Article By The Parliamentary Under Secretary Of State.
`A week is a long time in politics`, said Harold Wilson when he was Prime Minister in the 1960s. That may be true. But, from my point of view, a year as a Minister in the Department for International Development (or DFID as we are known) can seem like a very short time indeed!
For it hardly seems just over a year since I was given the exciting opportunity to join the DFID ministerial team. Working alongside Hilary Benn as our Secretary of State, one of my responsibilities, supported by the Overseas Territories team in DFID, is to ensure that St Helena gets the financial and practical support that it needs.
I can see that St Helena is continually striving to overcome the economic and social problems associated with its extreme isolation, the limitations on its communication links and its falling population numbers. I realise also that these are tough challenges. We are working in partnership with the island government to overcome them. We will continue to for so long as we need to.
We bridge the gap, for example, between what St Helena can raise in local revenue and what it needs to spend on essential services and development. This is a difficult balance to strike, and there are constraints upon the DFID budget as well. We do always try our best to get it right: but, as is so often the case in government, it is rarely possible to please everyone all of the time!
As part of this process, the team that visited the island in May reviewed requirements over the next 3 years. They identified a need for more money than previously had been anticipated. I therefore had to look carefully at the justification for making those extra funds available - and to look into where they might be found. This took a little while.
The good news is that I eventually was able to accept in full the team’s recommendations for the current (2004/05) financial year. In total, this meant a DFID allocation for St Helena this year of up to £14 million, representing an increase of more than £3 million over the amount available last year. I will review the requirements for next year, and the year after, at a later stage.
This will allow St Helena to press on with important work, including the much-needed improvements to the island’s electricity distribution system and strengthening of the St Helena Development Agency. It will also cover the cost of completing the new community Care Complex in Half Tree Hollow which, despite being a long time in coming, will be a fine facility when finished.
There are other important challenges now facing St Helena, which our new assistance will support. Many people will be familiar already with proposed constitutional changes, which, amongst other things, will herald a ministerial system of government. Which will mean more democratic accountability.
So DFID is working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and St Helena Government to bring about a smooth transition in how the island is governed, in how your representatives are elected and in how they then will work with civil servants who will be more directly accountable to St Helena’s own ministers - and thus to the people of St Helena - for the implementation of agreed policy. This will entail big changes to the way government operates. It is therefore important that we get it right.
And then, of course, there is the key issue of access. The present ‘RMS’ has served the island well over the past 14 years, and we will do our best to ensure that she continues to do so for as long as she needs to. The decision earlier this year by the St Helena Government, to alter the routing and timetable of the ship, will be kept under review during what will be a trial period. By 2010 or thereabouts, however, she will need to be withdrawn from service. As you know, we’re carefully considering what will happen then.
I know that many people, both on and off the island, were disappointed with the decision in April against proceeding with any of the proposals to develop air access that had emerged from last year`s international invitation. I can assure you that I thought long and hard, and took a lot of expert advice, before reaching the conclusion that we needed to look at the matter again. I remain convinced that our decision, to review all options and costs in detail, was the right one in the circumstances.
Clearly this is the single most important issue and decision facing us all. It will shape future economic development and, if access by air were to be the selected option, it would change the way of life on the island forever. I realise that the people of St Helena expressed their preference in a referendum early in 2002: this will be in my mind when I review the options towards the end of this year. I am grateful to everyone - in St Helena and elsewhere - who took part in that referendum or have contributed in some way to the vital investigatory work by Atkins Management Consultants, which is now on-going, into comparison of options for the future.
Finally, I believe that nothing beats personal dialogue. That’s why I greatly enjoy discussing island matters with Councillors and others from St Helena who pass through London from time to time. They are all welcome callers. As I have said to them, and to Governor Hollamby when he called recently, this is really the best substitute I have for actually visiting the island. As much as I would like to do that, I’m very much afraid that my parliamentary and other commitments ruled it out up to now. But… `never say never`!
[Note: Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the UK Department for International Development]
St Helena’s representation on the Falkland Islands.
Although there has been no agreed St Helena representation on the Falkland Islands in the past, with increasing liaisons between the Islands, such a role is needed. John Clifford is no stranger to performing representational duties for St Helena on the Falkland Islands; and has formally agreed to take on the representational role for St Helena Government.
In 2002 when a referendum was held for Access options, John and a small team arranged for polling stations to be set up so that St Helenians on the Falklands could place their votes. More recently with the Atkins team visiting Ascension, St Helena and the Falkland Islands, John arranged the focus groups on the Falkland Islands making work for the team that much easier.
The role John will play will be mainly of a liaison nature, occasionally involving co-ordination and administration activities. Governor Hollamby said this role “would provide a clear signal both on St Helena and the Falkland Islands of the strong relationship between the territories and of the importance we place upon the continued fostering of good relations”.
