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Written Answers
Wednesday, 10th February 1999.
Civil Service Fast Stream Recruitment
Lord Hughes of Woodside asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have for recruitment to the
Civil Service Fast Stream Development Programme.[HL1003]
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton): Management of the Fast Stream recruitment process was contracted out to the Capita Group plc as part of the decision to privatise the former Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency in October 1996.
A review of the operation of the recruitment process took place during 1998. As a result of this review, my right honourable friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office has decided in principle that, on the expiry of the current contracts, the selection stages of the process will return to direct Civil Service management. I expect specialist services, including advertising, publicity, response handling and psychology support, to continue to be supplied by the private sector following competitive tender.
Prison Service Quantum Project: Review
Lord Orme asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will publish the conclusion of the Prison Service's review of the Quantum project.[HL1001]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn): The Prison Service's six-month review of the Quantum project announced on 10 August 1998 has been concluded. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has seen the review report. The Director General and the Executive Committee of the Prison Service endorse the recommendation made in the report to take the project forward by means of a framework agreement in partnership with one of the two short-listed suppliers. The contract will cover an information technology (IT) infrastructure service, joint development of a strategy for IT-based business change and an agreed mechanism for implementing business change on a partnership basis.
General Pinochet
Lord Lamont of Lerwick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether letters addressed to General Pinochet being carried by members of his staff were opened by Special Branch on Tuesday 29 December 1998; if so, why; and who gave the authorisation.[HL595]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: I refer the noble Lord to the reply given to a Question from him on 2 February (Official Report, Vol. 596, col. WA 201). My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has received an assurance from the Metropolitan Police that no searches were undertaken by their officers in this case nor were any letters opened.
Lord Lamont of Lerwick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Home Secretary will instigate regular medical reports on the effects of detention on General Pinochet.[HL896]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: It is not for the Home Secretary to instigate regular medical reports. He took a decision, on 9 December, to issue an Authority to Proceed. The case has been passed to the Bow St. Magistrate, pending a decision by the House of Lords on immunity. The Home Secretary will consider reports on Senator Pinochet's health if and when he comes to exercise his final discretion under Section 12 of the Extradition Act 1989 at the end of the extradition process.
Royal Commissions
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will list Royal Commissions set up since the war, with the date on which each was set up and on which each reported.[HL858]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: The following Royal Commissions have been set up since the end of the Second World War:
| Title | Appointed | Reported |
| Awards to Inventors | 15 May 1946 | 13 December 1948 |
| Justices of the Peace | 24 June 1946 | 5 May 1948 |
| Press | 14 April 1947 | 3 June 1949 |
| Lotteries, Betting and Gaming | 28 April 1949 | 16 March 1951 |
| Capital Punishment | 4 May 1949 | 5 September 1953 |
| Taxation of Profits and Income | 2 January 1951 | 13 February 1953 9 April 1954 20 May 1955 |
| Dundee (University College) and Relationship with St. Andrews University | 3 May 1951 | 24 April 1952 |
| Marriage and Divorce | 8 September 1951 | 20 December 1955 |
| Scottish Affairs | 25 July 1952 | 21 July 1954 |
| Land and Population in East Africa | January 1953 | 16 May 1955 |
| Pay and Conditions of Service in the Civil Service | 16 November 1953 | 10 November 1955 |
| Law Relating to Mental Illness and Mental Deficiency | 20 February 1954 | 7 May 1957 |
| Common Land | 1 December 1955 | 11 July 1958 |
| Remuneration of Doctors and Dentists | 27 March 1957 | 10 February 1960 |
| Local Government in Greater London | 10 December 1957 | 3 October 1960 |
| Police | 25 January 1960 | 15 November 1960 24 May 1962 |
| Press | 1 March 1961 | 5 September 1962 |
| National Incomes | 5 November 1962 | 5 February 1965 |
