§ 3.24 p.m.
§ Lord Renton asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ What are the new arrangements (mentioned in paragraph 7 of the Overseas Development Administration paper on the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction) designed to improve the United Kingdom's machinery and procedures for dealing with national and international disasters.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Earl Ferrers)My Lords, the new arrangements to which my noble friend refers are those which were announced by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary in a Written Answer on 15th June last year. That referred 1138 to the appointment of a civil emergencies adviser and it gave the civil defence college at Easingwold a wider remit to include peacetime emergencies under its new title of the Emergency Planning College.
§ Lord RentonMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply which enlarges the information to a limited extent. Is he aware that when the ODA paper was published those principally responsible for implementing the important new arrangements were not aware of the scheme to which the Government were referring? Can my noble friend now take steps to ensure that the appropriate details are brought to the notice of those concerned?
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I am not quite certain that I get the drift of my noble friend's question. The ODA paper was a publication made by a government department. It knew what the other government departments, including the Home Office, were doing. If I understand my noble friend correctly, I believe he means that people outside government were not aware of what the ODA paper referred to. I shall study my noble friend's question, but I am not quite certain how to answer it to his satisfaction.
§ Lord RentonMy Lords, instead of taking up the further time of the House, it will be better if I show my noble friend the evidence which I have in my hand.
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I shall be delighted to see afterwards the evidence which my noble friend has.
§ Lord MishconMy Lords, in case the House does not share the mystery of this question, I point out that it relates to the decade which we are now starting, at the instance of the United Nations, concerning natural disasters. Does the Minister agree that the success of this decade will really depend on the amount of co-ordination in the United Kingdom that we manage to arrange? Therefore, is he aware of the part to be played by local authorities and voluntary organisations? I ask the Minister to refer to paragraph 6 instead of paragraph 7 of the paper to which the noble Lord, Lord Renton, referred. Can the noble Earl say what has been done by the Overseas Development Administration,
in arranging to be the focal point for harnessing and monitoring UK private and voluntary sector expertise and involvement in the decade"?
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Mishcon, for admitting to a certain mystery concerning this Question when he saw it on the Order Paper. It is a mystery that I shared. However, I hope that I have been able to divest your Lordships of that mystery as a result of my investigations. It is perfectly true that a great deal depends on the work that is done in the United Nations as a whole. In this respect, the Overseas Development Administration has a great deal to do. We have increased the staff complement and set in hand some training. Representations concerning funding will be considered sympathetically. For instance, there was a conference to discuss mitigating annual flooding in Bangladesh; and £500,000 has 1139 been given for a regional programme in the Caribbean. This is a decade in which the attention of the world is being addressed towards preventing disasters in other countries. We shall play a part in that.
§ Lord MishconMy Lords, I hope that the noble Earl will forgive me as I rise again for one moment. I do not believe that he understood my question, and I am sure that that is my fault. I was dealing with the question of co-ordination in the United Kingdom and not in relation to matters that may arise abroad. If the Minister is unable to reply immediately, I shall understand. Bearing in mind the recommendation made in the paper to which the noble Lord, Lord Renton, has referred, can the Minister say what is being done by his department and the Overseas Development Administration in being the focal point,
for harnessing and monitoring UK private and voluntary sector expertise and involvement"?
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I am sorry if I did not answer the noble Lord's question correctly. However, I hope that I am capable of answering any of his questions, even that one. I can tell him that that particular point is being addressed by the new civil emergencies adviser who at the moment is concerned to find out exactly what all local authorities and local organisations are doing in order to co-ordinate effort at home. When that is accomplised, we shall also be able to co-ordinate effort abroad.
The Earl of SelkirkMy Lords, will my noble friend confirm that important work was carried out by private organisations—that is, non-governmental organisations—in the south of Russia following the severe earthquake which took place there last year?
Earl FerrersYes, my Lords; a great deal of work was carried out in that area, not only by the private sector but also by the public sector. Various people from the fire brigade were also sent out to the area to give assistance.
§ Baroness Ewart-BiggsMy Lords, can the Minister say what resources Her Majesty's Government will be contributing to the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction?
Earl FerrersMy Lords, at present about £500,000 a year is being spent on work to prepare for disasters. As regards actual disasters, approximately £18 million has been spent in each of the past two years on disaster costs. There is no specific budget for this because it has to be dealt with on the basis of assessments made when the disasters occur.