| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Nov 2005 : Column 1362W—continued
UN Convention Against Corruption
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the timetable is for British ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption; what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Parliament in relation to corresponding orders; and if he will make a statement. [24635]
Ian Pearson: The Government hope to be in a position to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption by the end of this year. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not held any discussions with the Scottish Parliament.
Zimbabwe
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on President Mugabe's Operation Murambatsvina. [23616]
Ian Pearson:
Since my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's written statement of 14 June 2005, Official Report, columns 8–9WS, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Anna Tibaijuka, has visited Zimbabwe to examine the effects of Operation Murambatsvina.
3 Nov 2005 : Column 1363W
Her report provided a damning indictment of the inhumanity of the Mugabe Government. We supported discussion of her report in the Security Council in July and October. The Foreign Secretary also drew attention to her findings, and to the need for action, in his speech to the UN General Assembly in September. We deplore the Government of Zimbabwe's rejection of the Special Envoy's report and we are concerned at the continuation of policies that exacerbate the suffering of those affected. We will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to help the victims of this policy and, together with our international partners, press the Government of Zimbabwe to reverse its policies so that they address, rather than worsen, the humanitarian situation of its people.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Antisocial Behaviour
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place to tackle antisocial behaviour by tenants in the private rented sector. [24070]
Mr. Hanson: The procedure for evicting a private sector tenant who is guilty of antisocial behaviour can be initiated at relatively short notice under the notice to quit procedure. Where the tenant's own landlord is unwilling to take action, the Housing Executive, registered housing associations and private sector landlords can seek injunctions to protect their tenants, persons visiting their tenants and persons carrying out a lawful activity in the vicinity of their tenants' homes, from conduct causing or likely to cause nuisance or annoyance. A landlord can seek such an injunction against any person, including a tenant of another landlord.
In addition, the Anti-social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 allows the Housing Executive to seek antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) to protect its tenants, persons visiting or residing with their tenants, and persons in or likely to be in the vicinity of the executive's houses, from behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. The Housing Executive can apply for an ASBO against any person, including a private sector tenant.
Benefit Appeals
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful appeals were made in Northern Ireland against decisions on (i) disability and (ii) sickness benefits in each year since 1998. [24182]
Mr. Hanson:
Due to the archiving facility within the computerised management information system operating within the appeal service, it is not possible to obtain the requested information for the 1998 and 1999 years. The information has therefore been provided for each full calendar year from 2000 onwards.
3 Nov 2005 : Column 1364W
Prior to April 2004, each component (care and mobility) of disability living allowance was counted as a separate appeal. This practice changed from 1 April 2004, when a disability living allowance appeal was counted as one appeal, regardless of the number of components involved. The decrease in disability appeal outcomes for during 2004 reflects this change.
Carbon Management Programme
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department will sign up to the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management programme. [23729]
Mr. Hain: As part of its sustainable development strategy the NIO has a comprehensive programme to control and manage its energy consumption and to reduce carbon emissions. The department adheres to the Government's sustainable energy policy and reports through the public sector energy campaign. The Department will continue to access services of the Carbon Trust to support its energy improvement campaign under the existing arrangements.
This answer only applies to the Northern Ireland Office and not to the 11 departments of the Northern Ireland administration.
Civil Service
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many permanent Northern Ireland civil servants have been demoted in each of the last 10 years; how many of these have been voluntarily demoted; and what the respective (a) grades and (b) branches of the officers were (i) before and (ii) after demotion. [18918]
Angela E. Smith: In the Northern Ireland Civil Service demotions may fall into two categories—one requested by the individual officer and the second as a result of an individual's inefficiency at the present grade or as the consequence of disciplinary action.
A table setting out the total number of Northern Ireland Civil Servants demoted and also voluntarily demoted for each year from January 1996 to 2005 to date, can be found at Table 1.
Table 2 shows for each year aggregate demotions by grade and whether or not there was a change of branch after demotion. To protect the identity of individual members of staff concerned branches before and after demotion have not been provided.
3 Nov 2005 : Column 1365W
Glossary of Grades:
AA : Administrative Assistant
AO : Administrative Officer
ASO: Assistant Scientific Officer
DP: Deputy Principal
EO: Executive Officer
HPTO: Higher Professional and Technical Officer
PTO: Professional and Technical Officer
SGB: Support Grade Band
SM: Support Manager
SO: Staff Officer
SSO: Social Security Officer
3 Nov 2005 : Column 1366W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |