The Minister for Asia (): On Tuesday 16 and
Wednesday 17 November, I chaired the ninth UK-Overseas
Territories Joint Ministerial Council in London. The Council was
the first in person since 2018 and was attended by elected
leaders and representatives from Anguilla, Ascension Island,
Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the
Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St
Helena, the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia,
Tristan da Cunha and the Turks and
Caicos Islands.
The key themes of discussion at this year’s Council were
environment and oceans, the International Maritime Organisation
III code audit, the UK-overseas territories relationship,
economic resilience, law enforcement, the response to and
recovery from covid-19, the importance of mental health and
protecting the vulnerable, and improving inclusivity in our
societies.
Mr right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, and the Foreign
Secretary, as well as HRH The Duke of Cambridge, addressed the
Council. Other ministerial colleagues attending the discussions
included the Minister for the Pacific and International
Environment (the right hon. ), the Under-Secretary of
State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (), the Minister for Security
and Borders, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire
(), the Exchequer Secretary to
the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid
Kent (), the Minister for Health, my
hon. Friend the Member for Charnwood () and the Under-Secretary of
State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester
(). I was also joined by the
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for
Aldridge-Brownhills ()
The Council agreed priorities and set out a number of important
commitments and areas for joint work in the year ahead.
We discussed the importance of protecting the unique environments
and biodiversity in the overseas territories, recognising that
these are on the frontline of the effects of climate
change. The territories expressed thanks to the UK for
facilitating their presence at the COP26 summit. We agreed to
prioritise climate change and environmental issues in future
funding for the territories.
We reaffirmed our commitment to supporting the overseas
territories in building successful and resilient economies,
acknowledging the impact of external shocks, such as the covid-19
and natural disasters on the small and vulnerable economies of
territories.
We recognised that the impacts of covid-19 were not yet over and
committed to continue working together collaboratively to bolster
the health services in the territories through existing and new
links with the UK. We committed to work with the territories to
access the limited supply of the UK’s therapeutics supply. We
reaffirmed our commitment to improving the lives of people with
mental health problems, including children and young people.
We reaffirmed our joint commitment to build upon
cross-multi-agency law enforcement working to enhance
co-operation and increase capacity in the territories. We also
discussed the important role that Governments can play in
promoting inclusive societies.
We agreed a joint communiqué, which was issued following the
conclusion of the conference and was published on the gov.uk
website.
The communiqué and associated press statement reflect the
commitment of the Governments of the overseas territories and the
UK to continue to work in partnership to achieve the vision set
out in the June 2012 White Paper: “The Overseas Territories:
security, success and sustainability”.
In line with our commitment in the White Paper, we will continue
to report to Parliament on progress by Government Departments.
