House of Lords
Thursday, 31st October 1996.
The House met at three of the clock (Prayers having been read earlier at the Judicial Sitting by the Lord Bishop of Carlisle.): The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.
Clerk of the Parliaments: Retirement of Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth, KCB; Appointment of Mr. Michael Davies
The Lord Privy Seal (Viscount Cranborne): My Lords, it is my duty to notify your Lordships that I have received the following letter from the Clerk of the Parliaments, Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth:
- "Dear Leader of the House,
- I write to ask you to convey to the House, after consultation with the Lord Chancellor and yourself, that I have asked the Prime Minister to submit to Her Majesty the Queen my resignation as Clerk of the Parliaments with effect from 4th January 1997, and that Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept it. I will have served six years in that office.
- I take leave on the view that it is in the interests of the House that there should be continuity in the office during the coming months, with the certainty of a General Election and uncertainty about the House of Lords as now constituted thereafter. I am now sixty-two and will leave in the confidence that the Parliament Office is in a condition to give good service to the House and provide a satisfactory succession at the Table. By going now, it will give my successor an opportunity to establish himself fully before the Election.
- I would be grateful if you would convey to the House my gratitude for the kindnesses received from all quarters. I have enjoyed my thirty-six years of service to the House, of which the last nearly six years as Clerk of the Parliaments have been especially memorable and enjoyable.
- I cannot imagine a happier institution in which to work, which it has been my privilege to serve.
- Yours ever,
- Michael Wheeler-Booth."
It is my further duty to notify your Lordships that the Queen has been pleased to appoint Mr. Michael Davies to succeed Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth from 4th January next year.
Following that announcement it will, I am sure, be your Lordships' wish in due course to pay tribute to the services of Sir Michael in this House. I am advised that the proper manner of doing that is for the Leader of the House to table a Motion recording the House's appreciation of Sir Michael's services.
The noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor will in a few moments announce his appointments to the vacancies at the Table consequential upon Sir Michael's retirement. I should like to say for myself and on my noble and learned friend's behalf that extensive consultations have been held with representatives of all sides of the House over these important appointments. This is in accordance with undertakings given by my predecessors as Leader of the House and previous Lord Chancellors that appointments to the Table should be the subject of wide consultations. Those undertakings
have on this occasion been honoured to the full. I should also report to the House that the result of the consultations was unanimous.Clerk Assistant: Mr. Paul Hayter, Reading Clerk: Mr. Michael Pownall
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern): My Lords, I am pleased to confirm what the Leader of the House has said about the consultation process. This has resulted in the recommendations that Mr. Paul Hayter should succeed Mr. Davies as Clerk Assistant and that Mr. Michael Pownall should succeed Mr. Hayter as Reading Clerk. It is proposed that these appointments should take effect in the New Year following Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth's retirement, and I shall be inviting the House to approve the necessary Motions nearer the time.
Northern Ireland: Education Spending
3.5 p.m.
Lord Holme of Cheltenham asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they believe this is the right time to be reducing education funding in Northern Ireland.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Baroness Denton of Wakefield): My Lords, education spending in Northern Ireland has increased in real terms by 9 per cent. since 1991-92 to its highest ever level in 1996-97.
Lord Holme of Cheltenham: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that information about past levels of spending on education in Northern Ireland. Can she confirm that it is stated in Northern Ireland: Expenditure Plans and Priorities, published this year, that in the coming two years expenditure will be held static in nominal terms? That means of course a cut in real terms. Is she aware that the feeling which the Chairman of the Convocation at the University of Ulster describes as deep dismay is shared at every level of education in Northern Ireland: primary, secondary and university? Does she not agree that investment in education, particularly in Northern Ireland, is good for social stability and economic progress, and that spending cuts will send the wrong signal at the wrong time? Will the Government think again?
