“The Committee is right to be concerned about Government action on climate change.

“The Climate Change Act is a world-class piece of legislation, but the true test is the policies put in place to deliver its goals.

“Crucial strategies on fossil fuels, aviation and energy infrastructure, due out shortly, will demonstrate whether or not the Government has heeded the Committee’s warnings.

“These National Policy Statements must clearly set out their carbon impacts and how they will deliver on the UK’s carbon budgets – failure to do so will seriously undermine the Government’s international leadership on climate change.

“Developing the UK’s huge renewable energy potential and slashing energy waste will bring huge economic benefits, deliver new green jobs and put Britain at the forefront of securing a safer, cleaner future for us all.”

Friends of the Earth led the campaign for the Climate Change Act, which was passed in November 2008 after 200,000 people and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke supported its Big Ask campaign.

The Act requires the UK to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050. The Committee on Climate Change has said that the UK should cut its emissions by at least 34 per cent by 2020 but says that this should rise to at least 42 per cent if an international climate agreement is reached – a target scientists say is required if the UK is to play its part in tackling the threat of catastrophic climate change.

Friends of the Earth says that the UK should agree to cut emissions by at least 42 per cent – and meet this target at home, without buying carbon offsets.

Notes to Editors:

1.   The press release and report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) can
be found at: http://www.theccc.org.uk/news

2.   National Policy Statements (NPS) will set out the Government’s long-term
view on what major infrastructure projects the UK will need. The newly formed Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) will use these NPS to determine whether to allow planning applications for projects such as new fossil fuel power stations, renewables projects, nuclear power stations, roads, railways, airports and grid infrastructure.

3.   For further information about Friends of the Earth’s Big Ask campaign,
visit: http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/news/big_ask_history_15798.html

If you are a journalist seeking press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

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Local authorities are spending up to £1.3m each on private barristers’ and solicitors’ fees and up to £1.2m on their own staff’s time attempting to resist the fight for fair wages.

A survey of 50 authorities by public service union UNISON found that more than £11.5m has been spent to obstruct equal pay – a figure the union believes is “the tip of the iceberg”.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the union discovered that among the most free-spending authorities is Sandwell Council which has paid out more than £1.3m to external solicitors and barristers after refusing to negotiate equal pay with UNISON. Coventry’s bill for external legal help was more than £1.2m.

Some local authorities have also spent hundreds of thousands on their in-house legal teams. Leeds, for instance has admitted incurring nearly £1.2m in internal costs and paying £300,000 to outside lawyers.

Sandwell council has spent £124 per female employee resisting equal pay, while the equivalent figure at Rotherham is £115 and in Coventry is £104.

The spending is in shocking contrast to the earnings of some of the low-paid members of UNISON. Some local government employees including cleaners, cooks, and care assistants earn as little £6.30 per hour, or £12,145 each year.

All this public money has been spent despite the introduction of the national “Single Status” agreement in 1997 which sought to end the gap between the pay of men and women in council jobs, which were either identical or required the same level of expertise or effort.

Ten years down the line, there are still far too many councils who are resisting equal pay through the courts.

Dave Prentis, UNISON’s General Secretary, said it was a “national disgrace” that local authorities were spending so much money on fighting to keep women’s wages down. Mr Prentis believes the figures that UNISON has unearthed under-estimate the total costs – because some councils “couldn’t or wouldn’t” reveal their expenditure.

He points out that others were only able or willing to provide information covering external spending over the last few years. He believes that a number of local authorities did their best to come up with the lowest possible figure when answering UNISON’s questions.

“What a waste of money. Councils are stuffing money into lawyers’ pockets to put off the inevitable. Expensive lawyers are raising tiny technical points and fighting issues the councils have already been advised they will lose. Cases drag on for years and women have died by the time legal arguments are resolved. Taxpayers’ money is being poured down the drain and low-paid women continue to be underpaid for jobs that society simply couldn’t function without.”

Brian Critchley, lecturer in employment relations at London Metropolitan University, said:

”One of the more shocking things to come out of this exercise is the total lack of coherence among councils on their policy towards equal pay.

“There appears to be no connection between allocation of resources and potential equal pay liabilities. It seems that some councils would rather defend the status quo than face the inevitable.”

