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Northern Ireland: Human Rights Abuses
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What steps the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has taken since 1 March 1999 to highlight human rights abuses carried out by republican and loyalist paramilitaries. [HL724]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The Chief Commissioner has been asked to write to the noble Lord. A copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.
Omagh Bombing: Victims' Relatives
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has done since 1 March 1999 to help the relatives of the victims of the Omagh bomb on 15 August 1998. [HL725]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The Chief Commissioner has been asked to write to the noble Lord. A copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.
Northern Ireland: UFO Crash
Lord Hill-Norton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What search operation took place following reports of the crash of an unidentified object in Northern Ireland on 13 February 2001. [HL732]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: I refer the noble Lord to a letter from the Army Headquarters Northern Ireland to UFO and Paranormal Research Ireland, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House of Lords.
Northern Ireland: Prisoner Sentence Plans
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many hours per week of (a) education and training and (b) work were carried out by prisoners in Northern Ireland in the most recent years; by how much this will be increased in 2001-02; whether the percentage of sentence plans is being improved; and, if so, by how much and over what period. [HL778]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The prisoner population in Northern Ireland received an average of 906 hours
education and 2,668 hours work (vocational training and industry workshops) per week in the 2000-01 financial year.For the year ended March 2001 an average of 65.4 per cent of the eligible prisoner population were following a sentence plan. Up to the end of September 2001 an average of 77.6 per cent of the eligible prisoner population were following a sentence plan.
Public Sector Ombudsmen Review
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 82), whether they expect to be able to set out their conclusions in relation to the consultation exercise before the end of this year; and, if not, why not. [HL696]
The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston): In July this year, the Government made a statement on the consultation exercise on the review of the Public Sector Ombudsmen in England. In this statement the Government reaffirmed their commitment to the renaissance of public services, improving access and delivery and driving up standards. The effective handling of complaints is an important element of this programme of renewal. But there will be times where, having pursued a complaint about a particular public service, a complainant remains dissatisfied. Such cases need to be considered independently and that role is fulfilled by, among others, the public sector ombudsmen in England that were the subject of this review. These ombudsmen comprise the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Health Service Commissioner and the Commission for Local Administration (which comprises the three Local Government Ombudsmen and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration ex officio).
In 1999, following representations from the ombudsmen, the Government announced a review to determine whether the present arrangements are in the best interest of complainants and others, against the background of moves towards more integrated public services and an increasing focus on the needs of the consumers of such services. The review team consulted widely and their report was published in April 2000. A consultation paper seeking views on the review's main recommendations and its other conclusions was published in June 2000. In all we received 174 responses to the consultation paper and copies have been placed in the Library of the House together with a statement of the Government's conclusions.
Briefly, these are that, in light of the responses received to the consultation paper, the Government are satisfied that there is broad support for the review's main recommendations.
We therefore intend to replace the existing arrangements by a unified and flexible ombudsman body for central and local government and the
National Health Service (excluding NHS Pensions, which will continue to fall under the jurisdiction of the Pensions Ombudsman, established by Part X of the Pensions Schemes Act 1993 (as amended). In line with the review's recommendations, there will be direct access to this new body irrespective of whether the complaint is concerned wholly or in part with a central government body. Furthermore, and again in line with the review's recommendations, the new body will have a collegiate structure within which the individual ombudsmen are identified with a particular group of the bodies under jurisdiction but free to carry out crosscutting investigations. Proposals for the precise powers and accountability of the new body, and on whether its jurisdiction should be extended beyond the bodies subject to the jurisdiction of the existing ombudsmen, will be published in due course.Broadband in the UK
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 81), whether any new or revised targets in respect of government services online and UK broadband delivery and penetration are being contemplated; and, if so, when and in what terms these are to be introduced; and[HL626]
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 81), whether "availability of broadband services as a foundation for market evolution" is an appropriate and coherent means of measuring delivery of the Government's target "to have the most extensive and competitive market for broadband in the G7 by 2005; and[HL627]
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 81), whether availability rather than take-up of broadband is the criterion by which they will now assess whether the target "to have the most extensive
- and competitive market for broadband in the G7 by 2005" has been achieved.[HL628]
Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: We have no plans to revise the targets: i) that all government services should be available electronically by 2005; and ii) for the UK to have the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005.
On broadband, we have asked the stakeholder group to advise us on the quantifiable measures by which we should measure progress towards our broadband target. We have received a progress report from the stakeholder group which recommends setting up indices to compare price, competition, coverage, addressable market and take-up. This report is available at http:/www.e-envoy.gov.uk/ecommerce/broadband/bbsgrep menu.htm
The group expects to publish its final recommendations, alongside a government response to them, in November.
Old Palace Yard
Lord Berkeley asked the Chairman of Committees:
- What is the cost of the road pavement reconstruction works in Old Palace Yard already undertaken and planned for the future.[HL770]
The Chairman of Committees (Lord Tordoff): The total cost of the scheme to restore Old Palace Yard is £2.64 million. The cost to the House is £2.54 million, and Westminster City Council has agreed to contribute £100,000.
The works are being carried out over three summers; 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2000, £667,801 was spent on the works to the west side of Old Palace Yard; in the present year we expect to spend £1.5 million.
The scheme was approved by the Administration and Works Sub-Committee in June 1998. The House subsequently referred the matter back to the sub-committee. After the sub-committee again recommended the scheme, the House approved it in November 1998.
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