All-Party Parliamentary Group
There are many issue specific all-party parliamentary groups in the Westminster Parliament which provide a forum for those involved with that particular issue to engage with and inform politicians who share those concerns. The APPG "Connecting Communities" was launched in 2003 under the Chairmanship of Kevin Barron MP. Subsequently, Nigel Griffiths MP took over as Chair and from October 2010 the Chair has been Claire Perry Conservative MP for the constituency of Devizes. The APPG which currently has a membership of 26 MPs and Peers has provided BUILD members with access to senior politicians as a result of which there has been considerable government commitment in terms of funding for school, community and health partnerships with counterparts in the global South.
The following meetings have been held:
Meeting with Nick Gibb, Minister for Schools, 12th September 2011
Minutes of APPG “Connecting Communities” meeting held on 19 October 2010
International Development Committee
Charles Clarke, Secretary of State for Education
Richard Caborn Minister for Sports
Gareth Thomas, Minister for International Development
John Battle, Faith Adviser to the Prime Minister
Shahid Malik Minister for International Development
Lord Kinnock Chairman British Council
Lord Crisp, Author of the Crisp Report
Baroness Andrews, Minister for Communities and Local Government
Lord Sandwich Speaker on International Development in the Lords
Bill Rammell, Minister, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
We have also contributed briefing papers to a number of debates in the Commons and the Lords.
Phil Hope Minister for the Third Sector
We need to build better bridges between organisations such as schools, towns, hospitals, councils and voluntary groups in Britain and their counterparts in the developing world to make the development agenda real. In my Constituency we have the 25-year old example of a successful town partnership set up by the Marlborough Brandt group that links Marlborough, Wiltshire with Gunjur in SW Gambia.
I meet people locally on a daily basis who have had their eyes opened to the challenge and opportunity of international development by a stint living and working in Africa, or from hosting a visiting group from the Gambia. That is why I have restarted the All Party Parliamentary Group for Connecting Communities
Claire Perry MP for Devizes