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Mr. Nigel Griffiths (Edinburgh, South): Will my hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to the people of Venezuela who have been generous in their support of peoples in other countries who are less fortunate than themselves? What discussions are taking place in the European Union to ensure that support is mobilised across Europe?
Mr. Foulkes: My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that the Venezuelan Government have been quick to respond to other disasters. That is why the whole international community has responded very quickly to this one. There has been immense support from international agencies and other countries. Our contribution is one of very many. We are discussing it with our colleagues in the EU to see what funds can be made available from the European Community Humanitarian Office and other organisations.
Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield): I am sure that the Minister will agree that prevention is always better than cure, but does he agree that the disaster in Venezuela, as in Honduras, was exacerbated by intense farming on hillsides and the removal of trees and other natural vegetation, which encouraged the landslip? It was not just the bad weather that was to blame. Does he also agree that there is considerable expertise in British universities and other academic institutions in such work? Is there anything that his Department can do, once the immediate tragedy is dealt with, to advise Venezuela and, indeed, other countries around the globe that are liable to such disasters? If the right sort of vegetation were planted so that mudslides were less likely, the effect of such disasters may be mitigated.
Mr. Foulkes: The hon. Gentleman is very perceptive, as usual. He is absolutely right to point out that this disaster is worse than it might have been, owing to deforestation and other policies that have resulted in greater devastation. That was so in Honduras, Nicaragua and Orissa, too. The work for which he is asking is already being done by our Department. We have a major natural resources programme. I recently visited the Natural Resources Institute in Chatham to discuss the work in detail with representatives from all the universities that are conducting it. The hon. Gentleman is right, but I am glad to say that we are ahead of him in thinking of it.
Mr. Tom Levitt (High Peak): I am sure that my friends in Venezuela, who have already contacted me asking for help, will consider the Government's response appropriate as a first response. Does my hon. Friend agree that anyone who has seen the shanty towns of Caracas, built as they are on the steep-sided slopes, will have thought that this was a disaster that has been waiting to happen for many years? Given that Venezuela is a country of great extremes of wealth, will my hon. Friend find an
appropriate moment to urge the Venezuelan authorities, when they rebuild, not to replace like with like, but to look for ways in which the shanty occupants of Caracas can be helped in the long term?
Mr. Foulkes: Again, my hon. Friend has touched on an important point. It is sad that the poorest often suffer in natural disasters, as well as suffering regularly. Our entire programme, the theme of our White Paper and the basis of all our work is poverty eradication, which is so vital. In Latin America, countries that have a relatively high per capita income nevertheless have huge inequalities, masked by the per capita income. The Inter-American Development Bank recently produced a report on inequality and poverty in Latin America. Venezuela and other Latin American countries must come to terms with that. We are encouraging and helping them to do so.
Mr. Adrian Sanders (Torbay): It is more than two days since news of the disaster came in, and only this afternoon are the charities getting together to consider their response. I corresponded earlier in the year with the Minister's Department about setting up a national emergency number that the public can ring to make donations.
My office this morning made five telephone calls to the Department. On the first three occasions, staff did not know to whom donations could be made. The fourth call was answered by an answering machine. Only on the fifth call was it suggested that donations should be made to the British Red Cross.
Ordinary members of the public would not have access to those telephone numbers, and they do not know where to make their contribution. We need a national emergency line for events on this scale for people to contact and make their donations immediately when they see the terrible pictures of the world's disasters.
Mr. Foulkes: The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, which I hope the Disasters Emergency Committee will consider. Obviously, this afternoon the committee will be dealing with the immediate disaster, and rightly so because it is so urgent. However, it is always easy to be wise after an event. The gravity of the situation in Venezuela has escalated. The flooding got worse as the rainfall increased. It was not until Saturday that the scale of the disaster was known. To be fair to the Disasters Emergency Committee, it is responding quickly, as soon as it knew the scale of the disaster and what was needed.
Millennium Preparedness
12.48 pm
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Jack Straw): With permission, Madam Speaker, I shall make a statement about our preparations and arrangements for the period around the millennium. This coming new year poses particular challenges, and I therefore felt it right that I should let the House know about the arrangements.
My right hon. Friend the President of the Council made a statement to the House last week on action that the United Kingdom has already taken and on its preparedness for the date change. The House was, I believe, reassured by her statement. The United Kingdom is one of the best prepared countries in the world. However, my right hon. Friend the President of the Council also warned about complacency. Problems may still occur, and we need to be ready to deal with them.
