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7 Mar 2006 : Column 1371W—continued
Post-mortems
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many decisions to hold a coroner's post-mortem have resulted in delays to the release of bodies to (a) Jewish, (b) Muslim and (c) Hindu families living in (i) Barnet and (ii) London such that funerals have not been possible within 24 hours in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [55170]
Ms Harman: This information is not available.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that coroner's post-mortems do not result in delays in releasing bodies to families of faiths which require funerals to be held within 24 hours of death; and if she will make a statement. [55171]
Ms Harman: For a number of reasons it will not always be possible to authorise the release within 24 hours of the death. The body of a homicide victim may, for example, require forensic analysis. Early release will also depend on the availability of pathologists to conduct post-mortem examinations. But coroners fully appreciate the need to release bodies quickly following a coroner's post-mortem examination, and are particularly sensitive to the requirements of faith groups.
True North Project
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the True North project is still under way; and what the total spend on the project has been to date. [55295]
Mr. Jim Murphy:
I have been asked to reply.
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The True North project was run by the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 December 2005, Official Report, column 2057W.
Voter Registration
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to increase voter registration. [55989]
Ms Harman: The Electoral Administration Bill takes forward a number of measures to improve voter registration, including a new duty on registration officers specifying the steps that they must take to ensure comprehensive registers and moving back the deadline for registering until after an election has been called (until 11 days before polling day). The Bill also includes a power for returning officers to encourage participation in elections, to promote current best practice already undertaken by some local authorities in this area.
The Government are actively working with electoral registration officers and community groups to increase awareness on the voter registration in UK and working closely with stakeholders on improving the annual canvass form by making it clearer, simpler and easy to understand.
The Government have embarked on a number of initiatives, such as the 1824 Collective" campaign to promote awareness of voter registration amongst London's urban youth".
Vulnerable Witnesses
Mark Tami: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what measures she has put in place to assist vulnerable witnesses in the family and civil courts. [53823]
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Ms Harman: In family and civil cases, the main witness is usually the victim/a party to the proceedings and, therefore, is already known to the alleged perpetrator.
Family courts have wide powers when hearing cases where they consider a victim may be vulnerable or scared. For example: hearings are usually conducted in private and wigs and gowns are not worn; cases are not heard or decided by juries but by family judiciary who have been specially trained to deal with these sensitive cases; when a hearing date is set the victim and his/her legal representative should be advised of any special facilities that are available at that court such as separate entrances/exits or private waiting rooms; in cases of domestic or sexual abuse the court may help the giving of evidence with the use of screens and/or video links. We are also examining the benefits of specialist domestic violence courts where civil and criminal aspects of domestic violence cases will be heard in one court. This should also make the availability of special measures more readily available across the jurisdictions.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Afghanistan/Iraq
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Department is taking to improve the living standards and infrastructure of (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan. [54762]
Hilary Benn: The UK Government have pledged a total of £544 million for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance to Iraq from 2003 until 2006, and has disbursed over £460 million. DFID's contribution to this has been £300 million. Our programme focuses on:
To date, we have pledged £72 million for infrastructure support projects in the south, of which £44 million has already been spent. Our assistance is directed at improving power and water supplies, which will raise living standards for ordinary Iraqis as well as providing the necessary infrastructure to support business and economic growth. In the power sector, we have repaired transmission lines from Hartha power station to Basra city, securing electricity supplies for 1.5 million residents; we will improve power distribution to 13 areas of Basra (nine areas completed); and we have projects in progress which will add or secure 270MW generation capacity throughout southern Iraq. In the water sector we have repaired over 5,000 leaks, and have provided technical advice for sewage installation in Al Amarah—providing up to half the city's population with access to a piped system and replacing open sewage channels. We are building water towers and reservoirs to provide clean water for 250,000 of the poorest people in Basra, and we are constructing a water training centre which will train 2,000 water officials and engineers from across the south.
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The Iraqi people will ultimately depend on their own Government to improve living standards, and to maintain and develop the country's infrastructure. To help the Government rise to this challenge, DFID is providing the following assistance:
Support to the Government's macro-economic reform programme, in order to generate growth, reduce poverty and improve living standards. This includes helping Iraq to meet its IMF obligations.
Building the capacity of key central government offices, including the Prime Minister's office, to manage Government business effectively.
Strengthening institutional capacity, and supporting private sector growth, in the four southern governorates.
We are also supporting living standards in Iraq through the £70 million contribution we made to the United Nations and World Bank Trust Funds in 2004, which includes support to essential services such as health and education.
The rebuilding of Afghanistan cannot be achieved without significant investments in infrastructure, but given the scale of resources required, and the importance of donors working to their respective comparative advantages, we believe other donors are better placed to make these investments. The USA, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan in particular are investing in Afghanistan's infrastructure sector. A component of DFID's livelihoods work does however include support for small scale rural infrastructure through funding to the National Solidarity programme (£9 million in 2005–06) and the National Emergency Employment programme (£18 million in 2005–06).
The National Solidarity programme is implementing 8,709 community projects in 33 provinces including 3,779 water and irrigation related projects; 1,740 electricity and generator related projects; and 1,740 roads, bridges, culverts and other transportation related projects. Through the National Emergency Employment programme around 6,000 km of rural roads have been rehabilitated and/or constructed, including 11,000 running metres of structures (e.g. culverts, bridges).
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of progress towards the post-conflict reconstruction of Iraq. [55324]
Hilary Benn: The Government of Iraq, together with the UK and other donors, has made significant progress with reconstruction since 2003; but there is still a long way to go. Once a relatively wealthy country with high levels of education and healthcare, by 2003 Iraq had suffered more than 20 years of conflict, mismanagement and chronic under-investment from a brutal regime. The 2003 conflict, and the high levels of insecurity that have followed it, have exacerbated, not created, the need for reconstruction in Iraq.
Continued violence, especially sabotage directed at infrastructure, and low (but growing) levels of management capacity in Iraq's national and local Government have slowed progress. However, reconstruction has continued and much has been achieved:
In December 2005, the Iraqi people voted in democratic elections, putting in place a Council of Representatives for the next four years.
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The economy has rebounded quickly; Iraq's GDP is projected at $29.3 billion in 2005, up from $18.4 billion in 2002. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Iraq's economy to grow by 10.4 percent. in 2006. With help from donors, including DFID, the interim Government negotiated an emergency post-conflict agreement with the IMF, paving the way for the Paris Club debt reduction deal. In December 2005 Iraq secured a stand-by arrangement with the IMF, which provides an IMF-supported economic reform programme over the next 18 months.
Iraq's infrastructure was badly maintained and underinvested in during the 1990s. Things are slowly improving. Over 4 million more Iraqis have access to potable water than before the conflict; 9.6 million more have access to a sewerage system. More than US$3.5 billion has been spent on electricity, but the gains in generating capacity have been off-set by continued sabotage, inadequate fuel supplies, a lack of Iraqi capacity to operate and maintain the new systems, and continuing failure of old infrastructure. Current generation averages 4,037MW, compared to 4,300MW pre-conflict and 2,500MW immediately post-conflict.
Iraq's health and education services are being restored. More than 50,000 teachers and healthcare professionals have been trained. 3,757 schools have been rehabilitated, and a further 432 are in progress. Hundreds of healthcare facilities have been rehabilitated and a new paediatric hospital in Basra is being built. Through extensive disease control programmes, there has been a decline in the prevalence of polio, measles, leishmaniasis, mumps, rubella, and malaria.
Media and civil society is flourishing. 250 newspapers and magazines have been launched since the fall of the regime, and new, independent radio and TV stations are now up and running. 2,500 Iraqi NGOs are now registered with the Iraqi Government.
DFID is committed to supporting Iraq's reconstruction progress. Our programme focuses on:
Building the capacity of local and national Government to manage Government business and deliver services effectively
Supporting the Government's macro-economic reform programme which will help to generate growth and reduce poverty
Helping the poor and marginalised to participate in the political process, and supporting the development of Iraqi civil society
Our contribution of £70 million to the UN and World Bank Trust Funds, made in 2004, is also helping to finance reconstruction work in other areas, with a particular focus on health and education.
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