierra Leone, the principle of human rights will kick in because that country has just received the last tranche of budget support. Therefore, human rights provisions will be applied if and when more money is sent through.

If I miss out anything, given the number of issues that noble Lords have raised, I shall write to them.

The noble Lords, Lord Rea and Lord Fowler, raised the issue of HIV/AIDS and the stigma attached to it, as well as the difficulty that people have accessing the care that they need. Both noble Lords will be aware that the United Kingdom is strongly supporting the funding of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. We are acutely aware of the particular challenges that homosexuals face in this regard. Alan Duncan, the Minister of State, announced in July new DfID resources for the Robert Carr fund, supporting global and regional networks to improve HIV responses reaching key populations.

My noble friend Lord Lester asked whether the Government are considering joining, as a partner Government, the Global Equality Fund. We are impressed by the model of the Global Equality Fund. We are not currently considering supporting it but we are funding work that complements the fund. When I was briefed on this, I was particularly pleased to hear about the support that we are giving to a four-year programme at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex to strengthen effective policy options on sexuality, poverty and law. This is the biggest programme of its kind that we know of, and the UK is putting £1.25 million into it. That is a very welcome development.

We support country-level funding for LGBT programmes and groups, as well as providing opportunities to access funding through the FCO’s human rights and democracy programme. Noble Lords, including my noble friend Lord Lester, asked me about that.

Clearly, this is a major challenge and despite the work we are doing, we do not underestimate the huge amount that still needs to be done. The UK is working internationally, as I have mentioned. It plays a key role in building support through a number of international organisations, including the United Nations, working towards global decriminalisation of homosexuality. We also work with EU partners, which is increasingly important in this area. EU member states and the European External Action Service have committed to develop a strategy on co-operation with third countries on the human rights of LGBT persons, including working through the UN and the Council of Europe. We are determined to contribute fully to a robust and effective EU strategy in this regard.

We are also pleased that the refreshed Canada-UK joint declaration, signed by our two Prime Ministers and by the Foreign Secretary in September, now includes a commitment that we will work together to continue to press countries around the world to repeal aggressive and punitive laws criminalising homosexuality, which are incompatible with human rights.

My noble friends Lord Lexden, Lord Lester, Lord Black and others mentioned the Commonwealth. We are hugely encouraged to hear that Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers, at their meeting on 29 September, agreed the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group recommendations that access to treatment for HIV/AIDS should be without discrimination and that discriminatory laws that impede access to treatment should be addressed. As a valuable partner in promoting human rights globally and in helping to deliver UK human rights priorities, we are committed to working with the Commonwealth to help them to uphold the values of human rights.

The Commonwealth modernisation agenda for 2012 includes the delivery of a charter for the Commonwealth which reflects its core values, including strengthening language on opposing discrimination on all grounds, which would cover this area. I can assure my noble friend Lord Lester and others that our embassies and high commissions around the world also play an important part in this regard. I know that the Department for International Development is seeking opportunities to promote human rights, including in this area.

My noble friend Lady Barker flagged up an interesting point. The FCO travel advice includes guidance specifically on the situation for LGBT people in relevant countries. It may be that some of that information might be used to good effect in the way that she suggests.

The noble Lord, Lord Collins, is right: we are united on this. The UK has an important role to play in international efforts to promote tolerance and non-discrimination against homosexuals and to address discriminatory laws. This debate has been an important reminder of how this is indeed a case of human rights and individuals’ ability to live their lives free from poverty or fear.

House adjourned at 5.38 pm.

EAC Report: Development Aid

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Monday 22nd October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, I start by thanking the Economic Affairs Committee for undertaking this investigation, and for the debate this evening. I found the evidence that it received and the evidence sessions extremely informative and interesting, even though this amounted to 700 pages of reading this weekend. I strongly recommend that Members of this House do as I did, as I am not entirely sure that I would have reached the same conclusions on the basis of this material.

As a former academic, I am glad that I went back to the original material to see how the Select Committee reached the conclusions that it did. While many of the cogent points put by the noble Lords, Lord Stern, Lord Hannay and Lord Crisp, and other noble Lords, are indeed woven through the evidence taken by the Select Committee—and I find it persuasive—so too are the challenges, which are especially strongly flagged up by the committee in its report.

I welcome all the contributions to the debate tonight. It is, of course, absolutely vital that we are kept on our toes and that we achieve the very best value for the assistance that the United Kingdom offers through its aid budget. As the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester, the noble Lords, Lord McConnell, Lord Phillips and Lord Roberts, and other noble Lords have argued, there is a moral case for aid. There is also the case that it is also in our interests.

I agree with the Select Committee, and many contributors to its sessions and to the debate today, that economic growth is the only sustainable road to poverty reduction. It is surely right that sustainable growth is central to our development agenda. However, it would be a gross oversimplification to reduce the role of aid in growth to simply the transfer of money. Growth surely depends on creating the conditions for wealth creation, as other noble Lords have said. I argue, as other noble Lords have done in this debate, and as many did in their evidence to the Select Committee, that aid can and does play a role in building the institutional capacity of Governments, improving the policy environment, strengthening the macroeconomic conditions and providing key public goods that underpin other drivers of growth. We know that those who are looking to invest, for example, in various African countries are indeed looking at these areas.

The noble Lord, Lord MacGregor, mentioned foreign direct investment. That often follows improvements in the human development index. Of course, as the noble Lord, Lord Tugendhat, said, there is a range of drivers for development. We know that. We also recognise that economic growth in the developing world is not only good for poverty reduction but good for Britain. It is this growth that will build our trading partners of tomorrow. In 2011, the UK’s exports of goods to China and India were worth £15 billion to our economy.

Poverty is closely linked to conflict, as Paul Collier and others have said in their evidence, and it is in all our interests to reduce such conflict. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Lawson, on this point when he said that policies must be judged by their outcomes. That is what this is all about.

The committee has argued that the evidence that aid makes a contribution to growth is inconclusive. The noble Lord, Lord Stern, said with stunning clarity just how one can evaluate aid and what effect it has. If you read the material submitted to the committee, you will see much support for that position. It seems to me that sustained rapid growth in developing countries has only occurred in the context of impressive rates of public investment in infrastructure, education, and health. In low-income countries, aid plays an important role in helping to deliver these.

Our aid is very much focused on the very areas identified by the committee as being important for growth. DfID invests significantly in the legal, institutional and macroeconomic environment, human capital, and infrastructure, increasingly in collaboration with the private sector. For example, we know that education matters, and that educating girls matters even more. I can assure my noble friend Lady Hussein-Ece and the noble Lord, Lord St John of Bletso, that we put women and girls at the centre of our policies. Educating girls is intertwined with all aspects of the development process—social, political, and economic—as well as being an end in itself. Its effects last across generations and enable changes in development paths, shaping societies and institutions to allow for long-run change. In Kenya, for example, where women have been educated in a household, the family is more likely to hold bank accounts. Therefore they are better able to participate in the economy. It can be seen that where family size is reduced, as my noble friend mentioned, more girls are in education and the family is more prosperous, which contributes to the prosperity of the community and the society.

Honouring our commitments to the world’s poorest to spend 0.7% of our gross national income on ODA simply does not prioritise the amount of aid spent over the results achieved, as the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, has also reiterated. There are huge disparities of wealth across the world, and the figure of 0.7% has served over the years to galvanise action and responsibility. I thank the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, and others for their congratulations on our being on course for meeting 0.7%. My noble friend Lady Jenkin rather put it in context with the comparison with expenditure on cosmetics.

DFID’s focus on improving results and delivering value for money has intensified, and is entirely consistent with the increased budgetary allocation. The landmark bilateral and multilateral aid reviews moved the focus of development evaluation away from inputs and towards results. That applies not only to DfID’s spending but also to spending by our partner agencies. In this context, I say to my noble friend Lady Falkner that the multilateral aid review put the Commonwealth Secretariat into special measures and we are closely monitoring its progress against clear recommendations on what is required for it to be effective. That is how things should be.

Our commitment to spending 0.7% of our GNI on aid also provides an example to others to do likewise. Of course, as my noble friend Lord Shipley says, it is not an end in itself; it never has been. As we are meeting our aid commitments, we are able to lead by example and hold others to account for meeting their commitments too. A recent appeal to increase Germany's aid to 0.7%, signed by 372 members of the German Parliament, explicitly cited the UK Government's commitment as a positive example to follow.

Of course there are other sources for funding, such as remittances, which we have heard about. Of course we welcome the arrival into the field of philanthropic foundations such as the Gates Foundation. Maybe it would have been good to invite them to contribute to the Select Committee's deliberations. If ever there were an organisation that is about the levering effect, monitoring exactly what results may flow from inputs, it is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with whom we work very closely and who express great admiration of what DfID does.

I note with some interest and slight amusement that various speakers had very good suggestions for how our aid budget might be spent and expanded; for example, the noble Lord, Lord Lawson, suggested the education of students from developing countries, and the noble Lord, Lord Boateng, mentioned health, science, technology, innovation and the British Council, although I note that the budget has almost doubled there and DfID has just appointed a head of innovation. It seems that noble Lords have countered the Select Committee’s implicit case that perhaps too much is being spent on aid—as did many of those who gave evidence.

Over the long term, poverty will increasingly be concentrated in fragile states. The noble Lord, Lord Hannay, and others emphasised how important it is to support these countries. It is no coincidence that no fragile state has yet achieved a millennium development goal. Engagement with fragile states undoubtedly comes with additional challenges, as my noble friend Lord Phillips and others have said. However, to leap from that to a conclusion that we should not be working in these contexts would be to misunderstand the relationship between risk and return. These circumstances are precisely the ones where the return to aid spending can be highest, especially when we consider the long-term costs of non-engagement, whether that be in terms of immigration or threats to our national security.

Noble Lords heard of the risks but also the rewards of working in these states, and it is important to note the reduction in conflict in Africa over the past 20 or 30 years as development has taken place. In that regard, I dispute one of those who contributed evidence to the Select Committee who seemed to argue that aid promoted conflict.

In its 2004 report, the UN High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, of which the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, was a leading member, noted this interconnectedness. It commented:

“Development and security are inextricably linked. A more secure world is only possible if poor countries are given a real chance to develop. Extreme poverty and infectious diseases threaten many people directly, but they also provide a fertile breeding-ground for other threats, including civil conflict. Even people in rich countries will be more secure if their Governments help poor countries to defeat poverty and disease by meeting the Millennium Development Goals”.

As my noble friend Lord Phillips said, fragile states present challenging circumstances. That is why these countries are poor and that is why we need to work with them.

Noble Lords spoke of cross-departmental working. Sometimes I think that I personally am joined-up government—DfID, Defra, DCMS, DH and so forth. However, I hope that noble Lords will be reassured about the co-operation that is occurring. It is clearly far more cost-effective to work with the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence to counter potential sources of instability early on than to deal with the consequences later. That is why the tri-departmental Conflict Pool effectively combines expertise to deliver value for money. I want to point out that £742 million of ODA was spent by other departments, including DECC, DH, DCMS and Defra as well as the FCO and MoD, and that DfID has a joint policy on trade with BIS.

From the start of its inquiry the Select Committee flagged fraud and corruption and of course it is right that it did. We will face risks of fraud and corruption and we will not tolerate corruption or misuse of taxpayers’ funds in any form. These risks are faced not only by DfID but by every citizen and entrepreneur surviving each day in these environments. It is, of course, a brake on their ability to lift themselves out of poverty, and that is why it is extremely important that this is systematically addressed. DfID has put in place systems and procedures that enable it to manage risk, deliver results and achieve value for the taxpayer despite the additional challenges of working in fragile states. We will continue to build on what has been learnt and, through transparency, audit and other checks, drive this forward.

The Government have put transparency at the centre of our aid agenda. In answer to my noble friend Lady Falkner and others, we are working to deal with illicit capital flight as part of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group, and implementing the Bribery Act 2010. Just this month, the Publish What You Pay fund released its second Aid Transparency Index, which ranked DfID first among 72 aid-spending organisations worldwide. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact has been put in place to monitor UK aid impact and effectiveness. It does not answer to DfID but to Parliament through the International Development Select Committee. It is now bedding in and is making a useful impact, as other countries acknowledge, and we will learn from its work. Having more people see how we make decisions and where we spend money is a crucial plank in achieving better development results, and Britain is leading the way on this. My noble friend Lord Shipley asked about the audit of multilateral aid. I can assure him that this was a major consideration of the multilateral aid review.

When we think about aid, we must understand that healthier, better educated societies are attractive to the investors that drive growth and can deliver a sustainable end to poverty. Aid can and does help in the delivery of these prerequisites, and we should not recoil from doing so in the fragile states where they are most lacking. The UK delivers aid well. We are a global leader in the field of development—here I thank my noble friend Lord Tugendhat and others for making the point—and abiding by our international commitment to 0.7% will serve to strengthen this position.