Alongside potential millennium bug problems, there is the possibility of public disorder and other general difficulties. Celebrations on any new year's eve can produce crowd-related problems. There is obviously an increased risk this year because of the additional number of events that will be held, some of which will attract very large numbers of people.
To ensure that people can celebrate this special occasion in safety, a great deal of careful preparation and planning has been carried out by the police, fire, ambulance and other emergency services and by central Government's emergency planning staff. That has been co-ordinated nationally through the civil contingencies committee, which I chair. Its members include Ministers from all key Departments, representatives of the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Administration, the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Metropolitan police. The committee held an important exercise to test the systems as early as last May. Since the summer, it has met regularly to oversee and review operational readiness in the public services.
We want to ensure that millennium celebrations across the country are conducted safely and that, if anything goes wrong, our emergency services can cope effectively. The emergency services are ready to deal with problems at any time. However, we have needed to ensure that those services could cope with a potentially heavier load and a wider range of problems at the end of this year.
The police service will be in a very high state of readiness. The police national information centre at New Scotland Yard will receive information from every police force in the country. That is important because of the large scale of celebrations across the country. We know of major events in 22 cities. Special events will take place in most other cities, towns and villages. The fire and ambulance services will also be in an enhanced state of readiness. To cope with all that, the police service across the country has decided to cancel leave; additional ambulance and fire service personnel will also be on duty.
I pay tribute to all those from the emergency services who will give up their time with their families and friends to ensure that everyone else can enjoy the celebrations on new year's eve.
The celebrations in London will attract the largest numbers. To help ensure safety on the streets of central London, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
has declared a traffic limitation zone for an area covering the west end, the City and the south bank and a separate zone in parts of Greenwich. The main central London zone will be in operation from the afternoon of 31 December until the early hours of 1 January; it will be dismantled progressively as deemed sensible by the police.Residents and those with businesses in the traffic limitation zone will be allowed to travel by vehicle in it, but those seeking access by vehicle are asked to carry company letters of reference or other identification, a resident's parking permit or proof of address. There will be no restrictions on pedestrians or pedal cyclists. Disabled car drivers who hold an orange badge will be able to enter and park, including on single and double yellow lines where they are not causing an obstruction. Specific roads--those closest to the river where the crowds will be thickest--will not be accessible by vehicle at all. Large numbers of people will come into the city centre and, apart from the disabled who are not in a position to do so, everyone is advised to use public transport. There will be enhanced public transport arrangements, not only to get people safely into the centre of London but to get them out again in the early hours of the morning.
In Scotland, a torchlight parade will take place in Edinburgh--one of 60 events there. Glasgow will hold a range of events, as will Aberdeen and surrounding towns. There will be a major fireworks display in Dundee. Major events in Cardiff and Swansea will include a lantern procession as well as a major pop concert at the Millennium stadium in Cardiff. There will also be major events in Belfast city centre and elsewhere in Northern Ireland. A wide variety of events will take place across England--for example, fireworks and giant video screens in Birmingham and Coventry, a lantern procession and open air rink in Bristol, a street festival in Brighton, and quayside fireworks in Newcastle.
In our planning, we have had to take account of the potential impact of some apparently unrelated issues. For example, it is anticipated that several million extra mobile telephones will be sold in the last few weeks of this year. It is highly probable that many mobile phones will be used around midnight on new year's eve as people who are out seek to ring family or friends at home or abroad. High levels of use could swamp the system. The public telecommunications operators and the emergency services have therefore put in place arrangements to manage the networks in such circumstances. There are other arrangements, too, such as the Government's own alternative emergency communications network, which connects central and local government, and the police and fire services and the military, with each other.
Alongside those detailed preparations by the emergency services and others, the Government have an extensive set of arrangements in place to monitor events and to involve Ministers if decisions need to be taken centrally. A Government millennium centre and emergency planning and information officers will operate on a 24-hour basis, and I and a number of my colleagues across government will be on duty over the period. The civil contingencies committee will meet on new year's eve and again on new year's morning. Our hope is that people across the United Kingdom will be able to enjoy the
millennium celebrations safely, but the House, I am sure, will share our view that it has been right to undertake the planning and preparation that I have outlined.
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