| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Lord Campbell of Alloway My Lords--
The Lord Privy Seal (Viscount Cranborne): My Lords, I hope that your Lordships will agree that we have had quite a good run on this Question and that we should perhaps move on.
World Bank: Policy Implementation
3.11 p.m.
Lord Judd asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they are satisfied with the social development policies of the World Bank and the International Development Administration (IDA) towards the third world.
Lord Chesham: My Lords, we welcome the recent progress in this area and the bank management's commitment to mainstreaming social development approaches particularly in the IDA and in other bank programmes. Serious effort is now required to implement these policies throughout the bank's lending programme.
Lord Judd: My Lords, we too find the thinking of the bank under its present president, Wolfensohn, very encouraging. Have the Government studied the recent report by the bank's operations evaluation department which reveals that the declarations of intent on vital
social issues and the role of women are still not making themselves felt in specific country programmes, which is what matters? In view of the ODA's very good experience at integrating those concerns into its own bilateral programmes, will the Government now give a firm lead in the bank over the introduction of the mechanisms and administrative arrangements which are necessary to turn welcome rhetoric into action?
Lord Chesham: My Lords, I greatly appreciate what the noble Lord says about the efforts of the ODA. We believe that it has done a fantastic job. We greatly welcome the attitude of the president of the World Bank in intending that such policies should go ahead. The ODA has played a leading role in promoting social development policies in the bank's policy work in, for example, Africa through participating in the poverty and social policy working group of the World Bank-led special programme for Africa. The ODA has played a leading role in improving the social development content of the World Bank's country poverty assessments through support to assessments in Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Gambia and Pakistan. That work will continue.
Lord Judd: My Lords, we are all agreed about the intention and we all welcome what has been said, but the bank's own evaluation department is saying that that intention is not being turned into action. That is what must be addressed. Can the noble Lord give any assurances in that respect?
Lord Chesham: My Lords, I can give every assurance that the ODA will do everything that it can to make certain that such matters are taken seriously not only at the top level of the World Bank but right down through all the bank's management levels. We shall continue to assist in any way that we possibly can.
Lord Avebury: My Lords, can the noble Lord confirm that the board of the World Bank is meeting today and will have before it a report made on behalf of Paraguayan citizens that the World Bank's guidelines were not observed in the case of the Yacireta project? Will the Government uphold the recommendations that were made to the board by the inspection panel that a full investigation of that claim should be carried out? More generally, do the Government agree that when the inspection panel recommends that full investigation the board should accept its recommendations unless there are very strong reasons to the contrary?
Lord Chesham: My Lords, it is going a bit far to ask me to make representations to the board of the World Bank. We should await its recommendations. I have not been privy to the papers for that World Bank meeting.
Viscount Waverley: My Lords, does the noble Lord recognise that there is an increase in private investment and that the World Bank encourages the private sector to factor social development into their programmes?
Lord Chesham: My Lords, it is essential that private investment should be encouraged in such areas. It provides the sustainable investment that will hit the problem at which we are aiming.
Lord Ashley of Stoke: My Lords, I am sure that the House will welcome the noble Lord's assurance that the Government will do all they can to achieve the aims mentioned by my noble friend. Can he say specifically what the Government will do?
Lord Chesham: My Lords, we have already seconded social development advisers to the World Bank to strengthen the bank's capacity to implement its social development policies.
Registration: Qualified Voters
3.16 p.m.
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What steps they will be taking between now and the general election to encourage the full registration of qualified voters.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch): My Lords, the main effort to register electors takes place during the annual canvass conducted by electoral registration officers in the autumn. Last autumn the Government spent £750,000 on television advertisements encouraging the return of electoral registration forms. Any eligible elector who may have been missed off the register can make a claim to be added to it after publication. However, those who are too apathetic or who are determined not to register cannot realistically be forced to do so.
Lord Hylton: My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer, but is it not the case that some 2 million persons are not on the register? That represents nearly 5 per cent. of the total electorate. Will the Government take special steps to register homeless families and individuals, students, gypsies and others who are entitled to vote but who are unlikely to be able to do so?
Baroness Blatch: My Lords, I have already said that we spend considerable sums of money on public advertising to persuade people to register to vote. I pay tribute to the electoral registration officers who do everything that they can. It is a question of permanency of address. Even people living in the open air or those who are sleeping rough are entitled to vote if they can convince a local registration officer that they are permanently in the area. A great deal is done to persuade people to register. The noble Lord mentioned the figure of 5 per cent. It has been 5 per cent. now for about six years. The number of people who do not appear on the register has therefore been fairly constant.
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, given that 14th February is the date of the publication of the register, does that mean that if during the general election campaign whole streets are missed off, as often happens--not due to weakness on the part of those registering, but due to weaknesses in electoral registration departments--nothing can be done about it?
Baroness Blatch: My Lords, that is not absolutely the case. Names can be added up to the first day of every month if they do not appear on the register as a result of an omission or a mistake. In the run-up to a general election, however, we continue that practice right up to nomination day so that mistakes on the register can be put right and omissions corrected.
Lord Monkswell: My Lords, bearing in mind that it is very important that as many people as possible are registered to vote and that they do vote, particularly in the forthcoming general election, would it not be useful for every Minister, whenever he or she speaks in public, to repeat the following slogan, "Voting can change things. Register to vote and use your vote for a better future"?
Baroness Blatch: "And vote Conservative!" My Lords, in this country we are lucky to enjoy the right to vote. That right is very precious. We spend considerable sums of money on reminding people of the importance of registering to vote. To register 95 per cent. of those people eligible to vote is no mean achievement. We continue to make special efforts to get the remaining 5 per cent. onto the register. But there are people who do not want to vote. Some of them are religious objectors. There are those who cannot be bothered to vote; there are others who, for one reason or another, simply do not know about it. Our efforts will continue in that direction.
Lord Dubs: My Lords, does the Minister agree that there are many young people in this country who are unable to register to vote because of the housing difficulties that they face and the necessity to move to find beds? Will the Minister advise local authorities to make a particular effort to encourage or help young people to vote in the next election?
Baroness Blatch: My Lords, I have already said what efforts are made by electoral registration officers to enable people to provide addresses for voting purposes. I am not sure that I fully understand the noble Lord's point. Young people, whether they are in colleges or moving from job to job, will be somewhere on 10th October of each year when they have to meet the residential qualification. Therefore, they or their parents or families will register that fact. We advertise in cinemas, clubs and newspapers. Electoral registration officers do a great deal of outreach work to help people register on the voting list. The fact that we achieve that in 95 per cent. of cases is no mean achievement. We will continue to concentrate our efforts on the 5 per cent. who, for one reason or another, do not appear on the register.
Next Section
Back to Table of Contents
Lords Hansard Home Page