Perhaps I can be extremely clear. First, our aid makes critical contributions to achieving the conditions necessary for the growth that can end poverty. Secondly, meeting our commitments to 0.7% will not compromise the quality of our aid. Thirdly, what we are buying with UK aid spending represents exceptionally good value for taxpayers. The noble Lord, Lord Hannay, flagged up the MDGs, the goals for the relief of poverty largely drawn up by our colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Malloch-Brown. The whole world now knows about the significance of these goals and they have spurred action, just like the 0.7% target. As the noble Lord, Lord Stern, and others have said, they have focused attention. Not enough progress has been made against them, but quite a considerable amount has. It will be a challenge to take the goals forward, given the spotlight that so many countries now place on them. However, we are determined to do so, and transparency and accountability will be integral to that. I look forward to future discussions as to how it is taken forward. Aid is not static, and I too pay tribute to Andrew Mitchell for his forensic focus and his emphasis on the role of private investment, which has been key. Assessing whether countries should “graduate” away from aid resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of countries being assisted. That process will continue, and the growth in Asian countries, I can assure my noble friends Lord Bates, Lord Tugendhat and others, we note. Of course, in some states it is necessary to work through NGOs, as the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, would wish, but NGOs are not necessarily themselves incorruptible. We have to be vigilant in whatever way we act.

In conclusion, we welcome the Select Committee’s report. We do not agree with all of its conclusions, as noble Lords will have gathered, but it is right that the committee should challenge us to say why we are doing what we are doing. I think that most noble Lords in this debate agree that the work that DfID does is of exceptional importance and I thank them all for their support in this work.

Zoos

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Monday 8th October 2012 Grand Committee

[Lord Harrison]

In last year’s excellent Commons debate highlighting the economic contribution of zoos to local, regional and national economies, Andrew Rosindell MP proclaimed:

“Zoos are at the heart of everything”.—[Official Report, Commons, 14/12/2011; col. 274WH.]

After Rosindell’s bold assertion, speakers glowed with proprietary pride about the pride of place that each of their zoos has in the heart of their local communities and about the important but unsung job contribution of our some 300 UK zoos, but economic questions remain. Will Her Majesty’s Government explore, with the redoubtable British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums—BIAZA—the zoos’ role in regenerating local communities and, with BIAZA, produce a policy statement on the untapped potential of zoos to aid training, apprenticeships and job schemes in this time of economic downturn? Will the Government recognise the singular regional role of zoos, well illustrated by my local zoo, Chester, which sits at the heart of and astride the north-west and North Wales region, its benign tentacles spreading across the scientific community, the vibrant tourism industry and the education and research community in schools, FE colleges and local universities?

Chester Zoo also promotes forward thinking on the care of the environment. Zoos will have an as yet untapped and influential role in charting our response to climate change. Indeed, zoos’ pivotal role in preserving, conserving and displaying the wealth of wildlife in our interconnected world was brought home to me in a recent visit to Chester Zoo and its black rhinos. Informed of the danger to the world’s black rhino population from illegal rhino horn trading in Far East and African markets, I raised Questions here in your Lordships’ House and actively took up the matter in Vietnam, the centre of the illegal trade and entrepôt for Chinese dealers who trade in the mistaken belief that black rhino horn confers aphrodisiac or medicinal powers on the recipient.

Given zoos’ roles in innovatory thinking within a languishing economy, the incoming coalition’s overhasty abandonment of RDA grants was unwelcome in the zoo world. In the same vein, will the Minister investigate the difficulties that zoos have in accessing lottery and heritage funds? Given that zoos are for the most part independent, self-financing institutions, will the Government look more favourably on zoos as hothouses for enterprise? Indeed, will the Government directly respond to BIAZA’s well argued An Economic Impact Assessment for the Zoo and Aquarium Sector and sponsored, but still relevant, Manifesto for Zoos?

Given the variety of zoos’ functions and footfall, will the Minister assure me that he has had full briefings not just from Defra but from other departments, even from the FCO? After all, panda diplomacy at Edinburgh Zoo panders admirably with the FCO’s wider and wiser engagement with China. In the preparation for replying to this debate, which departments other than Defra spoke of their distinctive interest in the success of Britain’s zoos? Did the Treasury, which might just recognise investment opportunities in active zoos; DCMS, wrongly vested with responsibility for tourism, which is more properly the domain of the Treasury or BIS; or the Department for Education, for instance? Zoos cater for an important group of unengaged children who, cabined, cribbed and confined by classroom teaching, are liberated among zoo animals and their enthusiastic keepers in the classroom of the open air. Zoos demand a multidisciplinary approach from the Government. Will the Minister confess that we have not yet achieved that?

DCLG is important too, given that local authorities are charged with the task, devolved from Defra, of licensing zoos, but local authorities are already wilting under the burden of delivering local services to national standards in a climate of dwindling resources. It is to this issue, the running of zoos generally, that I now turn. A Licence to Suffer is a controversial and contentious analysis of the regulatory protection of animals in zoos. Its methodology is challenged, as are many of its dispiriting conclusions about the state of animal welfare in our zoos. It declares that,

“there are simply too many zoos, too many animals, too little training, too little understanding of the legislation, too little enforcement”.

That should give us pause for thought. In their proper concern for the welfare of the 190,000 animals in our zoos in England, are the Government convinced that we have a suitable supervisory system? If the author of the report, the Captive Animals’ Protection Society, is even one-quarter right, we have much still to do to comply with our own domestic legislation, the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, and the EU zoo directive 1999.

In that regard, it is disappointing to learn that Defra has recently discontinued its instructional workshops for local authority licensing officers who may simply not have the time, expertise and resources to ensure compliance with the local authority’s statutory duties in respect of zoos. The Born Free Foundation makes similar criticisms. Will the Government introduce a more formal mechanism to evaluate and measure the outcomes of the education and conservation programmes that zoos are legally required to undertake? Is sufficient time and expertise given to quality zoo inspections currently undertaken by local authorities? Are sufficient experienced veterinarians available to help the local authorities in that task? Will the Minister ensure a regular national analysis of all zoo inspection reports to monitor compliance with the Zoo Licensing Act, thereby highlighting the efficacy or otherwise of the current inspection regime? Furthermore, is the Minister alarmed that some one in four zoos may fail to respond to licence conditions imposed in the aftermath of adverse zoo inspections? Indeed, does the Minister accept that improved and modern methods of animal welfare assessment should be urgently and universally introduced, and that there is a compelling case for improved science-based, species-specific guidelines when keeping animals in zoos? Finally, will the Minister agree that zoos that repeatedly and wilfully transgress in the welfare of kept animals should be closed? Indeed, what will the Government do to help the zoo world fulfil its own proper ambitions for the highest standards of animal welfare?

I am most definitely not a zoo abolitionist. Indeed, I believe passionately in well run zoos performing their myriad roles of conservation, preservation, education and scientific discovery, and providing sheer enjoyment and wonder to millions of our citizens, including children, by displaying the world’s unparalleled fauna. I am reminded that the imperishable Charles Darwin learnt not only from studying animals in their natural habitats, such as the turtles on the Galapagos Islands, but from his regular visits to the then newly established London zoo. Jenny the orang-utan and the fast-breeding finches each helped him to formulate his far-reaching thoughts on the origins of species and, ultimately, of humans themselves. Zoos, too, are at the heart of science and human understanding.

All the interested parties that I have consulted share common cause in promoting animal welfare, and none more so than the estimable BIAZA. Its regular questionnaires to its membership provide us with a veritable wealth of data on who runs zoos, their viability and economic impact, including the numbers of visitors and scales of entrance charges, zoos’ education role and their marketing strategies and, perhaps most importantly, their conservation and research roles, including field conservation and animal management. The Government should acknowledge and immerse themselves in BIAZA’s treasure trove of zoo facts and figures. In the 2010 survey, BIAZA’s cri de coeur is the crying need for its members to reply diligently to the questionnaires. Only then can BIAZA document the transparency and accountability of zoos as well as celebrating their achievements and calibrating their shortcomings. BIAZA is alive, unlike some of its members, to the imperative to explain to the world—

[Baroness Northover]

I am in the fortunate position that I can see a clock. The noble Lord might like to know that he has exceeded his allotted 10 minutes and perhaps he might bring his remarks to a close. Given the lack of a clock in front of us, I will keep an eye for other noble Lords.

[Lord Harrison]

I was completing my remarks about the Government helping and aiding BIAZA in its task of bringing in the very best standards of zoo management. I have not been able to touch on the European angle, which I had hoped to do, but I look forward to hearing from colleagues examples of the good that zoos do for our communities, as well as what the Government can contribute to this important task, which I think all of us around this Table share.

