§ Mr. ChidgeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the taskforces and advisory groups composed of independent members which have been set up by his Department since 1 May 1997 and in each case(a) their remit, (b) their membership, (c) how many members are (i) scientists, (ii) engineers and (iii) small businesspeople or representatives of small businesses, (d) any remuneration members receive for their services and (e) their budget. [53149]
§ Mr. Fatchett[holding answer 30 July 1998]: Since 1 May 1997 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has established one advisory group which includes independent members—Panel 2000 set up on 1 April 1998—but no task forces.
Panel 2000's remit is:
- to produce a strategy to improve the way Britain is seen overseas;
- to look at the methods and tools available to do this;
- to make sure that the public and private sectors are working together to do this; and
- to modernise the way the Foreign and Commonwealth Office communicates with the public.
Membership of the Panel, drawn from both the public and private sectors, is as follows:
Waheed Alli Zeinab Bedawi, Martin Bell MP, Baroness Chalker, Dr. Frances D'Souza, David John, Mark Leonard, Lord Levy, Ruth Mackenzie, Sir Cohn Marshall, Lord Paul, Shahwar Sadeque, Judy Simpson, Martin Sorrell, John Sorrell, Harriet Ware-Austin, Baroness Blackstone, Lord Clinton-Davies, Dr. David Drewry, Mark Fisher MP, Andrew Fisher, Tom Harris, Roger Liddle, Peter Mandelson MP, David Quarmby, Baroness Symons, Sir John Kerr, Sir Michael Jay, Claire Fulton, Priya Guha and Vivien Life.Of these, one member is a scientist, four are from small and medium sized businesses. There are no engineers on the panel. The members are unpaid, but can claim travel expenses. No budget has been allocated to the Panel.