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The Government believe that the necessary progress can be made at the upcoming talks in Scotland. But, while we accept that individual parties will, quite rightly, make their own assessment, we believe that this report lays the basis for the final settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland and, as such, presents a unique opportunity for this generation to reach that final resolution, an opportunity that the Government hope that the parties will now seize.
Northern Ireland: Oversight Commissioner's Report
Lord Rooker: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Paul Goggins) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
I have today laid before this House a copy of the Oversight Commissioner’s second statutory report for 2006, which was published on 28 September, in accordance with Section 68(4)(a) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000.
This is the eighth report compiled by Al Hutchinson as Oversight Commissioner and the 17th in the series of oversight reports published since 2001. This is a thematic report concentrating on devolution in policing.
Palestine: Aid
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Statement.
I am gravely concerned about the latest increase in conflict between Fatah and Hamas in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Such violence further damages the prospects for peace and worsens the humanitarian situation. I call on all parties to end the violence. The UK will work with the international community to do what we can to help the Palestinian people.
I wish to inform the House that the Government intend to make a further £3 million contributionto the temporary international mechanism for Palestinian basic needs. This is in addition to the£3 million for essential health supplies that I announced to the House in August and the £3 million that I announced at the Stockholm donors’ conference for operation and maintenance of water, sanitation and electricity.
The situation in the Palestinian Territories remains very difficult. In Gaza, many households continue to receive just six to eight hours of electricity per day. Intermittent electricity supply is affecting all key services. Water supply and sanitation services remain limited, with severe implications for health. The Department for International Development will therefore provide £3 million through the temporary international mechanism for operation, maintenance and repair work to keep water, sanitation and electricity services running.
DfID will also provide a further £3 million, again through the temporary international mechanism, to contribute towards providing allowances to teachers and others among the poorest Palestinian Authority workers. Many of these people, including many front-line services providers, have not been paid salaries for six months.
The temporary international mechanism was launched on 16 June, following an original proposal by the UK. To date, it has provided over 1.8 million litres of fuel for water, sanitation, hospitals and primary healthcare centres in Gaza. Using funding from the European Community, the temporary international mechanism has made payments to 11,900 health workers. Payments have also been paid to 51,500 of the poorest government workers and 33,000 social hardship cases.
DfID has made up to £12 million available for assistance through the temporary international mechanism. This new commitment means that£9 million of these funds have been allocated and will shortly be fully spent meeting Palestinian basic needs. The remaining £3 million will be apportioned as needs arise.
The European Commission has established a team in Jerusalem to manage the implementation of the TIM. Along with several EU member states, we have seconded expertise to this team.
Police: Management of Conflict
Lord Rooker: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Paul Goggins) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
The publication of the UK steering group’s fifth report marks another milestone in the work carried out by the group, currently chaired by the Northern Ireland Office, formed as a result of Patten to examine alternative policing approaches to the management of conflict.
After consultation with ministerial colleagues in the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence, I placed in the Library a copy of the fifth report on20 September. The UK steering group was set up to establish whether an acceptable, effective and less potentially lethal alternative to the baton round is available and to review the public order equipment that is presently available or could be developed in order to expand the range of tactical options available to operational commanders.
Since then, the work has continued apace. I am grateful to the steering group and to the many contributors to the programme, including those in government service, the police, academics and other experts, for their sustained commitment.
While initially established to address a specific Northern Ireland issue, the work of the steering group has intentionally been developed within the context of policing across the United Kingdom and has provided a vehicle for identifying and selecting less lethal technologies for police use in the wider UK context.
There has been considerable progress from the situation on which the Patten commission reported, when it stated that the police “had essentially, three options—the baton, the PBR or live fire”. In June 2005, the UK steering group introduced the new attenuating energy projectile (AEP), a safer replacement for the L21A1 baton round. The introduction of the AEP does not represent the end of the group’s work, as it continues to progress towards the assessment of the suitability of the new discriminating irritant projectile (DIP).
The work of the steering group has necessarily had a strong focus on the science and technology required to produce an effective and less potentially lethal alternative, but has also had a particular emphasis on its systematic approach, where the potential to reduce the lethal nature of weapons is enhanced not only through technological developments but through the development of stringent training and operational guidance and the accountability measures that are in place, designed to maximise the safety of all concerned. Overall this approach is now internationally recognised as a world-leading model of best practice.