In accepting, John said “I feel most honoured to have been considered for this very important role”.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
11th August 2004
Freight Rates
In May Executive Council discussed setting freight rates for the RMS for the period of the new trial schedule - that is September 2004 to September 2005. Offline Freight rates were set, applying to the African coastal trade and Cape Town to Ascension, but Executive Council felt a review of online freight rates should take place prior to any online rates being set. This is because it was seen as imperative to ensure that any savings that might be realisable in the trial period should be identified.
Council was also keen to ensure that any forecast changes that could feed through to the economics of the shipping service in the future because of the schedule alteration were identified and tracked - whilst it would not be possible to make the changes this year, the data would thus feed through into the review of the trial period intended to take place early 2005.
The freight review identified a number of areas where over the coming months it may be possible to realise cost efficiencies and economies of scale that will result in the shipping service being more economic.
The rates that are recommended to be set for the next year include a significant reduction in the general cargo rate, and with the exception of the inter Island tariff, do not include any inflation related increases.
The Tariffs used by St Helena Line /Andrew Weir Shipping Limited (SHL/AWSL), were originally set by Curnow during their management of the previous ship prior to 1991 and have since 1991 been monitored by SHL. It is therefore regretted that the rationale for tariffs is not available; only inherited rates are available. Therefore both SHL and AWSL are constrained by the “Handed Down Tariff”. The Governor has asked SHL to review these historically high rates. This will be done as part of the 2005 review.
The Governor has also asked the Administrator on Ascension to review the Island’s very high Port Costs to see if they can be brought down sharply and be more in line with the rates here. The cheapest Port Costs are in South Africa and Namibia. Any Ascension reduction of Port Costs could lead to a further decision as to whether Ascension could be used as a transhipment point that could compete with Cape Town and Namibia.
The detailed rates incorporating a number of minor changes are available from the agents Solomons, or on the RMS website but in summary are as follows
OLD NEW
General Cargo Full Container Load (FCL) rate £4542 4090
Other FCL Container rates No Change No Change
Empty Containers Same Same
Break bulk Less than Container Load (LCL)
(Min. charge now£60) Same Same
Inter Island Tariff Rates increase by approx 3%
Executive Council agreed in May that Offline Rates (that apply only to freight that is not destined for St Helena) be increased by circa 3%.
Governor Hollamby said that we can now give the new schedule a fair wind to see if the RMS can deliver to St Helena the economic development he believes it should and so that the people of St Helena can make up their own minds during the trial period as to whether they like the new schedule.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
11th August 2004
Councillor’s Hopkins and Drabble to attend Overseas Territory Consultative Council.
On 16th August Councillor Hopkins and Councillor Drabble will depart St Helena on their way to the UK, where they will attend a meeting of the Overseas Territory Consultative Council (OTCC).
This OTCC meeting will take place on the 21st and 22nd September at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. The last OTCC meeting was held on 8th - 10th December 2003, and was attended by Governor Hollamby, Councillor Yon and Councillor Hopkins. It is the practice that the supporting Councillor who attended the previous meeting will lead the delegation at the next meeting. This time Councillor Hopkins will lead the delegation with Councillor Drabble.
Following the 1999 White Paper the OTCC was set up as a forum in which politicians from the Territories and Her Majesties Government could meet to exchange views. The OTCC is a good opportunity for British Ministers to hear any concerns directly from the Territories political leaders. Apart from attending the OTCC, Councillor’s Hopkins and Drabble will also be meeting with FCO and DFID officials to discuss other important matters such as the Constitution, Modernising Government and financial and environmental matters.
SHG UK Representative Kedell Worboys, will accompany the Councillors at these meetings and will also arrange other meetings for them with groups such as, Foreign Affairs Select Committee, St Helena all Party Parliamentary Group, UK Overseas Territories Association, Andrew Weir Shipping and St Helena Line.
As not all of these meetings can be fitted into the OTCC timetable, Councillors Hopkins and Drabble will be in London during the week ahead of the conference to pursue St Helena’s interests.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
11th August 2004
SURFACE MAIL TO UK VIA CAPE TOWN.
With the RMS St Helena making her last voyage to the UK in on 21st August 2004, at least for the one-year trial period whilst remaining in the South Atlantic, a number of questions have been raised about future opportunities to post surface mail to the UK.
Whilst the August sailing to the UK would normally have been the last opportunity for customers to post their Christmas surface mail to the UK, there will now in fact be another opportunity to post surface mail to the UK via Cape Town before Christmas. Having consulted with the postal administration in Namibia and Cape Town, the Post Mistress has advised that surface mail to the UK will only be posted via Cape Town and not Walvis Bay. The latest opportunity to dispatch surface mail via Cape Town to the UK before Christmas will be 22 October. The postal rates will not be affected by this change.
There will of course continue to be opportunities to send airmail to the UK via Ascension and Cape Town before Christmas, the last being via Ascension on the 1st December.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
11TH August 2004.