| Penal System in England and Wales | 15 August 1964 | Wound up May 1966 |
| Prices and Incomes | 8 April 1965 | Wound up 1967 |
| Trades Unions and Employers' Associations | 8 April 1965 | June 1968 |
| Medical Education | 6 August 1965 | March 1968 |
| Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 | 28 February 1966 | 1 November 1966 |
| Local Government in England | 31 May 1966 | June 1969 |
| Local Government in Scotland | 31 May 1966 | September 1969 |
| Assizes and Quarter Sessions | 7 November 1966 | September 1969 |
| Industrial Relations | 1 March 1969 | Wound up 1971 (Reconstituted as a statutory body) |
| The Constitution | 15 April 1969 | 10 October 1973 |
| Environmental Pollution* | 20 February 1970 | First 1971 |
| Civil Liability and Compensation for Personal Injury | 19 March 1973 | March 1978 |
| Press | 16 July 1974 | July 1977 |
| Distribution of Income and Wealth | 23 August 1974 | First 1975 Final 8 October 1979 |
| Standards of Conduct in Public Life | 6 December 1974 | July 1976 |
| Gambling | 24 February 1976 | July 1978 |
| National Health Service | 19 May 1976 | July 1979 |
| Legal Services | 20 July 1976 | October 1979 |
| Criminal Procedure | 3 February 1978 | January 1981 |
| Criminal Justice | 14 March 1991 | July 1993 |
| Long Term Care for the Elderly | 17 December 1997 | Will report shortly |
* As a standing body the Commission reports from time to time.
Lord Geddes asked the Chairman of Committees:
The Chairman of Committees (Lord Boston of Faversham): If active hereditary Peers are defined as Hereditary Peers who attended at least one-third of the Sittings this Session, then the answers are as follows:
(Source: House of Lords Information Office.)
Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe asked the Chairman of Committees:
The Chairman of Committees: I asked for the correction to be made, in order to bring the text into line with my recollection of what I had said.
Baroness Nicol asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hayman): Further to the reply to the noble Lord, Lord Dean of Beswick, on 27 January 1999 (Official Report, col. 1015) the information given was incomplete. On that date, eight, not seven, Peers were serving as non-executive members of the National Health Service boards--five are Conservative, two Labour, and one a Cross-Bencher.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): Mr. Halliday has never provided full details of the source of the data, the statistical methods used in their collation, and how the data have been interpreted.
However, we note from the latest report by the UN Secretary General on the implementation of the UN "oil for food" programme that it is now bringing real benefit to the Iraqi people. Since the programme began in December 1996, $2.5 billion-worth of foodstuffs has arrived in Iraq; $440 million-worth of medicines have been delivered to Iraq, leading to marked improvement in availability of medicines; there has been a 33 per cent. increase in the number of surgical operations; and there is greater availability of drugs, which has led to an increase in patient attendance at health facilities.
We also note from the same report that infant malnutrition has stabilised in Baghdad-controlled Iraq and has decreased in the northern governorates.
What was the average age on 1 February 1999 of:
(a) those Members of the House who are Life Peers and active hereditary Peers;
(b) Life Peers;
(c) active hereditary Peers; and what would have been the average age of Members of the House had the House of Lords Reform Bill, as now drafted, been in force on 1 February 1999.[HL977]
(a) the average age on 1 February of Life Peers and active hereditary Peers was 66 years and 10 months;
(b) the average age on 1 February of Life Peers was 69 years and 0 months; and
(c) the average age on 1 February of active hereditary Peers was 62 years and 0 months.
The average age of Members of the House on 1 February would have been 69 years and 0 months if the Reform Bill, as presently drafted, had been in force then.
Who asked for the correction of the Official Report of Tuesday 12 January (col. 85) which appeared in the Official Report of Monday 1 February (col. 1410); and what reason was given for this request.[HL989]
How many members of the House are currently serving as non-executive members of National Health Service trusts or health authorities.[HL892]
10 Feb 1999 : Column WA27
Why they do not believe the reports of infant ill-health and mortality in Iraq made by Mr. Halliday, the former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations; whether they agree with Mr. Scott Ritter that a "Marshall Plan" for Iraq holds the best chance for a change of government in that country; and, if not, how long they propose supporting the present sanctions regime.[HL786]
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