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Firearms Consultative Committee
Lord Burton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many meetings of the Firearms Consultative Committee have been attended by Mr. Anthony Burden, the Chief Constable of South Wales Constabulary and Chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers' England, Wales and Northern Ireland Firearms Explosives Licensing Sub-Committee; from how many meetings he has been absent since his appointment; and whether he has made requests for a representative to attend in his place.[HL1630]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn): As I indicated in my Written Answer of 17 March 1998 (WA 192), a record of yearly attendance at meetings of the Firearms Consultative Committee is given in the Committee's Annual Report, a copy of which is in the Library. Members attend on an individual basis.
Terrorist Crimes: Pursuit of Perpetrators
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend to bring to justice those responsible for crimes committed within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom in support of the political programme of the IRA before Easter 1998.[HL1594]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: Every effort will continue to be made to bring to justice perpetrators of crimes in the United Kingdom in connection with the affairs of Northern Ireland, regardless of when they were committed.
War Crimes Prosecutions
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend to continue to seek to bring to justice those responsible for crimes committed outside the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom in support of the political programme on the Nazi Party before June 1945.[HL1593]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: The Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit will continue to consider evidence relating to possible offences falling under the War Crimes Act 1991. The cases of 376 people have already
been considered by the War Crimes Unit. Of those investigated, 118 are dead, and 255 cases have been investigated and the evidence considered to be insufficient for charges to be brought. In these cases, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service have agreed that no further action should be taken, although, should fresh evidence emerge, cases could be re-opened. The Attorney-General entered a nolle prosequi (permanent stay on the prosecution) in one case due to the defendant's failing mental health. This was neither a conviction, discharge nor acquittal. The defendant has since died. One case is still under active investigation and in a second case committal proceedings, under the War Crimes Act 1991, are currently in progress against an individual who has been charged with five counts of murder.Working Peers: Remuneration
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What consideration they are giving to the future remuneration of working peers below the age of 60
- who suffer loss of income when devoting time to the business of the House of Lords.[HL1545]
The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Richard): None.
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, in a reformed House of Lords lacking hereditary peers, they expect working peers below the retirement age to receive the same salary as Members of the House of Commons.[HL1546]
Lord Richard: The removal of the rights of hereditary peers to sit and vote in this House has no implications for the current arrangements for reimbursing working peers' expenses.
House of Lords: Members' Ages
Lord Kilbracken asked the Leader of the House:
- Further to his Written Answer on 27 April (WA 1), how many of the 613 peers over the age of 65 are aged: (a) between 65 and 69; (b) between 70 and 74; (c) between 74 and 79; (d) between 80 and 84;
(e) between 84 and 89; (f) 90 and over.[HL1739]
| Life Peers | Hereditary Peers | ||||
| Age | Life Peerages Act 1958 | Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 | Of First Creation | By Succession | Total |
| Between 65 and 69 | 76 | 9 | 1 | 80 | 166 |
| Between 70 and 74 | 80 | 3 | 0 | 85 | 168 |
| Between 75 and 79 | 67 | 6 | 2 | 55 | 130 |
| Between 80 and 84 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 90 |
| Between 85 and 89 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 43 |
| 90 and over | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Total | 305 | 23 | 7 | 278 | 613 |
Those peers without writs of summons and those on Leave of Absence have been excluded from the figures given above.
Lord Braine of Wheatley asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): Over 3,000 responses have been received to the Green Paper. In accordance with usual practice, however, a list of those individuals and organisations who responded will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses shortly. Because of the number and volume of these responses it would be impractical to place them in the Libraries of both Houses.
Earl Russell asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Simon of Highbury): It is automatically unfair under the Employment Rights Act 1996 for an employer to dismiss a woman because she is pregnant, or for any other reason connected with her pregnancy or childbirth. Such a dismissal may also amount to unlawful discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
Earl Russell asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will place in the Library of the House the responses received by them to the Green Paper Who Decides? Making Decisions on Behalf of Mentally Incapacitated Adults.[HL1553]
Whether they have any plans to improve the legal protection available to women against dismissal as a result of pregnancy.[HL1533]
Whether they will introduce measures to protect pregnant women against dismissal for taking time off for ante-natal care.[HL1534]
5 May 1998 : Column WA61
Lord Simon of Highbury: It is already automatically unfair for an employer to dismiss an employee for asserting her right to time off for ante-natal care. Moreover, detrimental treatment on grounds of pregnancy may amount to unlawful sex discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
Education Action Zone
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many applications for Education Action Zone status have now been received; and[HL1616]
What applications for Education Action Zone status have been made by local education authorities; and[HL1617]
What applications for Education Action Zone status have been made by non local education authority interests; and[HL1618]
What applications for Education Action Zone status has been made by commercial or business interests.[HL1619]
The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone): Some 60 applications have been received and are currently being assessed. We cannot comment on individual applications until that assessment has been completed. An announcement on the successful applicants will be made in June.
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what date they will announce the successful bids to establish Education Action Zones which will form the first phase of five zones starting in September 1998.[HL1620]
Baroness Blackstone: We expect to announce in June the 12 zones which will start in September 1998.
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what date they will announce the successful bids to establish Education Action Zones which will form the second phase of twenty Zones starting in January 1999.[HL1621]
Baroness Blackstone: We expect to announce in June the 13 zones which will start in January 1999.
Grammar School Selection: Ballots
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which are those areas of the country where, if a ballot to end selection at a grammar school were successfully triggered by a petition, it would be deemed to be a whole local education authority ballot.[HL1639]
What specific criteria would be applied to determine the area within which parents would be eligible to vote to end selection at each selective grammar school excluding those which would qualify for whole local education authority ballots.[HL1640]
Baroness Blackstone: The School Standards and Framework Bill currently before Parliament provides for the detailed arrangements for grammar school ballots, including the definition of whole area and other ballots, to be specified in regulations which will be drawn up in due course.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: Statistics
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what date the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys Vital Statistics Branch first started to monitor Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.[HL1606]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics, dated 5 May 1998.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on what date the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys Vital Statistics Branch first started to monitor Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has a responsibility to monitor the health of the population of England and Wales. As part of this responsibility, the ONS publishes annual mortality statistics, including statistics on deaths from CJD. In addition to publication of these routine mortality statistics, the ONS has expanded its work in the area of deaths from CJD and other dementing illnesses.
However, the lead role in monitoring the epidemiology of Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD) disease is taken by the National CJD Surveillance Unit. The National CJD Surveillance Unit is based in Edinburgh and was set up in May 1990, and is funded by the Department of Health and the Scottish Office. Copies of death certificates that mention CJD are automatically sent by the ONS to the National CJD Surveillance Unit, so that these cases can be investigated further.
Since CJD can be difficult to diagnose, it is possible that some people who have died from CJD may have been certified as dying from another dementing illness. For this reason, ONS is monitoring death rates from 1979 onwards for a number of dementing illnesses and neurodegenerative disorders. The objective is to identify at an early stage any evidence of an increase in deaths from these diseases.
The ONS is collaborating with the National CJD Surveillance Unit to identify cases of CJD that may have been missed in people dying between 1979 and 1996. All people aged 15-44 years who died from a dementing illness in England during this period have been identified from ONS records. Research officers from the
ONS are currently visiting hospitals to examine the clinical records of these patients to determine if they may have died from CJD. Any suspected cases will be referred to the National CJD Surveillance Unit for further investigation and final classification of the cause of death.There are a number of ONS publications on CJD and dementia. These are as follows:
Aylin P., Rooney C., Drever F., Coleman M.
Increasing mortality from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in England and Wales since 1979; ascertainment bias from increase in post-mortems? Population Trends 1996; 85: 34-8.
Majeed A., Lehmann P., Kirby L., Coleman M.
Death rates from dementias and neurodegenerative disorders: did they increase after the population was exposed to BSE? British Medical Journal 1998 (in press).
Kirby L., Lehmann P., Majeed A.
Death rates from dementias and neurodegenerative disorders in people aged 65 years and over in England and Wales, 1979 to 1996. Population Trends 1998
(in press).
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