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The post was publicly advertised in the Sunday Times on 9 March 2008, in accordance with the guidance set out by the Office of the Civil Service Commissioner. UKTI engaged an executive search agency from the Cabinet Office call off contract to run the search and advertisement on behalf of the department. The advert described the role in the following terms:
“UK Trade and Investment is taking on responsibility for HM Government's strategic engagement with business in support of UK defence and security sales overseas. The newly formed UKTI Defence and Security Organisation will comprise a mix of civilian and military staff, working within a wider organisation which draws on staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Ministry of Defence. The Head of UKTI DSO will sit on the UKTI Board and report to its chief executive, be based in Westminster, but travel extensively.
The key focus of this role is to lead UKTI DSO in its work to promote British defence sales worldwide by developing and maintaining close relations with overseas Governments. The Head of UKTI DSO will act in an ambassadorial capacity, presenting the UK's capability with impact at the highest levels and personally taking the lead in marketing to potential clients. He/she will also drive the development of UKTI DSO's service offering in the security sector and its role in attracting inward investment, as well as its engagement with business stakeholders on promoting the highest possible standards in the defence and security industries. Important stakeholders include other parts of government, the armed forces, the UK defence industry, and the broader business community. An important element of the role is the leadership of some 200 staff, and the integration of the new group into UKTI.
Candidates for this high profile, externally-facing role will be accustomed to operating at board level, to dealing with governments at Ministerial level and to leading complex negotiations. Knowledge of the defence sector would clearly be relevant, but UKTI is equally interested in considering candidates from both the private and public sectors with
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Vietnam
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make representations to the Government of Vietnam for the release of United Buddhist Church of Vietnam Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and his deputy Thich Quang Do. [HL3494]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The UK, together with its EU partners, continues to raise its human rights concerns with the Vietnamese Government, including over the arrest and detention of peaceful human rights defenders and religious activists in Vietnam. We do so as part of the EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue: bilaterally, during high-level meetings and at official level; and with our EU partners outside the framework of the human rights dialogue. During the visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to the UK in March 2008, the UK and Vietnam signed a political memorandum of understanding to strengthen dialogue and step up progress on a wide range of issues, including human rights.
We will continue to urge the Government of Vietnam to release all individuals currently imprisoned or detained for peacefully expressing their views.
Waste Management: Food
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made by the Waste and Resources Action Programme to reduce the estimated £8 billion-worth of food discarded annually by British consumers. [HL3611]
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The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): WRAP and its partners are running the “Love Food Hate Waste” consumer-facing campaign to address this issue directly. The campaign is being delivered in partnership with the Women's Institute, local authorities, the UK grocery sector, the food industry, government and organisations such as the Food Standards Agency. Its aim is to develop practical advice, to help us all get the most from the food we buy, and to waste less of it.
The campaign highlights quick and easy things that consumers can do to reduce the amount of food thrown away, including better planning before going shopping, and storing perishables in the fridge. WRAP is also in discussion with retailers to extend in-store advice about home storage. If followed, this should prolong the life of the food that is purchased.
On 8 May 2008, WRAP published a report entitled, The Food We Waste. This report provides an objective assessment of the amounts and types of food that we buy, but do not eat. Key findings from the research are that, in the UK, we throw away around one third of the food we buy, and of that, 61 per cent (4.1 million tonnes a year) was avoidable waste. The most common reason for food being wasted is that it is left unused until it goes off or out of date; this accounts for 61 per cent (2.5 million tonnes) of the avoidable food waste. Of this, almost 1 million tonnes is not even touched, and at least a tenth (340,000 tonnes) is still in date. We also cook and prepare too much, resulting in an additional 1.6 million tonnes of food waste a year.
This research report will help the campaign to focus on the key areas for future behaviour change.
Progress on the campaign, which was launched in November 2007, will be evaluated with the rest of WRAP's 2006-08 business plan and will be set out in detail in WRAP's annual review for 2007-08, due to be published in October 2008.
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