COUNCILS SPENDING IN EXCESS OF £50,000 ON EXTERNAL LEGAL ADVICE/LITIGATION

Sandwell: £1,323,363.99 Coventry: £1,237,870 Cumbria: £869,448.03 (internal £421,300.42) Bury: £607,477.96 Rotherham: £473,689.96 Northumberland: £400,000 Leicester: £392,115.99 (internal £30,919.93) Leeds: £298,648.10 (internal £1,170,151.71) York: £279,802.27 Birmingham: £278,662.80 (internal £916,892)) Gateshead: £263,165.32 (since 2003 only) Cardiff: £216,332 Dudley: £167,142 Hartlepool: £165,788.75 (since 2003 only) Newport City: £138,926.47 Nottingham City Council: £131,653.60 Salford: £101,184.53 Liverpool: £90,478.89 Durham (Derwentside): £90,000

Merthyr Tydfil: £82,446.22 Brighton and Hove: £77,999.78 Flintshire: £76,695.72 Bridgend: £76,420.91 (internally 226.40 hours) Walsall: £72,975.16 (excl VAT) (since 2003) (in-house £81,762.50) Norfolk CC: £62,504.63 (internal £23,145.05) Pembrokeshire: £61,000 (internally estimated £5,250) Ceredigion: £55,184.45 Wolverhampton: £54,353.04 (internal £7,868.52) Southampton: £53,422.83 (plus VAT of £8,887.17) (internal £8,000)

COUNCILS WHO HAVE SPENT THE MOST ON INTERNAL LEGAL ADVICE – ONLY A SMALL MINORITY SUPPLIED AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION)

Leeds: £1,170,151.71 (external £298,648.10) Birmingham City: £916,892 (external £278,662.80) Cumbria: £421,300.42 (external £869,448.03) Oldham: £164,682.30 (external £30,738) Lancashire: £157,320.90 (external £33,618.75) – figures from June 2004 only. Bolton: £100,467.98 (external £40,033.87) Walsall: £81,762.50 (external £72,975.16 (excl VAT)

COUNCILS WHO COULD NOT SUPPLY INFORMATION OR WANTED IN EXCESS OF £450 TO SUPPLY IT

Hackney, Central Bedfordshire, Waltham Forest, Trafford, Warrington, Lewisham, Blackpool, Staffordshire, Caerphilly, Stevenage NO EXTERNAL COSTS

Telford & Wrekin: £8,910.00 (internal) Haringey: £18,860.08 (internal)

NO COSTS AT ALL

East Lindsey District Council, Anglesey County Council, Isle of Wight, Wirral Council, Guildford, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Lincolnshire and Herefordshire

Editor’s notes: In 1997 unions signed a national deal with local authority employers covering more than a million workers to even out disparities in pay and conditions between white collar and blue collar workers and between male and female council employees. Individual councils and unions then attempted to thrash out pay systems to suit their own local circumstances. No government money was made available to fund the new pay arrangements because the incoming Labour Government adopted budgets laid down by the previous Tory administration.

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WMO Whistleblower Awarded Nearly $500,000
UN Weather Office Found to have Harassed, Defamed and Wrongfully Terminated Chief Internal Auditor

