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Consultants: Review of Ministers' Private Offices
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which department commissioned Praesta to review the effectiveness and cost of Ministers and their private offices, as described on the Praesta—Leaders in Executive Coaching website; what was the cost of the review; whether a report covering the political implications of a change in the number of Ministers in the team represents an appropriate use of public money; and whether they will place a copy of the report in the Library of the House.[HL7273]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): In July 2004, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office asked the Change Partnership, which was then part of Whitbread Mann, to review the working of our ministerial offices and their staffing. Since then, most of those who worked for the Change Partnership have moved to Praesta Partners.
On the other points raised, I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given in another place by my right honourable friend the then Foreign Secretary (Mr Jack Straw) on 7 March (Official Report, House of Commons, 7/3/06; cols. 1344-45W).
Controlled Drugs
Lord Colwyn asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, following the guidance on safety management of controlled drugs issued in June, they will clarify the procedures for the prescription of drugs by private medical and dental practitioners to (a) specific patients, and (b) practice store areas for use when appropriate.[HL7314]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): FP10PCD prescription forms are for use by all prescribers (including medical and dental practitioners) issuing private prescriptions to patients for Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs, where these drugs are to be dispensed by a community pharmacist. This has been a statutory requirement since 7 July 2006. Detailed guidance is available on the Department of Health website at www.dh.gov.uk/controlleddrugs
Procedures for ordering and using controlled drugs from stores or stock remain unchanged. They are governed by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 and subsequent amendments. The department and the Home Office have consulted on the principle of introducing a standard form (for use in the public and private sectors) for any requisition for controlled drugs for stores or stock. Development work on this initiative is under way.
Cost of Living
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the estimated increase in the cost of living over the past one, three and five years for United Kingdom households with incomes in the lowest quintile.[HL7275]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question (HL7275) asking what is the estimated increase in the cost of living over the past one, three and five years for United Kingdom households with incomes in the lowest quintile. I am replying in her absence.
Information in the form requested is not readily available. Calculation of weights for households with incomes in the lowest quintile for the retail prices index (RPI) would require special calculations using data from the Office for National Statistics' expenditure and food survey, from which the RPI weights are derived. Specifically, the process would involve returning to each year's survey at the household level and removing all observations from respondents above the lowest quintile. The remaining responses would then need to be aggregated to national levels before embarking on the detailed process of producing RPI expenditure weights. The removal of such a large amount of the responses means that it is likely that a number of years would need to be averaged to provide an acceptable sample size. Special calculations would also be required to derive the weights for certain housing components whose weights are modelled (that is, mortgage interest payments and depreciation costs). Taken together, this means that the Question can be answered only at disproportionate cost.
Consumer prices index (CPI) weights are derived from whole economy estimates of household expenditure taken from the national accounts. The source data come from a variety of sources, including non-household surveys, and are therefore not amenable to the calculation of weights for households with incomes in the lowest quintile.
Courts: Sentencing Guidance
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the replies by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 19 July (HL Deb, col. 1282) concerning sentencing guidance given to judges dealing with convicted female defendants with family responsibilities, whether they intend to amend such guidance to deal with male defendants who, alone, or in company with another male co-parent, have charge of children. [HL7196]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The Judicial Studies Board publication I referred to in my previous Aswer is not a Home Office publication and we have no plans to issue specific guidance to courts when sentencing parents. However, the National Offender Management Service is developing a framework for the children and families of offenders. The welfare of dependent children when single parents are given custody will form part of this.
Crime: Fuel Laundering
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prosecutions have been brought for fuel laundering in Northern Ireland since 1 January; and how many have been successful.[HL7302]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: Prosecution figures for 2006 will be published in HMRC’s annual report later this year. The number of convictions secured in Northern Ireland, which are related to all forms of illegal fuel activity, including laundering, during the past five years, is set out in the table below:
| 2000-2001 | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | |
There is a range of sanctions, of which prosecution is one, that can be taken when illicit fuel is detected. Each case is rigorously investigated and the most effective sanction is then applied.
Diabetes
Lord Harrison asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their response to the report and guidance issued by Diabetes UK and others entitled Diabetes and the Police Officer.[HL7160]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): We are considering the report Diabetes and the Police Officer and the need for further guidance to forces.
In October, we will issue updated guidance to forces in England and Wales on disability and the police, in line with the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, which comes into force on 5 December 2006. The guidance will take account of good practice in relation to diabetes.
Divorce
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will consult the adherents of faiths other than Judaism on the possible extension of the Divorce (Religious Marriage) Act 2002 to protect the rights and interests of those married in accordance with prescribed religious usages other than those of persons of the Jewish faith.[HL7319]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): The Government have no current plans to consult on this issue.
