St Helena : Andrew Gurr Submits Part 1 of a Report on Meetings in London
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 30.09.2010 (Article Archived on 14.10.2010)
I have spent only one full day in London since the end of our holiday, but there are several matters that are worthy of report and so I am sending this. I hope to be able to produce more detail after a series of meetings ending on 29th September.
Report on Meetings in London
I have spent only one full day in London since the end of our holiday, but there are several matters that are worthy of report and so I am sending this. I hope to be able to produce more detail after a series of meetings ending on 29th September.
From meetings within DfID and the FCO two matters stand out very clearly:
1. The Secretary of State’s intent to press ahead with our airport remains firm, and his undertaking to do so subject to clear conditions has not changed. I will be meeting with him on Monday 27th and will obviously get a fuller picture then.
2. The atmosphere throughout the UK government is one of austerity. The insistence on cut backs within the UK Civil Service is being taken very seriously and there is a prevailing atmosphere of saving money in every possible way.
These two situations may seem to be highlighted as being incompatible in the political sphere and that threat places even more pressure on those of us working on these issues in the island. By that I mean that our professionalism and commitment to our future must be thorough and be seen to be so. That is especially true when it comes to our welcoming of inward investment and the importation of skills.
It has been brought home to me very clearly that these may be exciting times for St.Helena, but they are gloomy times for many of those with whom we work in the UK. When one meets them at work here, the reality of the impact of recession is all too obvious. There have already been many cuts in budgets and staffing levels are under immense pressure and once again that means that more of the burden falls on us on the island.
The MOD continue to have an interest on what is happening to the oil spilling from the Darkdale and we must ensure that our reporting of that is accurate and consistent.
On the health services front the idea of a thorough audit has received a positive response and I shall be discussing that in more depth with DfID as well as with an official from the NHS. The involvement of other UK Government Departments in the issues of St.Helena is strongly supported by the FCO Minister Henry Bellingham, and I promised him further detail on ideas in that direction.
I was also able to discuss Ascension and Tristan issues in some depth, including a telecom with Ross Denny, and much remains to be done if we are to ensure a sensible future for both those islands. I am sure that the forthcoming White Paper from the coalition government will have new ideas, and our influence over what actually happens subsequently will be significant. All three islands need to ensure that they are well represented at the Overseas Territories Consultative Conference later this year, even if that means concentrating hard on telecom sessions in addition to, or instead of, attendance.
Both Jean and I are looking forward very much to being back on 10th October, and I will try to ensure that you have another report towards the end of next week.
Andrew Gurr
Governor
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