Baroness Denton of Wakefield: My Lords, I agree wholeheartedly with the noble Lord that investment in education is a crucial factor in social stability, and in particular, from my own point of view, in the economic growth of the Province. I think that the noble Lord looks at the question of money as opposed to the question of value for money. I believe that what we are doing for education in Northern Ireland is proved absolutely right by the fact that 41 per cent. of our young people go on to further education compared to 31 per cent. in Great Britain, and that the number of school leavers with two
or more A-levels rose in 10 years from 18 per cent. to 30 per cent. People in Northern Ireland are very proud of their education, and that pride shows in the results. As everyone knows, we are in a tough public expenditure round and it would not be for me to give speculative guarantees.
Lord Williams of Mostyn: My Lords, the Minister has correctly pointed out that more people from Northern Ireland go on to university education than in the rest of the United Kingdom. But is it not the fact that 40 per cent. of that higher proportion are obliged to leave Northern Ireland for a university education, and of that 40 per cent., 80 per cent. do not return? Have the Government any present plans for increasing the number of university places in Northern Ireland?
Baroness Denton of Wakefield: My Lords, I do not agree with the noble Lord, Lord Williams of Mostyn, that leaving Northern Ireland for a university education is necessarily a bad thing. The resultant gain in experience can only be to the benefit of Northern Ireland. The noble Lord asks whether the Government have any plans to encourage more of those who leave to return. One of the main planks of the inward investment programme is to provide more jobs for them to return to. The one thing that will ensure that they return with their families to Northern Ireland is success in the peace process.
Lord Beloff: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the very high performance of school children in Northern Ireland in difficult circumstances deserves the congratulations of the House? Does she further agree that that high performance is largely due to the fact that Northern Ireland retained its grammar schools and was not subject to the so-called progressive education which caused such ravages in this country in the 1960s and 1970s?
Baroness Denton of Wakefield: My Lords, one of the great joys of being in your Lordships' House is that one can bow to expertise in a field way above one's own. I do so.
Great Lakes Region, Africa
3.10 p.m.
Lord Judd asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their latest assessment of the humanitarian situation in the Great Lakes region of Africa, and what action they are taking in response, bilaterally and multilaterally and including action in the UN Security Council.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey): My Lords, there have been 1.7 million refugees in the region since 1994. Britain has provided over £130 million to help. The current insecurity in eastern Zaire has exacerbated an already critical
situation. Humanitarian agencies have sufficient stocks in the region to meet immediate needs but political and security difficulties are restricting delivery. The Government are supporting United Nations and European Union efforts to resolve this crisis and we are in contact with both Zaire and Rwanda to help defuse the situation.
Lord Judd: My Lords, does the Minister agree that unless the underlying tensions of the Great Lakes area are tackled there will never be any chance of lasting peace? Will that not involve accountability for genocide, strengthening the administration of justice, definition of citizenship, the screened return of refugees, economic regeneration and building democratic institutions? What external support is envisaged for any ceasefire that can be arranged? In the meantime, what is being done together with NGOs to ensure an integrated and disciplined international humanitarian relief operation with all necessary protections?
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: My Lords, let me try as briefly as I can to give a flavour of the right answers to those many questions that the noble Lord asked. He is right to say that solving the underlying tensions in the area is absolutely critical. It is only when the warring factions within Zaire, let alone within Rwanda and Burundi, have decided that they wish to cease that we can be effective. Our experience over the past two years in Rwanda has been that once the fighting stopped we could help them--indeed we have helped them--to build up their administration of justice, to put their running of government in better order, to bring accountability for the genocide and to do the many things that he suggested.
But the real problem for all who want to help is that until the Banyamulenge--that is, the Zairean Tutsis--and the Hutu Zairean troops come to some accommodation, it is almost impossible, however willing we may be, to give the humanitarian help that the people so desperately need. That is why, when I saw Prime Minister Kengo of Zaire last week and Foreign Minister Gasana of Rwanda this morning, I implored them--as Joan Burton, the president of the development council did just yesterday in Dublin--to bring about a ceasefire. With that ceasefire, not only will the humanitarian aid get through but we shall also be able to try to do some of the things that the noble Lord mentioned in his question.
Next Section
Back to Table of Contents
Lords Hansard Home Page