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND; 7 October 2009 — in what is believed to be its largest judgment to date in its 64 year existence, the International Labour Office Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) recently ordered the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to pay its former internal auditor Maria do Rosario Veiga nearly USD$500,000 in exemplary, material and moral damages, lost salary and allowances after it found that she was harassed, defamed and wrongfully terminated by the WMO’s Secretary-General Michel Jarraud and/or other WMO officials in the course of performing her statutory audit duties. The ILOAT’s 70 page Judgment N° 2861 can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/veiga-v-WMO .
Ms. Veiga, 49, a Portuguese/Italian national and experienced professional auditor who had worked for WMO for 4 years, and previously more than 5 years for another UN agency, was suddenly fired in November 2006 after she refused to discontinue her investigations into or otherwise cover-up an internal embezzlement scheme in which some USD$3.5 million was stolen by senior WMO officials and used in part to apparently rig the outcome of the 2003 election of the organisation’s chief executive, which election resulted in the appointment of its current Secretary General, Michel Jarraud, a French national, who at the time had been the WMO’s Deputy Secretary-General.
The WMO is a UN specialized agency headquartered in Geneva, and is the co-founder and sponsor of the UN’s global warming body, UNIPCC. In April 2007, nine US Congressmen wrote a letter to the US Comptroller General, demanding that he conduct an investigation into Ms Veiga’s termination as well as her whistleblower claims, citing the US government’s contribution to the WMO of more than USD$10 million over the prior decade. Such request was ignored by the then UN Comptroller General who was interestingly elected to the Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC) of the United Nations later in 2007, and no such investigation ever took place. As of the present date, none of the senior WMO officials responsible for the actions that led to the recent ILOAT award have been sanctioned or punished. Despite wide press coverage of Ms. Veiga’s allegations, and the initiation of a criminal corruption investigation by the Geneva Attorney General, in early 2007 Mr. Jarraud was over-whelmingly elected to another term by the WMO Congress.
In a companion case, Judgment N° 2742, decided in July 2008, the ILOAT awarded Ms. Veiga CHF 79,000, bringing her total award paid by WMO from its public funds to more than USD$ 550,000. As the ILOAT refused to order Ms. Veiga’s reinstatement or otherwise compensate her for lost future earnings, she intends to pursue her rights to be made whole through several companion claims that include a criminal complaint pending against her harassers in Geneva, an alien tort claims act pending before the US Federal Appeals Court of the 2nd Circuit, and a claim before the European Court of Human Rights challenging the WMO’s immunity from Swiss law.

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The Children’s Commissioner for England, established through the Children’s Act 2004, gives a voice to all children and young people – especially the disadvantaged and the vulnerable. Independent of government, it is a critical means of raising the profile of the issues that affect children in England, by championing their interests and bringing their concerns and views into the national arena.Maggie Atkinson has been nominated following a competitive and rigorous selection process, validated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Today, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls is inviting the Children and Families Select Committee to hold a pre-appointment hearing and to report on Maggie Atkinson’s suitability for the post. The Secretary of State will carefully consider the Select Committee’s views. This is in line with new proposals to increase democratic scrutiny of key public appointments.

Editor’s Notes
This press notice relates to ‘England’
1. The Children’s Commissioner’s function is established in the Children’s Act 2004. The first Commissioner, Sir Al Aynsley-Green was appointed by the Secretary of State on 1 March 2005.

2. The Children’s Commissioner is an independent champion of children promoting awareness of their views and interests across all sectors of society, including central government, local government and private industry. 3. Maggie Atkinson has been Director of Children’s Services in Gateshead since 2003. She was President of the ADCS (Association of Directors of Children’s Services) until March 2008, and is currently chair of the National Expert Group on the Children’s Workforce and national chair for the new Centre of Excellence in Outcomes (C4EO). 4. The government’s proposals for pre-appointment hearings are set out in the Governance of Britain White Paper. 5. Pre-appointment scrutiny hearings enable select committees to take evidence from candidates for certain key public appointments before they are appointed. Hearings are in public and involve the select committee publishing a report setting out their views on the candidate’s suitability for the post. Pre-appointment hearings are non-binding but ministers will consider the committee’s views before deciding whether to proceed with the appointment. 6. The Governance of Britain White Paper states that pre-appointment hearings should be held for posts that exercise statutory or other powers in relation to protecting the public’s rights and interests – as well as for posts that play a role in the regulation and administration of the appointments process itself. The list of posts suitable for pre-appointment hearings is published in the government’s Response to the Liaison Committee’s First Special Report of Session 2007-08. (Liaison Committee, First Special Report of Session 2007-08, Pre-appointment hearings by select committees: Government Response, HC 594)Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

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The EU has agreed major changes to the structure of regulatory and supervisory cooperation in Europe to introduce greater integration and coordination between regulators.  Lord Turner said that the success of these proposals will depend upon:

• The ability of the proposed European Systemic Risk Board to develop good quality risk analysis and the “willingness of politicians to take its warning seriously and to countenance potentially unpopular responses”;
• Achieving a commonly agreed and enforced rule book.  This needs a balance between political oversight and delegation to technical experts.  It will require “technicians devoted to good regulation and supervision …. independent of apparent national interests (such as influencing the location of activities)”; and
• A robust process of peer review between different regulators that would include resourcing and supervisory processes.