The Government will continue to keep all commercial products and technological research under review. It will ensure that those appearing to have real potential are tested and medically evaluated if appropriate.
However, I have not lost sight of the concerns shared by a number of interested groups on the issue of less lethal weapons. For our part, it is the Government's intention to continue to engage with these groups. As before, I have invited their comments on this report.
Railways: Level Crossings
Lord Davies of Oldham: My honourable friendthe Minister of State for Transport (Dr Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
Level crossing orders are made by the Secretary of State under the Level Crossings Act 1983 and specify the protective equipment (lights, barriers, signs, etc) to be provided at a particular crossing. In practice, most orders have been considered and made by Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) on behalf of the Secretary of State. With the transfer of HMRI to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) earlier this year, we had intended to enter into an agreement with ORR to make level crossing orders on behalf of the Secretary of State, replacing a similar agreement originally entered into in 1990 when HMRI became part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The Railways Act 2005 (for ORR) and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (for HSE), however, permit only functions of an administrative nature to be delegated to ORR and HSE, and we have concluded that the making of level crossing orders fails this test because it is a function of a legislative nature. Consequently, I have tabled an amendment to the Road Safety Bill providing for the making of level crossing orders to be delegated to ORR and validating those orders made by HSE since 1990. This will restore the position to what we thought it was and which has worked well over the years.
Senior Salaries Review Body
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): In 1996, the independent Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) recommended that parliamentary pay, allowances and pensions should be reviewed every three years starting in 2000. In line with this recommendation, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister has written to John Baker, the chairman of the review body, in the following terms:
“I understand that the Senior Salaries Review Body is ready to undertake the triennial review of parliamentary pay and allowances.
You will be aware of recent statements by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on public sector pay restraint and the underlying rate of inflation. I am sure that the review body will wish to take account of this important context in its deliberations.
I am writing to confirm that the Government would like to see the following areas covered in your report:
(a) the salaries of Members of the House of Commons taking into account the benefits of the parliamentary pension scheme;
(b) the salaries of Ministers and other office holders, including those with additional responsibilities in Parliament, and the operation of severance pay;
(d) an appropriate approach to the annual increase to parliamentary salaries between triennial reviews to replace the current automatic link to the senior civil service given the changing recruitment and retention strategy for senior staff;
(e) the rate of allowances for Members of the House of Commons, including eligibility for the additional costs allowance and the London supplement, and the operation of the resettlement grant in the light of forthcoming age discrimination legislation;
(g) the extension to unmarried partners of eligibility to spouses’ travel costs, and to cover travel to devolved assemblies for Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland MPs.
I should also be grateful for your recommendations on the adequacy of the current provision of IT equipment for Members both in the House of Commons and in their constituencies.
The review will also take into account the recent appointment of the Lord Speaker.
Consultation with Members of both Houses
Members of both Houses should already have received a letter from John Baker, inviting the submission of written evidence by 8 December 2006, either by e-mail to alan.dawson@dti.gsi.gov.uk, or by post to:
The Office of Manpower Economics
Taxation: Capital Receipts
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My right honourable friend the Paymaster General has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Government intend to bring forward legislation in the Finance Bill 2007 to amend an omission that has been identified in the recent trusts modernisation legislation included in the Finance Act 2006.
Certain types of capital receipts received by trustees are treated for tax purposes in their hands as income. This includes where the trustees of a settlement receive a payment made by a company buying back its own shares. In that situation, the original legislation—Section 686A of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988—provided that what was taxable was only the distribution element, and excluded the original subscription price received by the company that issued the shares.
Paragraph 3 of Schedule 13 to the Finance Act 2006 amended the existing Section 686A of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 so that in addition to its original function it introduces a common mechanism for the various types of capital receipt that are assessable to income tax in the hands of trustees receiving them to be charged at the special trust rates. There is, however, an omission in the wording of the new Section 686A, which has the result, in the situation of buy-back of shares, thatthe whole of the payment by the company to the trustees including the original subscription price is taxable and not just the element representing the distribution.
This result was not intended and therefore amending legislation will be brought forward, as part of Finance Bill 2007, to amend Section 686A appropriately. This amending legislation will be backdated to 6 April 2006, so that the position will be as it should have been from the start. The amending legislation is being drafted and will be put out to consultation.
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