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Belfast Agreement

Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have made representations to the Government of the Irish Republic concerning the implementation of the part of the Belfast agreement of 1998 which refers to comparable steps by the Irish Government; and, if not, why not.[HL3293]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Her Majesty's Government have regular discussions with the Government of Ireland on all aspects, UK and Irish, of implementation of the Belfast agreement. The Government of Ireland have amended the Irish

27 Mar 2002 : Column WA49

Constitution to remove the former Articles 2 and 3 relating to its former claim to Northern Ireland; it has established a Human Rights Commission; it has ratified the Council of Europe Framework Convention on National Minorities; and is taking measures to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into its domestic law.

Afghanistan: Role of UN

Lord Judd asked Her Majesty's Government:

In the light of the experience of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), what they advocate as the role of the United Nations in Afghanistan in each of the following specific areas:


(a) human rights;


(b) electoral matters;


(c) military matters;


(d) civil administration;


(e) police matters;


(f) repatriation of refugees and displaced people; and


(g) rehabilitation.[HL3399]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: It is important that the UN and international community learn from previous experience in post-conflict situations such as Cambodia. The Government believe that the UN has a central role to play in the political, reconstruction and rehabilitation process in Afghanistan. The recent report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation in Afghanistan sets out his proposed structure for the UN presence in Afghanistan. The UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, under the leadership of Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Afghanistan, will aim to ensure that UN agencies on the ground are well co-ordinated and focused on supporting the Afghans to implement the terms of the Bonn Agreement.

The UN is currently working with the Afghan Interim Administration in a number of areas:

1. The UN-led political process, as outlined in the Bonn Agreement, sets out a road map for the transition to a democratic representative government in Afghanistan. The next stage in the political process, the Emergency Loya Jirga, will be held in June. The Loya Jirga will select the members of the Transitional Administration, which will rule until elections are held in 2004.

2. The UN is working with the Afghan Interim Administration on the immediate transitional assistance programme for the Afghan people. The programme contains UN and NGO projects focusing on urgent humanitarian needs, immediate recovery projects, and longer-term reconstruction and governance support.

3. The International Security Assistance Force (acting under a UN mandate) is helping the Afghan Interim Administration to maintain

27 Mar 2002 : Column WA50

peace and security in and around Kabul. The German Government have offered to take forward the training of the Afghan police force.

4. The UNHCR is working on the resettlement and repatriation of refugees.

5. The UN is supporting the Afghan Interim Administration to establish a human rights commission.

Industrial Tribunals and Employment Tribunals

Lord Wedderburn of Charlton asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish immediately the annual number of applications made to industrial tribunals and employment tribunals in each of the years from 1981 to 2001; and what was the percentage in each year of those applications which led to the complaints being upheld in the tribunals.[HL2896]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): The following table lists the number of applications registered in Great Britain in each of the years from 1981–2001, the number of applications disposed of in each year and the number and percentage of those disposed of which were successful, where the information is available.

Year	Cases Registered	Cases Disposed of		Successful at a Hearing
2000–01	130,408	92,938	13,640	14.7%
1999–2000	103,935	83,409	10,349	12.4%
1998–99	91,913	74,006	9,282	12.5%
1997–98	80,435	74,614	9,278	12.4%
1996–97	88,910	(1)	(1)	(1)
1995–96	(2)108,827	l73,472	10,219	13.9%
1994–95	(2)88,061	67,325	10,422	15.5%
1993–94	71,661	69,612	12,060	17.3%
1992–93	71,821	67,325	9,351	13.9%
1991–92	67,448	41,768	7,022	16.8%
1990–91	43,243	35,826	5,503	15.4%
1989–90	34,697	31,913	4,598	14.4%
1988–89	28,832	29,317	3,829	13.1%
1987–88	31,414	34,233	4,185	12.2%
1986–87	38,727	39,404	5,342	13.6%
1985–86	35,964	37,910	5,405	14.3%
1985	(3)36,468	(4)	(4)	(4)
1984	(3)39,824	(4)	(4)	(4)
1983	(3)39,939	(4)	(4)	(4)
1982	(3)43,645	(4)	(4)	(4)
1981	(3)44,831	(4)	(4)	(4)

(1) Due to changes to the Database system of the ETS in 1996, statistics for 1996–97 are not available.

(2) Includes a large number of applications registered following a decision in the ECJ (Vroege & Fisscher case) relating to part-time pension rights.

(3) Information on applications registered prior to 1985 is only available on a calendar, not financial year basis.

(4) This information is not available.

Source:

Employment Tribunals Service and Labour Market Trends/Employment Gazette.

27 Mar 2002 : Column WA51

Droit de Suite

Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:

What measures they are taking to ensure that the United Kingdom is exempted from the European Union requirement to levy droit de suite on sales of works of art from 2006.[HL3348]

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Government are obliged, no later than 1 January 2006, to implement Directive 2001/84/EC on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art, and to introduce droit de suite into the United Kingdom.

Special Advisers: Cost

The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the cost of special advisers employed by the Government on a departmental basis for each of the years 1989–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01; and what is their estimated cost for the current financial year.[HL3040]

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston): The Government have already announced introduction of a new pay system for special advisers from June 2001 based on individual job evaluation. The salary costs for the current financial year will be provided once the process of job evaluation is completed.

For the other years in question, the approximate total cost including pension contributions for each year was:

1998–99: £3.5 million

1999–2000: £4.0 million

2000–01: £4.4 million

Government-sponsored Public Bodies:Gender of Appointees

Baroness Howe of Idlicote asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the number of public bodies to which each government department makes appointments; and for each of those bodies:


(a) what percentages of appointees are male and female;


(b) what percentages of chairmen are male and female;


(c) what percentages of deputy chairmen are male and female;


(d) what percentages of paid chairmen are male and female;

27 Mar 2002 : Column WA52

(e) what percentages of paid deputy chairmen are male and female; and


(f) what percentages of chief executives are male and female.[HL3431]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The latest edition of the annual Cabinet Office publication, Public Bodies 2001, was published on 14 February 2002. The publication gives summary details of the public bodies each government department sponsors. This includes the remuneration and gender of all appointees, whether the appointment is made by Ministers or on some other basis. Copies are in the Library of the House.

Baroness Howe of Idlicote asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the number of paid public appointments made by each government department; and what percentages of those appointees are male and female.[HL3432]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The latest edition of the annual Cabinet Office publication Public Bodies 2001 was published on 14 February 2002. The publication gives summary details of the public bodies each government department sponsors. This includes the remuneration and gender of all appointees, whether the appointment is made by Ministers or on some other basis. Copies are in the Library of the House.

The information requested has been extracted from Public Bodies 2001 and is set out for each in table form below. Remuneration is paid in the form of an annual salary or on the basis of days, half-days or meetings attended or cases handled; normal expenses such as travel and subsistence are not included.

People in posts attracting remuneration

Department	Male	Female	Total	% Male	% Female
Cabinet Office	38	26	64	59.38	40.63
DEFRA	431	120	551	78.22	21.78
Department for Education and Skills	110	85	195	56.41	43.59
Department of Culture, Media and Sport	145	75	220	65.91	34.09
Department of Health	1,284	990	2,274	56.46	43.54
Department of Trade and Industry	1,704	818	2,522	67.57	32.43
DTLR	425	179	604	70.36	29.64
DWP	1,320	743	2,063	63.98	36.02
FCO	6	4	10	60.00	40.00
FSA	80	27	107	74.77	25.23
HM Treasury	23	9	32	71.88	28.13
Home Office	163	50	213	76.53	23.47
Inland Revenue	8	1	9	88.89	11.11
Lord Chancellor's Department	45	18	63	71.43	28.57
MoD	30	3	33	90.91	9.09
Oftel	5	1	6	83.33	16.67
OFWAT	8	2	10	80.00	20.00
ORR	13	4	17	76.47	23.53
Scotland Office	1	1	2	50.00	50.00
Grand Total	5,839	3,156	8,995	64.91	35.09

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