Lords Hansard text for 9 Oct 200609 Oct 2006 (pt 0007)

We remain fully committed to making clear that forced marriage is unacceptable and to ensuring that everyone has the right to enter into marriage freely and with their full consent. We believe that, in order to tackle forced marriage more effectively, we need to take forward the recommendations for non-legislative action made by respondents to the recent public consultation. We agree that training of professionals alone will not suffice, and will be following up the recommendations, favoured by the majority of respondents, for further awareness-raising campaigns and education as key tools in maximising the effect of existing laws.

I refer the noble Lord to the document Forced Marriage: A Wrong Not A Right, which contains a synthesis of the responses by stakeholders to the public consultation, a copy of which rests in the Library of the House. The document’s findings reflect the views of respondents, many of whom are intimately involved in dealing with forced marriage, on the issues raised in the Times article.

Freud Communications: Government Contracts

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:

For each of the past three years, what contracts have been awarded and what payments have been made to Freud Communications by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its successor departments.[HL6860]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The directorate of communications has no record of any payments being made to Freud Communications by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or its successor departments.

Gambling: Casino Licences

Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:

What investigations they have made to ensure that evidence concerning casino applications, especially from religious bodies, is authentic and does not misrepresent the views of the organisations concerned.[HL7377]

The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has established the Casino Advisory Panel to recommend to her the local authority areas where the 17 new casinos permitted under the Gambling Act 2005 should be located. All representations on the casino applications have been made to the panel. It is for the panel to assess the evidence that it receives.

Government

Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they propose to take any action with regard to the extent to which the Government represent the community which they serve.[HL7393]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): The Government believe they are representing the community they serve by introducing the minimum wage, running a sound economy, raising standards in schools and hospitals and upholding our responsibility in the world and will continue to do so.

Government Appointments: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which appointments to government positions in Northern Ireland are not governed by open competition rules; and, if any exist, how the appointments are made. [HL7204]

Lord Rooker: Appointments to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) are made on the basis of merit in fair and open competition. The principles underpinning the merit principle are outlined in the Northern Ireland Civil Service Commissioners’ recruitment code.

There may be specific circumstances in which there exist strong and compelling grounds to depart from the merit principle, and they are also set out in the commissioners’ code as “Exceptions to the Merit Principle”. They are: where a person is appointed on secondment; where a person holds a situation in another Civil Service of the Crown; where a person is or has recently been employed on functions that are being or have been transferred to the Crown; where the appointment is justified for reasons relating to the needs of the Civil Service and the person proposed for appointment is of proven distinction; and where a person has been selected for an appointment under government programmes to assist the unemployed and the total period of employment does not exceed three years.

Government Departments

Lord Steinberg asked Her Majesty's Government:

What were the total central costs of supporting the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office, and the Wales Office over the past three years.[HL7355]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): The costs of running the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office and the Wales Office over the past three years are disclosed in the table below. Costs represent resource outturn as disclosed in the Northern Ireland Office’s resource accounts (for Northern Ireland) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs’ resource accounts (for the Scotland and Wales Offices).

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
	£000s	£000s	£000s
The Northern Ireland Office	1,039,185	1,092,677	1,292,038
The Scotland Office	6,283	4,050	3,638*
The Wales Office	3,591	3,883	4,308*

The Northern Ireland Office is a department in its own right and has responsibility for Northern Ireland’s constitutional and security issues, in particular law and order, political affairs, policing and criminal justice. Since the Northern Ireland Executive was suspended in October 2002 the Northern Ireland Office also assumed responsibility for economic and social matters. The executive functions that were previously the responsibility of the Scotland and Wales Offices transferred to the devolved Assemblies on 1 July 1999.

*The Department for Constitutional Affairs’ 2005-06 resource accounts are currently subject to final audit. The costs of running the Scotland and Wales Offices are not expected to change.

Government Departments: Independent Expert Reports

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

What reports of independent experts have been commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during the current session of Parliament; and, in each case, on what date the draft report was (a) received; (b) approved for grammar, spelling and syntax; (c) first submitted for Ministerial approval; and (d) published.[HL7269]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) commissioned Aisha Gill of Roehampton University to produce an analysis of responses to forced marriage consultation, following a single tender process in November/December 2005. The draft report was received on 24 February and approved for grammar, spelling and syntax on 18 May. The report was first submitted for ministerial approval on1 March and published by the Central Office of Information on 7 June 2006.

The FCO also commissioned David Mansfield to produce Exploring the Shades of Grey: Understanding the Process of Change in Factors that Influence Households in their Decision to Cultivate Opium Poppy in the 2005/06 Growing Season. The draft report was received at the beginning of February and approved for grammar, spelling and syntax in mid-February. It was first submitted for ministerial approval in late February and published on the FCO website on 2 March 2006.

No other reports of independent experts have been published in this period.