Lord Turner also warned about the risks that remain for host countries from cross-border banking business.  The structures for cross-border business need to recognise the national interests of the host country.  Host states should have the right to receive prudential information about entire groups and should be given powers to restrict the activities of branches where prudential weaknesses are not being adequately addressed by the firm or its home supervisor.

The full text of the speech can be found on the FSA website.

Notes for editors

1. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and fighting financial crime.

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“This is a bureaucratic way to take money from taxpayers and give to the big polluters without much environmental benefit, Green Party Climate Change Spokesperson said today.

With the support of the Maori Party, the Government has proposed sweeping changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme. These include an extension of free allocations to industry and agriculture all the way out to 2050.

“We will be committed to big handouts to big polluters for the next 40 years, in exchange for a few small concessions in the short term.

“The Maori Party used to say that the polluter should pay and now they say that polluters should get paid − when will they stand up for what they believe in?”

“There are better ways than the proposed scheme to help low-income households − like a home insulation scheme or better buses and trains,” Ms Fitzsimons said.

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Many of these new business partnerships demonstrate UK capacity in low carbon business solutions, which will benefit British businesses while helping China meet its tough environment and energy efficiency targets.

Addressing a low carbon business solutions forum organised by UK Trade & Investment in Beijing on 8 September, Lord Mandelson said:

“Across the board, the UK can offer the knowledge, technology and experience to help our two economies de-carbonise. The UK has world-class climate change research institutions and consultancy services in carbon measurement and management. Our architects and engineers are creating designs for the low-carbon cities of the future”.

He later added:

“Pilkington, Greens Power, Zed Factory and The Carbon Trust are examples of outstanding UK companies working with advanced and low carbon technology. These new contracts not only demonstrate the strength of economic ties between the UK China, but also our shared commitment for developing a low carbon economy”.

As well as emphasising business to business collaboration, Lord Mandelson signed with the Mayor of Changsha, home to six million people in China’s Hunan province, a bilateral governmental agreement establishing Changsha as the third “Sustainable City”, alongside Wuhan and Chongqing. UK companies are well positioned to win business opportunities arising from the launch of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster project by Hunan government with an initial investment of 70bn RMB (£5.5bn) on 134 key projects.

In Beijing Lord Mandelson also argued for greater access for UK goods and services suppliers to China’s rapidly developing domestic markets. He was delighted to receive confirmation from the Chinese government that regulators are in the final process of approving a new business combination of Bank of China, Standard Life and Tianjin Economic & Development Area.

In Shanghai Lord Mandelson also attended the groundbreaking ceremony for AstraZeneca’s new US$100m Innovation Centre China in Zhangjang Hi-Tech Park – one of three flagship R&D projects by major UK companies in Shanghai, along with GSK and Unilever.
Notes to editors

The following contracts, agreements and investments were made during Lord Mandelson’s visit to China:

Carbon Trust

£10m Joint Venture with China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC) for the creation of a “Foreign Invested Venture Capital Enterprise” introducing low carbon technology companies from UK to China.

Pilkington Group Limited

Pilkington Group Limited and Shanghai Yaohua Pilkington signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the installation of a second on line coating facility for the mass production of energy saving glass at a newly constructed float glass plant in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. Value estimated at Euro 35m. Each coating line will produce enough glass which when installed would save up to 120,000t of CO2 emissions per year.

Tesco

Signing of two mall projects in Nanjing and Qingdao. The Nanjing project is with Qinhua District government with gross floor area of 133,915 square metres and is due to open in Dec 2011. The signing with the ShanDong SaiSai Group is to develop its first multi-level freehold shopping centre in China. The 73,800sqm mall, due to open in the SiFang District of Qingdao by the end of 2009 will be anchored by a Tesco Legou hypermarket and bring with it 1,000 new jobs and 219 tenant units Estimate value for the two projects is £100m.

ZED

The contract between ZED and Himin is a joint development matching UK design excellence and China’s renewable products. Himin is the largest solar thermal manufacturer in China. Their main products include Solar PV and solar thermal tubes. The contract between ZED, CBEX and Jilin Food Group (second largest food producer in China) to explore solutions for climate change in building sector on a 36 square kilometre development in Hainan Province in south China. The carbon saved in this scheme will be traded in ZED-CBEX carbon scheme. There were also two further framework signings with Vanke and Huangming to develop low carbon buildings and integration of products.