Energy: Fuel Ethanol
Lord Christopher asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the impact on food supply and prices in the United Kingdom of the worldwide diversion of significant volumes of wheat and other crops to the production of fuel ethanol; and [HL7343]
What assessment they have made of the impact on agricultural policy in the United Kingdom of the worldwide diversion of significant volumes of wheat and other crops to the production of fuel ethanol.[HL7344]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The primary market for wheat and other crops is still the food market despite the recent increases in their use for biofuels. The availability and price of the feedstocks have played an important role in the development of the biofuel sector. The most rapid development of the bioethanol market has been in countries with large surplus production in crops that can be used to produce bioethanol. In the UK, biofuel production offers new markets for the UK cereals and oilseeds surpluses. However, in practice, it is likely that the UK sector will use a mixture of home-grown and imported crops, recycled waste vegetable oils and tallow, and imported biofuels.
In the short term, bioethanol production will mainly use cereals and other food crops as feedstock. The market, through the price mechanism, will guide the allocation of the crops to the different sectors.
Over the medium to long term, it is likely that second generation biofuels derived from cheaper and more abundant feedstocks, such as straw or waste products, will play an important role in meeting the increased ethanol demand. Rising prices for food crops would give additional impetus to the development of technologies for the production of biofuels based on alternative feedstocks.
Lord Christopher asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the impact on the supply of food aid of the worldwide diversion of significant volumes of wheat and other crops to the production of fuel ethanol.[HL7345]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): DfID is in the early stages of weighing up the arguments and evidence on how production of biofuels, including ethanol and biodiesel, could impact on food production and food aid. Overall, more evidence, including on the right balance between food and fuel production in different regions, is needed. We will continue to monitor the situation carefully.
In 2005 production of fuel ethanol rose by 19 per cent, driven largely by rising oil prices. There is no evidence that this has so far affected the supply of food aid. Food shortage and famine are more related to poor distribution and a shortage of disposable income to buy food rather than agricultural production or provision of food aid.
Expansion of the area under biofuel crops is likely to happen in countries with the right growing conditions and sufficient land. This could reduce the area of land devoted to food production. However some energy crops can be grown on degraded land too marginal for food crops; others can promote land restoration.
There are ways that the trade-offs between food and biofuel production can be managed. Increasing the productivity of both food and energy crops can promote economic growth and poverty reduction. Crops can be developed that yield much higher quantities of energy per unit of land or water, or that generate by-products that can be used for bioenergy.
DfID plans to support the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), announced at the G8 in Gleneagles in 2005 and launched this year. This will promote collaboration between developed and developing countries. We will continue to support international efforts to increase food production, for example through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, and to increase poor people’s access to food.
Lord Christopher asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the carbon dioxide release arising from the production of fuel ethanol and bio-ethanol compared with the carbon dioxide reduction resulting from using ethanol instead of petrol or diesel, taking into account the net volume of carbon dioxide released in the course of growing and harvesting a crop such as wheat or sugar beet.[HL7346]
Lord Rooker: The amount of carbon emitted during production, and saved through substituting bioethanol for petrol, depends on the feedstock used, the way the crop is cultivated, the way it is processed, how that processor is powered, and the mode and mileage travelled by the feedstock and the bioethanol before it is used. The following table gives average figures for the net lifecycle reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for various feedstocks:
| Feedstock | Processing Technique | Average reduction in carbon emissions compared to fossil fuel |
Emissions can be further reduced if low input methods of cultivation are used and renewable energy replaces fossil fuels in the production process. In the longer-term, second generation technologies offer opportunities for even greater reductions in emissions.
Energy: Nuclear Waste
Lord Inglewood asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to reassure the public that the choice of location for an underground repository for the United Kingdom's long-term nuclear waste will be made solely on its technical merits and that there will be no presumption in favour of or against siting it in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.[HL7349]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) has undertaken an extensive programme of work and rigorous assessment of all the options for the long-term management of the UK's, radioactive waste. CoRWM announced an integrated package of draft recommendations on 31 July 2006.
The package included recommendations that geological disposal is the best option for the long-term management for the UK's higher activity, radioactive waste and that the Government should look to develop partnership arrangements, linked to appropriate involvement and benefit packages with local authorities and communities as a means of securing facility siting.
The Government welcome the report and will issue a full response as soon as practicable after the respective Parliaments and the Welsh Assembly have reconvened.
Equality: Age Discriminiation
Lord MacKenzie of Culkein asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will defer the implementation of the age discrimination regulations pending further representations from the Confederation of British Industry and other parties.[HL7292]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations come into force on 1 October 2006 as planned. However, in response to feedback from CBI and others, amending regulations laid on 8 September mean that the pension provisions in the age regulations will not now come into force until 1 December, to give more time for schemes to adjust and for consideration of any further representations.
EU: Candidate Countries
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
On what occasions in the last year they have raised (a) religious freedoms, and (b) freedom of speech, with the three candidate countries for membership of the European Union, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey; and what were the outcomes of these discussions.[HL7247]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): We have not raised religious freedoms or freedom of speech with Romania or Bulgaria in the last year. We have, however, raised our concerns on a number of occasions in the last year with the Turkish Government on these issues and continue to press for further progress. Turkey remains committed to meeting the Copenhagen political criteria and will be subject to intense scrutiny throughout accession negotiations.
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