Deputy Premier Derrick Burgess is to attend the 2011 Conservative Party Conference in the UK next week.The Public Works Minister and his permanent secretary, Robert Horton, will leave the Island on Sunday for the Manchester conference.The pair will return on Wednesday.Staff in Bermuda’s London Office will accompany them to the event.Said a Government spokesman: “The Conservative Party Conference is an opportunity for key stakeholders to understand how Conservative Ministers are developing policies of the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition Government, for the future of the United Kingdom.“It is essential for Bermuda as a British Overseas Territory to engage with Conservative Ministers, MPs and MEPs within the coalition Government, to ensure that Bermuda maintains dialogue with policy and decision makers of the UK.”The UK Government recently a White Paper on the Overseas Territories was forthcoming.Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague told the UK Parliament last month: “Our strategy is to ensure the constitutional arrangements work effectively to promote the best interests of the territories and of the UK. We are therefore focusing on three practical policy goals:n to strengthen the engagement and interaction between the UK and the territories;n to work with territories to strengthen good governance arrangements, public financial management and economic planning where this is necessary;n to improve the quality and range of support available to the territories.”Mr Burgess will host “a conversational breakfast” on Monday that will focus on “Bermuda’s relationship with Britain, infrastructure, economy and our future”.He will also host a cocktail party in an effort to “engage with key stakeholders of the Conservative Party who have an interest in Bermuda and the relationship with the British Overseas Territories”.