Greens Energy Environmental (Baicheng) Ltd

A purchasing memorandum of agreement signed between Greens Energy Environmental (Baicheng) Ltd. and Xing Jiang International Coal Coking Co., Ltd. to build and operate their waste heat power generation Project from 2009 to through to 2015 to the value of RMB 98 million. The installed capacity of the Xinjiang Project is 30M. The power station will generate electricity 0.18 billion KW/year.

Greens Power Equipment (China) Co., Ltd

Purchasing memorandum of agreement between Greens Power Equipment (China) Co., Ltd. and Chong Qing Zhong Jie Neng San Feng Energy Co., Ltd. to supply 2 units 90t/h waste heat boiler of the CCPP-CDQ Waste Heat Power Generation project of the Zhong Gang Chang Shou New Park through to November 2009 to the value of RMB14.88 million

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd

A £25m Framework Heads of Agreement to be signed between Beijing Landview Mapping Information Technology Co., Ltd. from Beijing and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd for a new satellite to form part of the international Disaster Monitoring Constellation.

Bridge of Weir

Launch of joint venture company Zibo Polygrace Bridge of Weir Leather Company Ltd. which will offer specialist seating leather to the automotive industry in China. US$3 million dollars has been invested in state-of-the-art automotive leather finishing, testing & cutting facilities, which will allow the company to increase its share of the Chinese market. Bridge of Weir already exports its specialist quality upholstery leather to over 30 countries worldwide.

AstraZeneca

Re-announcement of AstraZeneca’s US$100 million innovation facility at Zhangjiang, Shanghai. The site brings together AstraZeneca’s China headquarters, R&D facilities for clinical and pre-clinical trails and will house the AstraZeneca academy.

Henley Business School

Henley Business School and the prestigious China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP) have reached an agreement to undertake joint academic research with a view to producing a series of China-based case studies.

New Chinese Investments in UK

China Union Pay – agreement with Link to allow all CUP cardholders (there are 1.8 billion cards in circulation) to access UK Automated Teller Machines.

Soundking – Soundking is an audio manufacturer with the largest R&D base in China and an excellent example of the new wave of Chinese Companies establishing a presence in the UK. The company has acquired 3 UK SMES and safeguarded 40 jobs to date. Expansion plans may create 80-100 jobs by 2010.

Bosideng – one of the largest clothes manufacturers in China, have acquired Yorkshire based Men’s retailers, Greenwood, safeguarding 600 jobs and keeping 90 stores across Northern England open. Bosideng have ambitious £40m expansion plans to open a further 100 stores across the UK by 2015.

Huawei Technologies UK – one of China’s largest investors in the UK has added a Bristol office to operations in Basingstoke, Slough and Ipswich (R&D) to manage a substantial contract with Orange. Huawei now employ over 400 people in the UK and have contracts with all major mobile providers and BT.

Golden Meditech – has acquired two companies providing traditional Chinese medicine through nearly 40 clinics in the UK. Safeguarding over 100 jobs they have ambitious plans to expand throughout Europe from the UK to up to 200 clinics within 5 years and turning over more than £20 million per year.

Changyou.com – a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s largest website company, Sohu, has recently set up their European HQ in London.

About UK Trade & Investment

UK Trade & Investment is the government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy. We also help overseas companies bring their high quality investment to the UK’s dynamic economy – acknowledged as Europe’s best place from which to succeed in global business. UK Trade & Investment offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. We provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage.

For the latest press releases from UK Trade & Investment register on our on-line newsroom www.newsroom.uktradeinvest.gov.uk.

Contacts:

Caoimhe Buckley, Head of Press & Public Affairs

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7215 8394

Email: caoimhe.buckley@ukti.gsi.gov.uk

James Clements, Press Officer

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7215 2491

Email: james.clements@ukti.gsi.gov.uk

Contacts

NDS Enquiries
Phone: For enquiries please contact the above department
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk

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The New Zealand Defence Force has made real progress solving the people number worries that have dominated its performance in recent years, its latest Annual Report reveals.

The report shows that as at 30 June 2009, NZDF’s Regular Force numbers were at a ten year high, while attrition – the rate at which people were leaving the organisation – was at a 10-year low. At the end of the reporting period there were a total of 14,612 regular force, reservists and civilians in the Defence Force – up by 723 on 2008. Regular Force numbers were at 9,702, up by 424.

