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Immigration Detainees: Bail
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why they have not yet implemented Part 3 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and why they intend to abolish routine bail hearings by means of Clause 57(6) of Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill. [HL4903]
Lord Filkin: Our proposals for the future system of bail for immigration detainees was set out in the recent White Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain.
Part III of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 created a complex system of automatic bail hearings at specified points in a person's detention. These provisions have never been implemented, nor do we believe they will be. As the White Paper made clear, we intend to implement Sections 53 and 54 of the 1999 Act but repeal the remainder of Part III, which is no longer consistent with the need to ensure streamlined immigration and asylum processes.
Most immigration detainees will still have the right to apply for bail. These rights to seek bail will be extended by the implementation of Section 54 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to include persons detained pending deportation who do not have an outstanding appeal.
British Subjects: Deprivation of Citizenship
Earl Russell asked Her Majesty's Government:
- With reference to Clause 4 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill, what precedents there are for depriving British subjects of their citizenship. [HL5034]
Lord Filkin: Between 1915 and 1948, 287 British subjects wer deprived of that citizenship status. Between 1949 and 1973 10 citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies were similarly deprived by order of the Home Secretary. An equally small number were deprived by order of colonial governors. There have been no deprivations since 1973, although a number of cases have been considered. The names given to British nationals have changed over time as new legislation has been introduced.
Appellate Committee of the House of Lords
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many applications have been made during the past five years for leave to intervene in cases before the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords; and how many applications have been granted. [HL4839]
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): The information requested is set out in the table below.
| Petitions for leave to intervene | Granted | Granted to the extent that they may present written submissions only | Refused | Petitions for leave to present written submissions only | Granted | Refused | |
| 1997 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – |
| 1999 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2001 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they have conducted an appraisal of whether the resources available for the operation of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are appropriate and sufficient to meet the needs of supreme judicial authorities of the United Kingdom; if so, whether they will publish the results of their appraisal; and, if not, whether they will conduct such an appraisal and publish its results.[HL4873]
The Lord Chancellor: The Government agree that the resources available to the judicial committees of the House of Lords are a matter of importance. Obviously sufficient accommodation must be provided, but while the Appellate Committee is part of the House, this is a matter for the House authorities and not for the Government.
Magistrates' Courts
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
To what extent there are national or local shortages of qualified clerks and other administrative staff in magistrates' courts; whether this is causing delays in hearing cases; and, if so, what remedial measures are in hand.[HL4790]
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): Accurate information about the extent of national or local shortages is not available.
In England and Wales the average number of days from first listing to completion in all criminal cases reduced from 36 days in February 2000 to 34 days in March 2002.
An informal survey of magistrates' courts committees (MCC) found that just over half said they had experienced some shortages of court clerks; less
than half of the MCCs have also experienced shortages of other administrative staff. Less than half said that this has contributed to some delays in hearing cases, although to varying degrees.Some of the measures that MCCs are taking to address the problem include reviewing salaries, considering flexible working patterns and offering training and development packages to attract interest in vacant positions. Staff shortages and delays are presently being taken into account in the Government's spending review.
Registered Electorate
Lord Goodhart asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of the registered electorate in each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland was registered in electoral units where no elections (excluding by-elections and elections to the House of Commons or the European Parliament) where held, respectively, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002.[HL4796]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information requested is not held centrally.
Solicitors' Practice Rules
Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What support is being given to the Law Society to ensure the prompt reform of those solicitors' practice rules identified as anti-competitive by the Director General of Fair Trading.[HL5009]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Reform of the solicitors' practice rules and removal of anti-competitive restrictions therein are matters for the Law Society to take forward. Where there are restrictions in legislation relating to the regulation of solicitors, they fall to Government to consider. As has already been announced, the Government are planning to consult before the summer break on those issues which fall to them arising from the DGFT's report.
Network Rail: Accounting
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the statement by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 27 June (HL Debs, col. 1515) that Network Rail will be consolidated into the accounts of the Strategic Rail Authority, a public body, how Network Rail's debts can be excluded from the public sector borrowing requirement.[HL5014]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Strategic Rail Authority's accountants have advised that Network Rail should be consolidated into the accounts of the
Strategic Rail Authority. This judgment is based on the application of generally accepted accounting practice (GAPP). This is the system used in the UK to prepare accounts for companies and other types of bodies.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) determined that Network Rail should be recorded as a private sector body in national accounts. ONS's judgment is based on the application of the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). The rules of ESA95 are used across Europe for the preparation of national accounts, which is an integrated set of macro-economic statistics.
Since Network Rail will be classified to the private sector, its own expenditure and borrowing will not be included in public sector statistics such as public sector net borrowing. But any payments by government to Network Rail will score in those statistics.
So the different treatments arise because accountants and statisticians have come to different judgments when applying the rules of accountancy on the one hand and a system of economic statistics on the other.
Gurkha Soldiers: Support
Lord Swinfen asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What steps they are taking to support serving and retired Gurkha soldiers and their families in Nepal.[HL4883]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach): Support to serving and retired Gurkhas and their families is channelled through our bases in Kathmandu and Pokara, which provide resettlement training and a recruitment service to help Gurkhas secure employment after they have been discharged. Our pension paying offices also arrange for the regular payment of pensions to retired Gurkhas, who are entitled to an immediate pension after only 15 years service.
Separately, the department supports the work of the Gurkha Welfare Trust, an independent charity established in 1969 to provide financial, medical and community aid to Gurkhas and their families when they leave the British Army. The Ministry of Defence makes an annual grant in order to pay for the administrative costs of its field arm, the Gurkha Welfare Scheme (GWS), headed by our defence attache in Kathmandu. It spends some £6.5 million each year in Nepal and our contribution enables all the money raised by the trust through charitable donations and public appeals to be used solely for welfare purposes. The GWS now also provides, even in the most remote areas of Nepal, primary healthcare, first aid and emergency treatment, doctors' clinics and elementary dentistry, all free of charge. It is also involved in community projects and the award of one-off hardship payments in respect of individual catastrophes. No genuine case of hardship is ever turned away and its work not only benefits our ex-servicemen, but is also of value to the infrastructure of Nepal as a whole.
In view of the current security situation in Nepal, our embassy in Kathmandu continues to monitor the position closely, and appropriate security briefings are given to all personnel embarking on periods of long leave. HQ British Gurkhas Nepal also keeps in regular contact with Gurkha communities throughout Nepal via a network of retired Gurkha officers.
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