§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made by the British military advisory and training team for the eastern Caribbean in providing counter-drug related advice and training to appropriate security organisations and authorities in the region; and whether the team's 114WA relocation in Antigua was successfully accomplished. [HL4113]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)The relocation from Barbados to Antigua of the British Military Assistance Training Team in the Eastern Caribbean was enabled by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the UK and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda signed on 1 April this year and was complete by the end 115WA of June. The team has provided counter-drugs related training to members of the marine police units of our Caribbean overseas territories throughout the summer months, and further such courses are planned for the autumn. A draft MOU which will enable the team also to train the security organisations of the independent Caribbean states of the regional security system was submitted for its consideration in April. We expect that this will be signed in the near future.