The Chief of Defence Force Lt Gen Jerry Mateparae draws special attention to this turnaround in his overview in the Annual Report: “Recruitment and retention have been critical issues for the NZDF as we have sustained overseas deployments and prepared for future operations,” he says. “With the tighter economic conditions in New Zealand, combined with innovative recruitment and retention strategies that the NZDF has implemented, growing the NZDF is looking more promising.

“Fewer people are choosing to leave the NZDF. This assists us in addressing relative inexperience levels, which remain low in certain operational and technical trades, and it is recognised that it will take time before these levels can be fully restored.”

Total personnel numbers have increased in all three Services (Navy, Army and Air Force). Initiatives have included the introduction of the new military remuneration system in 2008 that linked military pay to equivalent professions in the wider community, use of reserves, lateral recruitment and reviewing trade structures.

Lt Gen Mateparae also makes mention of the progress of major equipment upgrades across the three Services. Notable successes during the year have included the delivery of the inshore patrol vessels for the Navy, the completion of the upgrade for the Air Forces two Boeing 757 transport aircraft, and the acquisition of night vision equipment, new weapons sights and communications equipment for the Army. Nonetheless, some delays have been frustrating.

“Overall, the modernisation of the NZDF’s equipment is a huge step forward for the Services,” he says.

Lt Gen Mateparae draws special attention to the level of overseas commitments the NZDF has sustained over the past year, at a higher level than was planned for, and during a period of planned “restoration” for the Defence Force. Major missions continued in the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, the Sinai, and Antarctica.

“The contribution that the NZDF is making to New Zealand’s strategic interests and foreign policy goals is reflected in our high operational tempo.”

ENDS

Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz

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Premier Wen praised “the tremendous contribution made by Lord Mandelson in strengthening and deepening EU-China and UK-China relations over many years.”

The meeting was very friendly and warm and focused on a number of areas including strengthening co-ordination between the UK and China ahead of the forthcoming G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

Both sides agreed on the need to keep markets open and resist any temptation to erect barriers to free trade. They were very clear that protectionism was not in the world’s interest and agreed on the enormous importance of concluding the Doha world trade talks as soon as possible.

Lord Mandelson, who was accompanied to the meeting by a British business delegation which has been with him throughout his visit to China, also stressed the importance of further work to allow companies to list and invest on each other’s Stock Exchanges.

Lord Mandelson and Premier Wen were united on deepening and strengthening co-operation between their two countries, Premier Wen recognising that China now invested more in the UK than in any other European economy and that Britain invested more in China than any other European country.

On climate change Lord Mandelson urged greater co-operation given the importance of December’s Copenhagen Climate Change Summit and the business opportunities which flow from the production of green technologies and goods. He also urged China to agree a carbon emissions target. Premier Wen said China would work hard for success at Copenhagen.

In the context of EU-China relations both regretted the lack of progress in relation to Market Economy Status (MES).
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)

is building a dynamic and competitive UK economy by: creating the conditions for business success; promoting innovation, enterprise and science; and giving everyone the skills and opportunities to succeed. To achieve this it will foster world-class universities and promote an open global economy. BIS – Investing in our future.
Contacts

NDS Enquiries
Phone: For enquiries please contact the above department
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk

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“MMP has delivered representative democracy to New Zealand. It is a modern, fair system which is under attack from small, right wing groups that want to see a return to the 1980s,” said Green Party Co-Leader Metiria Turei.

“People can be proud of our current democracy. More women are represented in Parliament and it has increased representation for Maori, Asian and Pasifika communities. It allows a wide range of views to be heard in Parliament.”

The Government has indicated that it is likely a referendum on MMP will be held on or before the next election.

“MMP works. It has delivered Kiwibank, paid parental leave and home insulation. These types of initiatives would not have happened without MMP.

“The Government needs to review, with full public consultation, how MMP is working before it spends millions of dollars on a referendum. A good independent review would help New Zealand voters make an informed decision about what voting system is best.

“MMP helps to keep Government honest. New Zealanders deserve a modern democratic system that is fair for everyone,” said Mrs Turei.

For more information on MMP visit: http://www.elections.org.nz/voting/mmp/

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