APPENDIX 1
Correspondence between the Chairman of
the Committee and the Prime Minister
THE WELFARE OF MONTSERRATIANS INTHE UK
Letter to Rt Hon Tony Blair MP
I am writing on behalf of the International
Development Committee to express our concern at the welfare of
Montserratians who have been relocated to the United Kingdom.
We know of the personal interest you have taken in their plight
and consider that their current situation would benefit from your
personal attention and intervention.
Many Montserratians have lost almost everything
in the evacuation from their homes, have failed to receive adequate
payments from insurance companies and have had great difficulty
in gaining access to their savings. They arrive in the United
Kingdom often with few if any contacts and possessions. We have
asked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for a memorandum giving
details of the number and conditions of Montserratians who have
relocated here. Meanwhile, however, we have heard much anecdotal
evidence of poor accommodation, unacceptable delays in the provision
of social security numbers and the payment of benefits, and a
continuing lack of funds for Montserratians to buy even the necessities
for a decent life in this country. The Committee considers that
all departments, not just the FCO and DFID, must be willing to
treat the Montserratians as a special case and ensure that they
are properly and effectively established in the United Kingdom.
I am therefore writing to ask that you make
clear to such departments as the Home Office, the Department of
Health, the Department for Social Security, the Department for
Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Department for
Education and Employment that they have a special responsibility
for the welfare of Montserratians newly arrived in this country.
In particular, we believe that on each occasion that a Whitehall
department refuses to act on the advice or suggestion of the FCO
chair of the Montserrat Action Group such refusal should be minuted
for your personal attention. The current disagreements among departments
should not be allowed to continue. At present Montserratians remain
victims of that failure identified in the Committee's Report—the
lack of single executive control in the response to their plight.
Bowen Wells MP
Chairman
International Development Committee
27 January 1998
Letter to Bowen Wells MP
Thank you for your letter of 27 January about
the welfare of Montserratians who have been relocated to the United
Kingdom.
I understand the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
has responded to your request for a Memorandum giving details
of the number and conditions of Montserratians who have relocated
here.
Since the creation of the Montserrat Action
Group at the end of August 1997 co-ordination between Government
Departments has improved considerably. The Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (and the Cabinet Office through the Defence and Overseas
Policy group) provide me with regular progress reports.
If a matter arises that departments are unable
to resolve, it is brought to my attention and I direct departments
accordingly. I therefore believe that there is a satisfactory
mechanism for resolving areas of disagreement between departments.
As you known the Montserrat Project began work
recently. The Project comprises three teams totalling 18 full-time
workers and seven sessional workers managed by Refugee Action
and funded by the Home Office. These teams provide Montserratians
with community support and help them to access the benefits to
which they are entitled and other resources and services. They
therefore often act as an informed interface to the various Government
Departments. Although it is early days, we believe they will make
a real contribution to the alleviation of difficulty for Montserratians
in the UK.
May I take this opportunity to thank you for
all the valuable work that you and your committee have done. I
very much share the sentiment expressed in your opening remarks
in the recent debate on Montserrat in the House of Commons—our
prime concern must be the people of Monserrat.
Rt Hon. Tony Blair MP
Prime Minister
4 March 1998
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