| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Mar 2007 : Column 1486W—continued
Elections: Petitions
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many complaints have been made to the police about election petitions in the last five years. [129346]
Bridget Prentice: This information is not held centrally.
Electoral Commission: Powers
Mr. Djanogly:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her
Department plans to strengthen the Electoral Commission's powers to take investigative and enforcement action. [129320]
Bridget Prentice: The Government are considering the recent review of the Electoral Commission by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and also the recommendations of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee and Sir Hayden Phillips that relate to the regulatory role of the Electoral Commission.
The Government will provide a considered response in due course.
Electoral Register
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) whether her Department plans to ensure that a consistent approach is adopted by all local authorities in ensuring that individuals register to vote; [129423]
(2) how the Government plan to enforce registration of all voters at a local authority level. [129344]
Bridget Prentice: Sections 9 and 10 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and section 9 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (EAA 2006), set out the necessary steps that all local authorities must follow to ensure that eligible individuals are registered to vote.
These steps include sending the canvass form more than once to any address, conducting house to house enquiries and making contact by such other means as appropriate. Each local authority will adopt an approach which is appropriate to local circumstances, within the context of the necessary steps.
Section 67 of the EAA 2006 allows the Electoral Commission to set and monitor performance standards for electoral services. The Commission is currently developing electoral registration indicators and these should be implemented across England and Wales during December 2007. The aim of these indicators is to improve performance in electoral services, which will help to increase registration levels and compile a more accurate register.
European Land Information Service
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what funding from the public purse has been provided for the European Land Information Service. [129764]
Bridget Prentice: There has been no funding of the European Land Information Service (EULIS) from public expenditure. The service has been developed and financed by a consortium of European land registration authorities, including HM Land Registry, with support from the European Commission's eContent and eTEN funding programmes. Land Registry is a trading fund and, as such, finances its operations from fee income and makes no call on public expenditure.
Incapacity Benefit: Appeals
Lynne Jones:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to
the answer of 19 March 2007, Official Report, column 622W, on incapacity benefit appeals, what the reasons are for the average clearance time for incapacity benefit appeals; and what measures she is putting in place to improve performance. [129391]
Vera Baird: The figures given in response to the previous question relate to the average time from when the appeal is lodged in the Department for Work and Pensions until the date for the first hearing.
The average waiting time performance and actual performance within the Tribunals Service is contained in the following table.
| Weeks | ||
| Performance target | Actual performance | |
The aim of the Tribunals Service is to list incapacity benefit appeals to the first available session on receipt of the pre-hearing enquiry form from the appellant. In determining this date, a balance needs to be struck between how soon an appeal can be heard and giving customers sufficient time in which to prepare for their hearing including seeking representation and further medical evidence in support of their appeal.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the average success rate is of appeals against refusal of incapacity benefit (a) overall, (b) made in person and (c) made on the basis of written evidence alone. [129392]
Vera Baird: The latest available data are contained in the following tables.
| Table 1: Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 | ||
| Benefit/tax credit | ||
| Cleared at hearing (oral and paper) | Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment) | Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) |
| Table 2: Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 | ||
| Benefit/tax credit | ||
| Appellant only attended | Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment) | Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) |
| Table 3: Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 | ||
| Appeals cleared at hearing | ||
| Representative only attended | Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment) | Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) |
| Table 4: Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 | ||
| Appeals cleared at hearing | ||
| Both appellant and representative attended | Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment) | Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) |
| Table 5: Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 | ||
| Appeals cleared at hearing | ||
| Not attended | Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment) | Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) |
| Table 6: Hearing outcomes by type of attendance and benefit in the quarter ending March 2006 | ||
| Appeals cleared at hearing | ||
| Attendance not known | Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment) | Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) |
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects to reply to the letter to her dated 20 February from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton with regard to Anwar Mortlock. [129349]
Bridget Prentice: My right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor responded to my right hon. Friend’s letter on 21 March. I apologise for the delay.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects to reply to the letters of (a) 23 November 2006 and (b) 1 March 2007 on Mr. Nettleingham from the hon. Member for Billericay. [130159]
Vera Baird: My hon. Friend Baroness Ashton of Upholland replied to the hon. Gentleman’s letter on 22 March. I apologise for the delay.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Drugs
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Afghan law permits the cultivation of opium for medicinal use. [127690]
Margaret Beckett: The Afghan counter-narcotics law was passed as a decree in December 2005. In order to allow Afghanistan to fulfil its obligations under the 1972 UN convention on drugs and its protocols, the law has provisions for the licensed cultivation of opium poppy.
However, the counter-narcotics law is currently being redrafted. This follows representations from members of the Afghan Parliament asking for the provision for legal cultivation to be removed, as opium cultivation is against Article 7 of the Constitution.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what mandate the UK has as the G8 lead nation for counter-narcotics in Afghanistan; whether this mandate has changed in the last 12 months; and what plans there are for the mandate to be changed before 2010. [127691]
Margaret Beckett: Following the Bonn Agreement in 2001, a number of G8 countries took on lead responsibility for specific Security Sector Reform work. The UK took lead responsibility for counter narcotics. When the Afghan Compact was agreed at the London Conference in early 2006, the international community recognised the progress that had been made since the Bonn Agreement. It was agreed with the Afghan Government that the concept of lead nation was now redundant, they now had lead responsibility for all aspects of Security Sector Reform, and that the G8 countries should become partner nations. There are no plans for our mandate to change before 2010.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the UK's counter-narcotics strategy is in Afghanistan in relation to the production of cannabis; and if she will make a statement. [127693]
Margaret Beckett: The cultivation of cannabis is against Afghan law and is covered by the Afghan Government's national drug control strategy. The UK's counter narcotics effort in Afghanistan is focused on supporting implementation of the national drug control strategy with regards to the heroin trade.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role the UK plays in the Good Performance Initiative in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement. [127694]
Margaret Beckett: The UK supports the Good Performers Initiative (GPI) which is a partnership between the international community and the Afghan Government, established in late 2006, designed to assist and encourage provinces in Afghanistan to reduce poppy cultivation by providing funds for development projects. To date, the six provinces that were opium poppy free in 2006 have been awarded US $500,000 each, and eight provinces that cultivated less than l,000 hectares of opium poppy in 2006 have been awarded US $150,000. Funding of the GPI will in future be discussed through the Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund, to which the UK is a contributor.
Afghanistan: Overseas Aids
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are to provide UK officials and development advisers in Helmand province in Afghanistan, as set out in the Enduring Relationship Action Plan 2006-07; what their role is expected to be; and from which Government Departments she expects them to come. [128596]
Margaret Beckett: Advisers from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development, Post Conflict Reconstruction Unit and the police are already working out of our provincial reconstruction team in Helmand province. They are involved in a range of good governance activities designed to extend the Government's influence across the province.
Colombia: Human Rights
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment her Department has made of abuses of human rights in Colombia; and if she will make a statement. [129617]
Mr. McCartney: Human rights are at the heart of our policy towards Colombia and we keep the human rights situation in Colombia under constant review.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right’s (UNHCHR) latest report on Colombia, published on 15 March, provides a thorough assessment of the human rights situation in the country. It highlights continuing areas of concern, but also recognises the positive commitment by the Colombian Government, and the concrete progress made in several key areas. We very much agree with the thrust of the report and believe that it is important to recognise advances as well as challenges facing Colombia. We will continue to support the UNHCHR Office in Colombia in their valuable work with the Colombian Government, international community and civil society.
A copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |