Letter to the Chairman
of the Committee from Sir John Kerr KCMG,
Permanent Under Secretary, FCO, 14 May 1998
Following your Committee's hearing this morning,
I have checked my memory of the briefing pack prepared for Mr
Lloyd's use in the debate on 12 March. It mentions reports about
a possible deal by President Kabbah for Sandline's services. But
it does not mention arms shipments; and, as I thought, it does
not say that one such report had already been passed to Customs
and Excise.
Letter from the Chairman of the Committee
to Sir John Kerr KCMG,
Permanent Under Secretary, FCO, 21 May
1998
At its meeting today, the Committee gave further
consideration to the evidence you gave on 14 May. At the end of
that session, I indicated to you that we might want to take further
evidence from you on this matter. The Committee has now decided
to do so.
The Legg inquiry will of course cover issues
related specifically to the allegations of supplies of arms to
Sierra Leone. Our own further inquiries will focus instead on
organisational matters within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
and related interdepartmental matters. The Committee will wish
to cover four specific areas:
(a) the operation of the Restrictive Enforcement
Unit (REU) and co-ordination between the FCO representatives on
the Unit and the rest of the FCO;
(b) the arrangements within the department
for briefing Ministers on developments;
(c) the arrangements for the briefing of
Ministers by the FCO on intelligence matters; and
(d) the policy on availability of mobile
secure communications systems (with particular reference to the
apparent lack of such facilities in Conakry for use by Mr Penfold.)
The Committee would expect to take evidence
in private on the two latter points. I should like to suggest
that we hold this session on the morning of Tuesday 9 June.
The Committee also recalled today that on 14
May you gave a number of undertakings to provide further information
on matters raised by Members. I should be grateful if you could
supply all this information in good time before the next evidence
session so the Committee can study it and reflect on whether it
wishes to pursue any of these matters further in the light of
your response. You already have the transcript; the Clerk will
be pleased to advise your office further on this point if necessary.
The Committee would also like two further notes
submitted before your next appearance. The first is a note setting
out the procedures, mechanics and criteria employed for both the
consideration of applications for arms export licences and for
consideration of reported or suspected breaches of arms export
licences and, where relevant legislation enforcing UN sanctions.
The second is a note setting out, for each of the last three years
by quarter:
(a) the total number of new referrals to
the REU;
(b) of those new referrals, the number made
by the FCO;
(c) of the new referrals in each quarter,
the number made by or on behalf of or otherwise originating with
the FCO that related to:
(ii) breaches of UK legislation enforcing
an arms embargo, specifying in each case the embargo concerned.
I should be grateful if these notes, too, could
be received in good time before the evidence session.
Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from Sir John Kerr KCMG, 4 June 1998
Thank you for your letter of 21 May. The Secretary
of State has agreed that I should give evidence to the Committee
on 9 July, as you asked. I shall be accompanied by Mr Francis
Richards (Deputy Under-Secretary), Mr Roland Smith (Director for
International Security), and Mr Roy Dibble (Director, General
Services).
You will be aware that, given Sir Thomas Legg's
terms of reference, there is some potential overlap between his
independent investigation and the Committee's inquiries about
organisational matters in the FCO and related inter-Departmental
questions. In his view, and in mine, it would be wrong, while
he is examining all the evidence and seeing witnesses, to pre-empt,
and so risk prejudicing, his investigation. I shall therefore
be unable to respond substantively to questions falling within
his remit. However, based on the approach described in your letter,
I hope it should be possible to keep such overlap to a minimum.
I enclose four memoranda.[1]
The first sets out further information requested by Members of
the Committee at the session on 14 May (I have already returned
the relevant transcript with my manuscript correction of misprints).
The second responds to Mr Wilshire's request for a breakdown of
the global figure for military training given on page 4 of the
1998 Departmental Report, together with details of United Kingdom
Military Training and Assistance Scheme expenditure, country by
country, since FY 1992-93. The last two are the further notes,
one on Arms Export Licensing procedures, and one on the Restricted
Enforcement Unit, for which you asked on 21 May.
1 See Ev. p. 27. Back
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