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Commonwealth Parliamentary Association COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM BRANCH 2008/09 COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM BRANCH 2008/09 COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION UNITED KINGDOM BRANCH Presidents RT HON. BARONESS HAYMAN (Lord Speaker) RT HON. MICHAEL MARTIN MP (Speaker of the House of Commons) Vice-Presidents RT HON. BARONESS BOOTHROYD OF SANDWELL RT HON. GORDON BROWN MP (Prime Minister) RT HON. LORD CARRINGTON KG GCMG CH MC DL RT HON. LORD FALCONER OF THOROTON QC RT HON. LORD HOWE OF ABERAVON CH QC RT HON. LORD HURD OF WESTWELL CH CBE RT HON. DAVID CAMERON MP RT HON. LORD IRVINE OF LAIRG QC RT HON. LORD MACKAY OF CLASHFERN KT RT HON. LORD OWEN CH RT HON. JACK STRAW MP RT HON. BARONESS THATCHER LG OM FRS Chairman of the UK Branch RT HON. GORDON BROWN MP (Prime Minister) Executive Committee Chair Mr JOHN AUSTIN MP Joint Vice-Chairs RT HON. LORD ANDERSON OF SWANSEA DL (until 21 July 2008) MR DAVID CLELLAND MP (until 21 July 2008) SIR NICHOLAS WINTERTON DL MP (until 21 July 2008) RT HON. JOHN MCFALL MP (from 21 July 2008) MS ANN MCINTOSH MP (from 21 July 2008) BARONESS NORTHOVER (from 21 July 2008) Honorary Treasurer RT HON. SIR JOHN STANLEY MP Members MR JOHN AUSTIN MP (Chair) RT HON. SIR JOHN STANLEY MP (Hon. Treasurer) RT HON. LORD ANDERSON OF SWANSEA DL RT HON. KEVIN BARRON MP MR HUGH BAYLEY MP DR ROBERTA BLACKMAN-WOODS MP RT HON. GORDON BROWN MP (ex-officio) MR PETER BOTTOMLEY MP RT HON. MALCOLM BRUCE MP SIR JOHN BUTTERFILL FRICS MP MR BEN CHAPMAN MP MR STEPHEN CRABBMP MR JEFF ENNIS MP MR NIGEL EVANS MP BARONESS FLATHER DL LORD HARRISON OF CHESTER LORD HASTINGS OF SCARISBRICK CBE MISS KATE HOEY MP BARONESS HOOPER HON. LINDSAY HOYLE MP MR ERIC ILLSLEY MP PROFESSOR LORD MCCOLL OF DULWICH CBE RT HON. JOHN MCFALL MP MS ANNE MCINTOSH MP RT HON. LORD MORRIS OF ABERAVON KG QC BARONESS NORTHOVER MR BOB RUSSELL MP MRS CHRISTINE RUSSELL MP SIR NICHOLAS WINTERTON DL MP Secretary MR ANDREW TUGGEY DL Deputy Secretary MR PAUL JACKSON Assistant Secretary MISS HELEN HAYWOOD/MISS RACHAEL VARNEY/MISS ANN HODKINSON Assistant Secretary MISS KIRSTY JACKSON/MISS ELSPETH MACDONALD Administration and Finance Manager MRS SUSAN HOLMES Office Manager and PA to the Secretary MISS ANN HODKINSON/MISS HARRIET COOPER Executive Assistant MISS LUCY MOORE Executive Assistant MISS ELSPETH MACDONALD/MISS MORNA RICHARDS Executive Assistant MISS HARRIET COOPER/MISS MODUPE OSHIKOYA/MISS VICTORIA BOWER CONTENTS I THE YEAR 2008/2009 II MEMBERSHIP OF THE BRANCH III FINANCE IV PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS V BRANCH COMMITTEE MEETINGS VI MEETINGS OF THE BRANCH VII VISITORS VIII GALLERIES IX HOSPITALITY X CONFERENCE ON DRUGS XI 57th PARLIAMENTARY SEMINAR XII UK SEMINAR ON THE GOVERNANCE OF THE UK XIII BRITISH ISLANDS AND MEDITERRANEAN REGIONAL CONFERENCE XIV CONFERENCE ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT XV CONFERENCE ON MIGRATION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING XVI 58th PARLIAMENTARY SEMINAR XVII CPA UK BRANCH FELLOWSHIP SCHEME XVIII VISITS TO THE BRANCH a) VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM CPA SOUTH AFRICA BRANCH b) VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM CPA SRI LANKA BRANCH c) VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM CPA MAURITIUS BRANCH d) VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM CPA GUERNSEY BRANCH e) VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM CPA PAKISTAN BRANCH f) VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM CPA SIERRA LEONE PAC g) VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM CPA JERSEY BRANCH XIX DELEGATIONS AND VISITS OVERSEAS a) Falkland Islands b) West Bengal c) Dominica and Montserrat d) Guyana e) Seychelles Workshop f) Trinidad and Tobago – post election workshop g) Caribbean Regional Conference h) Africa Regional Conference i) Canadian Regional Conference j) Tanzania k) Australia l) 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference m) Malawi n) South Africa o) Kenya p) Namibia, St Helena and Ascension Island q) Zambia r) Namibia s) Uganda XX ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS XXI PROGRAMME FOR 2010 XXII OBITUARY XXIII ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING XXIV ACCOUNTS FOR 2008/9 I INTRODUCTION TO THE PERIOD 1 JANUARY 2008 – 31 MARCH 2009 This report of the work of the CPA UK Branch (CPA UK) covers the 15-month period 1 January 2008 to 31 March 2009 and from now on CPA UK’s reporting year will coincide with the financial year. It is also the first annual report written under the new funding arrangements which came into effect from 1 April 2008. From that date CPA UK and the other three Parliamentary groups – the British-American Parliamentary Group, British Group of the IPU and the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, have been funded 70% by the House of Commons Commission and 30% by the House of Lords House Committee. Following the change in funding from HM Treasury, there has been a subtle and very positive change in relationships with the officials and administration in both Houses. We now are much more part of the Houses of Parliament and thus contribute so much more to the work of international parliamentary outreach. It has been a hectic, vibrant and enjoyable period which has seen further increases in the output of CPA UK. Work to strengthen parliamentary democracy has continued to grow apace and is highly regarded by CPA colleagues in sister branches across the world, by the FCO and DFID and by the NGOs and Civil Society Organisations with whom we work in this country and abroad. The 15-month period has seen greater innovation in programmes to build capacity in partner parliaments. The introduction of a project system for the four major annual activities – the 2 two-week seminars and the 2 one-week conferences has proved its worth. The quality of the seminars and conferences has been greatly enhanced and the employment of specialist and temporary staff within the project budgets has made our work more professional, effective and efficient. Each major project is managed by an Assistant Secretary, all of whom have been PRINCE2 project management trained, with a trained Executive Assistant as Assistant Project Manager and 1-3 specialist temporary staff. The project system improves delivery, accountability, transparency and value for money. CPA UK’s activities are reported in the body of the Annual Report, but the three recent activities detailed below and the following section on bilateral delegations give a flavour of the range and quality of CPA UK’s output over the past 15 months. • In February 2009 CPA UK ran an international parliamentary conference on Migration and Human Trafficking for over 40 parliamentarians from Commonwealth and some non- Commonwealth national legislatures. The intense and highly acclaimed 5-day programme included Ministers, academia, experts from NGOs, the close involvement of civil society and a field visit. As is now CPA UK practice, the delegates produced a communiqué calling on their Parliaments to increase their work to hold their Executives to account on commitments made and yet to be made on migration and human trafficking legislation and issues. • During the Constituency Recess in mid-February 2009, three Members and a Clerk from Westminster conducted a series of exchanges with their colleagues in Kampala over two working days. The programme, long in its gestation, was funded in partnership with the FCO and attracted over 150 Ugandan MPs and Clerks. The success of the exchanges which dealt with the duties of a Speaker, scrutiny and Committee work, relationships between MPs in Parliament and the role of the Whips should not be under-estimated; there was an immediate benefit to the Ugandan Parliament and the CPA UK Members returned full of enthusiasm for the value of such activities in strengthening parliamentary democracy and to them individually in their work at Westminster. • The 58th Westminster Seminar on Parliamentary Practice and Procedures held for over 55 delegates during the first two weeks of March 2009 was the second time that Clerks had attended alongside Members. The CPA UK project team delivered the most professional programme yet which involved Members and Clerks working together and in their separate groups. An acclaimed element of the programme is the visit to Westminster MPs in the constituency and CPA UK is most grateful to its Members for hosting the delegates. This international parliamentary seminar is regarded as being an extremely desirable part of the professional development of parliamentarians and officials; the 59th Westminster Seminar will include a weeklong programme for Serjeants-at-Arms. Bilateral inward and outward delegations continue to be important parts of CPA UK’s work. The 15- month period has seen a change in bilateral outward delegations to partner parliaments to focus more on learning of the challenges in the particular legislature, capacity building exchanges with parliamentary colleagues and aid effectiveness visits to UK and EU funded projects and programmes. Such visits depend on the support of both the host parliament and the FCO Mission and DFID staff and we value greatly their support. Inward delegations from partner countries have an agreed programme of parliamentary exchanges with Members at Westminster and constituency visits, which are always extremely popular and for which we are most grateful to Members for their generous support. Activities to strengthen parliamentary democracy are becoming a more important and bigger part of CPA UK’s work. Experience has shown that MPs (who having fought elections belong to the same “club”) can best deliver particular elements of such work to partner colleagues; CPA UK’s unique selling point is to bring together Members, Clerks and Officials from Westminster to provide capacity-building programmes with partner parliaments. Such programmes produce immediate results, are popular and are extremely cost-effective. The Westminster Consortium (TWC) programme to provide sustainable parliamentary strengthening projects over five years from 2008 for the parliaments of Mozambique and Uganda, Lebanon and the Yemen, and Georgia and the Ukraine is about to commence with the CPA UK-led introductory seminar in Kiev.
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