Food Security Summit

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Wednesday 25th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the agenda for the Food Security Summit that the Prime Minister has called during the 2012 Olympic Games and who will attend.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister will host a major event on hunger during the London Olympics. He will bring together leaders of Governments, business and civil society organisations to galvanise global efforts to tackle undernutrition.

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her Answer. I am sure that she shares my concern that recent extreme weather events in the United States, the Ukraine and lots of other parts of the world have meant that food prices are already spiralling in anticipation of food shortages. In the light of that, will she make her best endeavour to ensure that the summit addresses the issue that at the moment lots of perfectly good food stuffs are being converted into ethanol? We really need to move to second-generation ethanol production because the need of the poor to eat must be more important than the need of the rich to drive.

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is right that prices for maize and soya beans have now exceeded 2007-08 highs. It is too early to say how rising world prices will affect the poor in developing countries, because production for 2012 is still expected to exceed consumption. Regarding her point on ethanol, the Government are committed to ensuring that biofuel production does not jeopardise food security in the way that she indicates. Biofuels can, of course, play a positive role in promoting development, provided their production benefits smallholder farmers. The focus of the event in August is on child malnutrition.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

My Lords, in the context where a malnourished child is eight times more likely to die than a child of normal weight, and where 3 million children are estimated to die of malnutrition every year, will the Minister undertake to look at the reports of our previous ambassador in North Korea, Peter Hughes, and our present ambassador, Karen Wolstenholme, who have reported on stunted growth, especially among children, in a country where 2 million died during the famine in the 1990s? Will she accept that, however much we may despise a particular ideology, it should be no part of our policy, or indeed that of the United States or other nations, to try to drive a country into submission by using food as a weapon of war?

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Lord is right to say that there is a very high level of malnutrition across the world, which has a terrible impact upon the health of children. That is why the Government have focused very much on trying to ensure that this issue is addressed. I take on board what he says about this report. I will make sure that DfID sees it, if it has not already done so; I should think it is highly likely that it has already. It is extremely important that we ensure that food—and support for the ability of people to feed themselves—is available worldwide, whatever the regime.

[The Lord Bishop of Exeter]

My Lords, in dealing with the challenge before us, does the Minister recognise how crucial the need is to support through both aid and trade agreements those smaller-scale ecological food production systems practised by millions of small-scale farmers and producers, many of them women, which currently deliver food for 70% of the world’s peoples? They could provide more, if properly supported and protected. They could not only increase availability of food and eliminate hunger but increase equity, create employment, build community and reverse environmental degradation. What assurance can she give that this important dimension of the problem of food security will be given proper consideration by those gathered for this summit?

[Baroness Northover]

The right reverend Prelate is absolutely right to emphasise the need to support those working in agriculture in their various countries. It is striking that 75% of the world’s population live in rural settings dependent on agriculture, and we are acutely aware that they are very vulnerable. People in developing countries spend 60% of their income on food, unlike in the UK, where the figure is about 10%, so one can see how vulnerable people are in these situations. We are targeting our support to try to help smallholding-farmer households and women in particular in those circumstances.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

My Lords, will the summit look at the consequences of conflict on food security and, in particular, the fact that the consequences of conflict can sometimes have an unintended impact in neighbouring countries, as we see today in the Sahel region of west Africa? Is it possible for the summit to look at how we address these issues of conflict in the context of dealing with food security?

[Baroness Northover]

All these factors interlink. The fragility of some of these countries feeds into their problems in terms of food, and that is clearly the case in the Sahel, where the United Kingdom is supporting the feeding of 400,000 people. We are well aware of how these things interlink and I am sure that that will be part of the discussions at this event.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

I welcome this initiative as an important part of the legacy of the Games, but is my noble friend aware that the number of obese people globally is approximately the same as the number of those who are malnourished, hungry or stunted? While the latter group is, thankfully, reducing in number, partly because of well-targeted aid, the number of obese people is growing exponentially, with enormous additional costs in relation to health and health services internationally.

[Baroness Northover]

That is why it is extremely important that we support education. That is what we do, as can be seen in, for example, Bangladesh. Although here we are addressing the need to reduce undernutrition, obviously the rise in the incidence of obesity that my noble friend has just flagged up is also a concern, although not among the same populations. It is extremely important that education is supported so that people can address both those areas.