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Written Ministerial Statements

Wednesday 5 May 2004

HOME DEPARTMENT

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Probation

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Blunkett): Today I am delighted to announce that Her Majesty the Queen has approved the appointment of Andrew Bridges as HM Chief Inspector of Probation. Mr. Bridges' appointment will be for an initial period of 12 months. Through their expertise and rigour of approach the probation inspectorate have provided a major contribution to the national probation service. I am confident that Andrew Bridges will continue that tradition and that he will play a key role in monitoring the National Offender Management Service.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. John Spellar): The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is a key institution of the Belfast agreement. We in Government want it to succeed and are committed to helping it to do so. It is in all our interests that we have a strong, independent and self-confident Commission, which draws support from all parts of the community. It is from this position that we are approaching the coming year.

We have listened to the criticism of the Human Rights Commission. We have also listened to the other side, those who see the Commission doing the best job it can in difficult circumstances. We have thought carefully about the issues and how to address them.

We will shortly begin a process to recruit a new chief commissioner and a full set of commissioners to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. We expect the process to take some months, with the new chief commissioner and commissioners being announced in the autumn. We propose to invite a number of those commissioners to take office soon after appointment. We will do this after discussion with the chief commissioner-designate, who will also be invited to join early. He or she will not become chief commissioner until the end of Brice Dickson's appointment. The remainder of the incoming commissioners will take office on 28 February 2005, at which point those who have served two terms will leave.

We will begin this process shortly. In the meantime we will be working on the details of the process. We will use search consultants. An independent assessor will be involved throughout and there will be a human rights expert, alongside the independent assessor, on the panel that interviews candidates.
 
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This does not mean that the current Commission is winding down. Far from it. They have a great deal still to achieve.

From the outset, each commissioner has played an important role in promoting a culture of rights in Northern Ireland. They will leave behind an impressive body of work which I believe history will judge kindly. They have served in the best interests of all the people of Northern Ireland, at times under great pressure. For this, they deserve our gratitude and our support in their ongoing work.

For our part, the Government remain committed to establishing a broadly-based forum on the Bill of Rights. We will engage the political parties in a renewed effort to build consensus to this end.

We understand there is much detail behind these proposals which people will want to discuss. I will be inviting the parties to put forward their views. I am clear that these discussions must respect the terms of the Belfast agreement and the independence of the Commission. In this context, we will also conclude the review of the Commission's powers.

I would urge all parts of the community to work with us over the coming year. There are significant opportunities ahead to build on the great progress we have seen since in the field of rights since the Belfast agreement was reached in 1998. It is imperative that all parts of the community take those opportunities and everyone receives the same benefits.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Humanitarian Response in Darfur

The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn): The Government are gravely concerned about the situation in Darfur, Western Sudan. The UN estimates that the fighting has led to the internal displacement of over 750,000 people, with about 130,000 refugees sheltering in Chad. The civilian population is in a precarious state. Humanitarian requirements for food, water and shelter are enormous, but access remains limited. Civilian protection is a major concern with reports of systematic attacks on civilians, including killings, rape, pillage and destruction of livelihoods. The approaching rainy season, due to start in mid-May, will add to the problems, increasing the risk of epidemics and hindering the movement of relief supplies.

The humanitarian ceasefire agreement, signed on 8 April, is a welcome step forward in resolving the crisis in Darfur. The parties must now live up to those commitments and allow international monitoring with full access to the areas and people affected.

James Morris, Head of the World Food Programme, has just returned from a mission to Sudan. I met him on 4 May and discussed the grave humanitarian situation and the need for the international community to do more.
 
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I have therefore today agreed an additional £10 million from our contingency reserve for the continuing and severe humanitarian needs in Darfur. This will bring total UK commitments for Darfur to £19.5 million. The UK is the second biggest donor to the Darfur crisis, after the US. Additional information on the UK response to date is set out as follows:

October–December 2003

Early assistance for organisations with some access (albeit very limited and variable) to Darfur:

Assistance to refugees in Eastern Chad:

January–March 2004

Following partial opening up of Darfur for humanitarian agencies, support to meet basic needs of affected population:

Additional assistance to refugees in Eastern Chad:

Support to UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs to improve its co-ordination and assessment capacity in response to the crisis:

April 2004 onwards


 
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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Water Pollution

The Minister for the Environment (Mr. Elliot Morley): The Chancellor confirmed in his pre-Budget report that we would be launching a consultation on developing measures to address diffuse water pollution from agriculture in the early part of this year.

The synergies between agriculture and environment are key to sustainable development. Given our desire to gain maximum value from a wide-ranging consultation on how best to both increase the sustainability of English agriculture and ensure it plays its part in making water in England as clean and as healthy as practicable, we will now be publishing this consultation on 17 June.

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