Conclusions and recommendations
The immediate hurricane response
1.As acknowledged by Lord Ahmad, there are a number of lessons to learn from the UK Government’s crisis response to the hurricanes that hit the Caribbean Overseas Territories in September 2017. While we welcome the FCO launching an exercise to identify regional and international assets that could be used in response to major natural disasters in future, it is regrettable that this had not been done previously as part of wider crisis planning, in addition to the welcome deployment of RFA Mounts Bay to the area in July. Given the Caribbean’s vulnerability to hurricanes we would have expected the FCO already to have had a good understanding of the resources available and an agreed collaborative international strategy in place. The FCO should work with regional and international partners to share best practice, disaster preparation plans and relief sites and develop an international strategy for disaster relief which will avoid duplication of efforts and make best use of nearby resources. (Paragraph 7)
2.The UK Government’s crisis response remains heavily reliant on naval assets such as RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Ocean to provide immediate strategic support and transport capabilities. The Defence Committee has recently drawn attention to the implications of the decision to withdraw HMS Ocean from service for the UK’s ability to undertake such operations in future. The FCO should ensure that the needs of Overseas Territories, many of which are regularly vulnerable to natural disasters, are considered as part of the decisions to be made within Government about the future of the UK’s naval fleet and that assets are dedicated to the disaster response role. (Paragraph 8)
3.Anguilla told us that it was not able to get clarity from the UK Government quickly about the availability and nature of crisis recovery funding. Although such funding is not wholly within the control of the FCO, as the lead department for international crisis response, and the one responsible for the Government relationship with the Overseas Territories, the FCO should seek to ensure clear Government communications and messaging on such important matters in future. (Paragraph 9)
Recovery and resilience
4.The principles of self-sufficiency and self-governance are of great importance to the affected Overseas Territories, and we heard no calls for them to become direct dependencies of the UK Government. However, as the case of Anguilla shows, the Overseas Territories have differing capacities to invest in the resilience of their critical infrastructure to deal with major natural disasters. We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement of £70 million of grants and £300 million of loan guarantees for recovery. However, greater preventative investment by the UK Government, in cooperation with the affected Overseas Territories, in the resilience of infrastructure might have been more cost-effective. (Paragraph 17)
5.We welcome the Government’s commitment to working in partnership with the affected Overseas Territories to restore infrastructure and broaden their economic bases, while ensuring recovery funds are spent effectively. It is regrettable, however, that measures as straightforward as sharing building regulation expertise were not already in place. We can take little comfort from the fact that Montserrat has yet to recover fully from the volcanic eruption 20 years ago. The FCO should be more active in making the Overseas Territories as resilient as possible to major natural disasters, economically as well as in terms of their physical infrastructure. The FCO should provide us, by 1 September 2018, with an update on the recovery status of the affected territories and a strategy for widening their economic bases which includes ambitious deadlines for implementation. (Paragraph 18)
6.The Government should press the OECD Development Assistance Committee to bring to an early conclusion its work to develop proposals to reinstate ODA eligibility for states and territories that suffer a persistent drop in per capita income, and its examination of the short-term financing mechanisms available in response to crises. It should inform interested Overseas Territories as soon as possible of the consequences for them of the outcomes. (Paragraph 19)
7.We call on the Government urgently to clarify the position of Anguilla and other Overseas Territories with regard to both the continuation of current EU-funded programmes and access to future development assistance from the European Union. (Paragraph 20)
Institutional and constitutional issues
8.We recognise that the constitutional relationships between the UK and each of its Overseas Territories are complex and unique. In the case of Anguilla, this has led to some confusion about its status in relation to, for instance, development funding or third-party aid in times of crisis. The Government has more to do to demonstrate that it meets the Minister’s ambition to provide residents of Overseas Territories with the same service as British citizens. We intend to examine the FCO’s relationship with the UK’s Overseas Territories in more depth later in 2018. (Paragraph 26)
9.We are pleased that the relationship between the Government of Anguilla and the Governor, FCO Ministers and FCO officials is currently considered effective, particularly in light of the strains placed on them in responding to September’s hurricanes. However, we are concerned that there is no obvious formal mechanism outside the FCO by which the Overseas Territories can raise matters of poor performance on the part of, or resolve disputes with, the Government. The FCO should explore the possibility of establishing an independent, formal channel through which Overseas Territories can provide feedback on the FCO’s performance and their relationships with the FCO. It should also consider publishing, in the longer term, an updated policy paper with detailed consideration of the changing circumstances of the Overseas Territories including, but not limited to, the implications for them of the United Kingdom’s planned departure from the European Union. (Paragraph 27)
Published: 7 March 2018