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Pensions: Failed Company Schemes
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, bearing in mind the views expressed in Parliament and outside, they will reconsider the rejection of the findings of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration on compensation for the victims of failed company pension schemes.[HL7287]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Government published their response to the ombudsman's report in June 2006. Since then they have taken note of various views expressed on this issue, including the report of the Public Administration Select Committee. We will be responding to that report in due course.
Pensions: Uprating
Lord Jones of Cheltenham asked Her Majesty's Government:
What will be the impact of the decision to link uprating of pensions to average earnings from 2012 on pensioners resident overseas who currently receive frozen pensions.[HL7218]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): We have no plans to change the state pension uprating policy in respect of pensioners living abroad.
People Trafficking
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 19 July (WA 192), whether the particular areas of concern to the United Kingdom about the Council of Europe convention against trafficking in human beings are shared by any of the member states that have ratified the convention.[HL7156]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): To date, 30 states have signed the convention, but only one (Moldova) has ratified it. In July last year, we issued a questionnaire seeking information about the methods of support in place in other European Union (EU) countries irrespective of whether the member state had signed the convention or not. The responses to that questionnaire are still being analysed for evidence on how the automatic granting of reflection periods and residence permits to those presenting as victims of trafficking are operating in other European transit or destination countries.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The UK is currently considering whether to sign the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human Trafficking. The Government are examining how the convention’s approach could best be harmonised with effective immigration controls.
People Trafficking: Children
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The Government are determined to eradicate child trafficking and later this year will launch their UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking, which addresses the prevention of trafficking, law enforcement and prosecution of offenders and providing protection and assistance to victims. We set out our proposals during recent consultation with stakeholders and obtained more than 200 responses. We are currently considering these which will help inform our policy development on child trafficking.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the total funding allocated specifically to operations targeting child trafficking in each year since 2000. [HL7170]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The total amount spent per year on operations targeted specifically at child trafficking since 2000 is not held centrally by the Government. However, Reflex, a multi-agency taskforce which co-ordinates the law enforcement response to human trafficking, is funded by the Home Office with £20 million a year, up to 2008. Out of this budget, several operations have been mounted to counter human trafficking in which children have been identified.
Operation Paladin, a multi-agency effort specifically aimed at identifying trafficked children, started at Heathrow airport in October 2005. Teams of specialist social workers, based at five ports and asylum screening units, working jointly with police and immigration officers, are helping to identify the particular needs of unaccompanied asylum seeking children who may have been trafficked and develop plans to safeguard their welfare.
Reflex has also funded Operation Pentameter, launched in February 2006, the first national co-ordinated police effort aimed at tackling human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Eighty-four victims were rescued, 12 of whom were minors. From the Government's consultations on their UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking, ACPO's proposal of setting up a UK Human Trafficking Centre will succeed Operation Pentameter. The centre will provide a more co-ordinated approach across all police forces in its aim to combat human trafficking.
Funding is also supporting the Serious Organisation Crime Agency (SOCA), which is bringing a renewed focus on improving intelligence and targeting those organised crime groups involved in trafficking humans. Its affiliate, the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP), is playing a vital role in preventing child abuse on the internet.
The Government's plan to launch a UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking later this year will focus on the Government's key aims of preventing trafficking, enforcement and prosecution of offenders and providing assistance to victims.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people, including (a) civil servants; (b) law enforcement officers; and (c) other officials, have been employed (i) part-time, and (ii) full-time on operations targeting child trafficking across the United Kingdom in each year since 2000. [HL7171]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Statistics for the numbers employed on operations targeting child trafficking are not held centrally. The deployment of government officials, police and immigration officers, children's social care and health workers is determined individually by government departments and by local service delivery agents.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
What safeguards are currently in place to tackle child trafficking across (a) all ports; (b) all airports; and (c) all rail stations in the United Kingdom.[HL7172]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Safeguards have been established to counter the trafficking of children at our main ports of entry. Specially trained teams of immigration officers have been established at 22 ports to deal with all cases of unaccompanied children and arrangements for round-the-clock referral to police and local authority children’s services, where that is necessary. Additionally, teams of social workers are being specially established at five ports and asylum screening units, principally to help identify the particular needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who may have been trafficked and to help develop plans to safeguard their welfare.
