| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
18 May 2006 : Column 1184W—continued
that the body or office was established by virtue of Her Majesty’s prerogative, by an enactment or subordinate legislation, or in any other way by a Minister of the Crown, a government department, or the National Assembly for Wales;
that the body or office is wholly or partly constituted by appointment made by the Crown, a Minister, a government department or the National Assembly for Wales.
In drawing up this Schedule, departments were asked to identify the bodies for which they were responsible which met these criteria. Many of these were already to be found in Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1976 (as amended), and hence were already subject to the non-statutory Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
The Secretary of State has a discretionary power to amend Parts 6 and 7 of the Schedule to add new bodies and offices which meet the necessary criteria, and remove references to bodies which have ceased to do so, or which no longer exist. Amending Orders of this kind are made annually.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the timetable is for the Secretary of State’s review of the bodies covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [70607]
Vera Baird: Bodies covered by the Act are listed in Schedule 1 to the Act. The list can be amended by Order under section 4 of the Act.
Orders are made annually to ensure that the Schedule is up to date by adding references to new bodies which meet the necessary criteria for inclusion, and removing references to bodies which have ceased to exist, or which no longer meet the criteria.
New bodies created by statute are also frequently added to the Schedule by the same legislation which created the body.
The Secretary of State also has a discretionary power under section 5 of the Act to designate as public authorities those private organisations which appear to him to be performing functions of a public nature.
The Secretary of State has taken the view that it would be most appropriate to learn the lessons of FOI implementation in the public sector before extending application of the Act to private bodies in this way.
Human Rights
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the operation in England and Wales of (a) Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and (b) Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966. [72034]
Vera Baird: Neither the Universal Declaration of Human Rights nor the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has direct legal effect in the United Kingdom. However, the right to life is protected by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the abolition of the death penalty has been most recently confirmed by the Thirteenth Protocol to the Convention. These are both given further effect in the United Kingdom by the Human Rights Act 1998.
Legal Aid
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total cost of legal aid for supporting prisoners appealing parole board decisions was in each of the last five years. [69743]
Vera Baird: The total cost of legal aid for supporting prisoners appealing parole board decisions in each of the last five years was as follows:
| £ | |
| (1) During the first year of contracting (2001-02) cases were also paid under the previous regime for residual work. Such expenditure is not included in the figures, as it cannot be separately identified. |
National Security Appeals Panel
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether any decisions of the National Security Appeals Panel under section 28 of the Data Protection Act 1998 have been the subject of judicial review; and if she will make a statement. [69797]
Vera Baird: One decision on the National Security Appeals Panel under Section 28 of the Data Protection Act 1998 is subject to a Judicial Review. The proceedings are subject to a Court Order which provides that
“no information is to be given to anyone who is not a party to these proceedings which may identify the parties to or the subject matter of the claim without the leave of a judge.”
Portland PR
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what meetings officials in her Department have had with representatives of the public relations company Portland PR; what contracts Portland PR has with her Department and agencies for which she has responsibility; and what the nature of the contract is in each case. [70044]
Vera Baird: My Department does not maintain a central list of such meetings. Civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and business delivery. All such meetings are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Code and Guidance for civil servants on contacts with lobbyists and people outside Government.
Neither DCA nor its agencies has any contracts with Portland PR.
Repossessions
Mr. Spring: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in West Suffolk in each of the past five years. [69815]
Ms Harman: Although figures for the West Suffolk constituency are not available, the table shows the number of mortgage possession orders made at Bury St. Edmunds county court in the last five years. This is the only such court in the West Suffolk constituency area.
The civil procedure rules provide that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, Bury St. Edmunds county court covers areas other than West Suffolk and therefore not all possession actions entered in that court necessarily relate to the West Suffolk area.
These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts, since not all the orders will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession.
| Number of mortgage( 1) possession orders made at Bury St. Edmunds county court, 2001-05 | |
| Possession orders made | |
| 1 Local authority and private (2) The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. |
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in Tamworth constituency in each of the past five years. [71222]
Ms Harman: The following table shows the number of mortgage possession orders made at Tamworth county court in the last five years.
The civil procedure rules provide that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, Tamworth county court covers areas other than Tamworth itself, and therefore not all possession actions entered in that court necessarily relate to the Tamworth constituency.