Immigration staff now have specialist guidance to alert them to signs that may identify a child as being trafficked and to what steps to take. Steps have also been put in place to improve the recording and retention of data on children entering the country. It will include information about the person with whom a child will be travelling and, in cases in which the child is unaccompanied, their photograph and full details of the child’s parent or guardian and sponsors in the UK will be recorded.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
What estimates they have made of the number of (a) children, and (b) unaccompanied minors being trafficked into the United Kingdom in each year since 2000. [HL7174]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Data on the numbers of children and unaccompanied minors trafficked into the UK for each year since 2000 are not centrally recorded. To address this lack of data, the Government have commissioned the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to scope the scale and nature of child trafficking into the UK.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
What records they keep of the number of unaccompanied minors being deported back to their country after being brought to the United Kingdom by child traffickers.[HL7258]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Information relating to the number of unaccompanied minors deported back to their country after being trafficked into the United Kingdom is not currently recorded centrally and is therefore not available.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people have been (a) charged, and (b) prosecuted for allegations of child trafficking in each year since 2000.[HL7259]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: While there is no specific offence of child trafficking, prosecutions involving child victims of human trafficking have been pursued under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
The most up-to-date information provided to the Home Office by the Crown Prosecution Service indicates that at least 12 defendants have been charged in three separate cases that involved female victims between the ages of 15 and 18. Of these, 10 were convicted and received lengthy sentences.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many of those aged under 18 have been identified as victims of trafficking in each of the past five years; and what procedures they have in place to help trafficked children in the United Kingdom.[HL7375]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government have no centrally collated data on the number of children identified as victims of trafficking. The Home Office recognises there is an urgent need to improve its intelligence on this issue and for this reason has commissioned a scoping project in partnership with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to estimate the scale and nature of the problem including source countries. Children who have been identified as having been trafficked and who are considered to be at risk are looked after by local authorities under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. The arrangements for trafficked children, as for other children in need in the UK, are matters for local authorities to decide based on careful analysis of the risks, needs and circumstances facing that particular child.
Philip Gould Associates
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Home Office or any of its agencies in each of the past 10 years.[HL7097]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): No payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Home Office or any of its agencies in each of the past 10 years.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Department of Health or any of its agencies in each of the last 10 years.[HL7228]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): The Department of Health records show that it has not made any payments to Philip Gould Associates and does not hold records of payments made by its agencies.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Department of Trade and Industry or any of its agencies in each of the past 10 years.[HL7229]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): Central records indicate that the department has made no payments to Philip Gould Associates in any of the past 10 years. No payments have been made by the department's executive agencies to Philip Gould Associates in any of the past 10 years.
Planning: Reports
Lord Baker of Dorking asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the average time between the delivery of a planning inspector's report and a decision by the Secretary of State for Transport, excluding all reports of inquiries that exceed 14 days.[HL7330]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): The information required to make this calculation can be found on DfT’s website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/divisionhomepage/030417.hcsp. This lists all schemes on which decisions have been issued over the past two years, together with the inspector’s reports on each scheme. The date of the inspector’s report can be taken as the date of delivery to the department.
Playing Fields
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the guidelines regulating the sale of school, local authority and private playing fields; and [HL7183]
What consideration is given by the Department for Education and Skills to consent requests for the disposal of playing fields which are up to 0.2 hectares and used for team games.[HL7186]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Lord Adonis): The department's guidance 1017-2004, The Protection of School Playing Fields and Land for Academies, which was published in November 2004, sets out the main circumstances in which local authorities and governing bodies of schools need to seek the consent of the Secretary of State to dispose, or change the use, of school playing fields. The guidance also describes how the Secretary of State will assess all applications that involve the disposal, or change of use, of such land, whatever its size. Copies of the guidance can be downloaded from the department's website at www.teachernet.gov.uk/schoolslandandproperty.
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many applications to dispose of playing fields were submitted to the Government's monitoring committee in each financial year since 1999-2000.[HL7184]
Lord Adonis: Since July 2001, all applications to dispose of school playing fields have been scrutinised by the independent School Playing Fields Advisory Panel. The panel was set up to advise the Secretary of State on the extent to which applications meet the published criteria. The panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Local Government Association. So far, the panel has scrutinised 242 applications that involve the disposal of school playing fields. The number of applications considered by the panel in each financial year is: 2001-02, 51; 2002-03, 68; 2003-04, 33; 2005-06, 36; and 12 so far this financial year.
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many (a) school playing fields; (b) local authority playing fields; and (c) college or higher education sports grounds there are in England; and what is the total acreage of each.[HL7188]
Lord Adonis: The information requested is not held centrally.
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether applications for development on playing fields that are less than 0.4 hectares in size are referred to Sport England as a statutory consultee on the sale of playing fields. [HL7185]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Any development on playing fields measuring 0.4 hectares or over is subject to statutory consultation with Sport England. The Department for Communities and Local Government intends to extend this consultation requirement in relation to playing fields measuring 0.2 hectares or over and will include this proposal in a wider consultation exercise on statutory consultees in due course.
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many sports grounds and school playing fields are listed on the active places register maintained by Sport England. [HL7187]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The active places database does not provide information in the format requested. Active places includes data about more than 50,000 sports facilities. These facilities include 29,467 playing field sites, of which 13,933 are listed as owned by an education establishment. These playing field sites include, respectively, 50,600 and 24,527 marked-out sports pitches.
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