These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts, since not all the orders will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession.
| Number of mortgage( 1) possession orders made at Tamworth county court, 2001-05 | |
| Possession orders made( 2) | |
| (1) Local authority and private (2 )The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply fora warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. |
International Development
Departmental Advertising
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on advertising by his Department in each of the last three years. [70505]
Mr. Thomas: DFID does not hold a separate advertising budget; the majority of advertising relates to recruitment advertising in newspapers and journals; for the last three calendar years 2003-05 this was as follows:
| £ | |
DFID does not directly fund advertising by non-departmental public bodies, Executive agencies or independent statutory bodies. Figures for 2006 have yet to be finalised.
Departmental Budget
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the budget for his Department remained unspent in the last financial year. [70502]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development forecasts an under spend for the financial year 2005-06 of £79.879 million from a budget of £4,567.823 million. This is a provisional figure based on the estimated outturn data published in the annual report; the final under spend is likely to be significantly lower.
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the effects on (a) the delivery of the UK's humanitarian aid programme and (b) UK emergency preparedness of the Respond Programme within the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative; and if he will make a statement. [71043]
Mr. Thomas: DFID has found that the Respond Programme has made a useful contribution to map information and therefore to humanitarian response, specifically in the Pakistan earthquake and generally in global disaster monitoring.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has the policy lead for the Government on the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative (GMES). DEFRA takes a close interest in all aspects of GMES, including the Respond Programme, and will continue to engage with it and with the European Commission, the European Space Agency and other UK Government Departments.
Legislation
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what amendments have been made to the International Development Act 2002. [70374]
Hilary Benn: A number of amendments have been made to the International Development Act 2002.
Section 9, Subsection (4) has been amended as follows: in para (b) the words “other than the National Assembly for Wales” in square brackets were inserted by SI 2005/3225, art 6(2), Sch 2, Pt 1, para 6(1).
Schedule 1 has been amended as follows:
Entry “Health Protection Agency” was inserted by the Health Protection Agency Act 2004, s 11(1), Sch 3, para 16
Entry “An NHS foundation trust” was inserted by the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards)Act 2003, s 34, Sch 4, paras 121, 122.
Entry “Public Health Laboratory Service Board” (omitted) was repealed by the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, ss 190(2), 196, Sch 13,para 11, Sch 14, Pt 7.
Entry “A Strategic Health Authority” was inserted by SI 2002/2469, reg 4, Sch 1, Pt 1, para 31.
Entry “The National Assembly for Wales” was substitutedfor entry “Wales Tourist Board” as originally enacted, bySI 2005/3225, art 6(2), Sch 2, Pt 1, para 6(2).
Schedule 3 has been amended as follows:
Para 3: sub-para (3) was repealed by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, s 174(2), Sch 17, Pt 2;
Para 10 was repealed by the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, s 724(1), Sch 8, Pt1;
Para 11: sub-para (3) was repealed by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, s 174(2), Sch 17, Pt 2;
Para 12: sub-para (3) was repealed by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, s 174(2), Sch 17, Pt 2.
Maternal Health
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what steps are being taken by his Department to improve its performance on maternal health; [68165]
(2) if he will make maternal health a tracker for his Department to monitor its progress in supporting health systems in developing countries. [68167]
Mr. Thomas: DFID’s approach to improving maternal health is outlined in our 2004 strategy document “Reducing maternal deaths: evidence and action: First Progress Report”. This sets out four priority areas for supporting better maternal health; specifically advocacy, scaling-up and improving services, helping remove barriers to access, and research to develop better technologies and policies.
We have recently reviewed our performance; copies of our Progress Report have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses. The report notes that DFID spending on reducing maternal mortality (together with reproductive health services) has increased by 41.3 per cent. over the past three years, and we are committed to continuing to increase our support to maternal health.
But we still need to see more governments give greater priority to this issue. Some progress has been made in Asia—for example in Nepal, China, Vietnam and Indonesia. In many parts of Africa, however, weak health services, conflict and HIV have combined to constrain overall progress. Improving this situation will require long term and sustained help.
The Progress Report makes several recommendations, one of which is to use maternal mortality as an indicator through which to track progress in health systems strengthening. Functioning health systems are essential in seeing improvements in maternal health, and we will indeed wish to monitor maternal health outcomes as we scale up our support to basis health services.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |