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OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: UK Delegation

Lord Graham of Edmonton asked Her Majesty's Government:

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The Right honourable Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Davis) replaces the right honourable Member for Walsall, South (Mr George),who has been elected President of the Assembly, as leader of the delegation. The right honourable Member for Walsall, South (Mr George) remains a member of the delegation.

Special Advisers

Baroness Serota asked Her Majesty's Government:

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The pay bands and pay ranges for special advisers for 2002–03 are as follows:



    Pay Band 4: £76,876 to £92,250


    Pay Band 3 and Premium: £57,401 to £89,175


    Pay Band 2: £45,101 to £58,240


    Pay Band 1: £34,851 to £45,760


    Pay Band 0: Up to £34,850

At 22 July 2002, the number of special advisers in each pay band by department is as follows:

Department01234
No 10(1)66112
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister(2)21
Chief Whip's Office12
Culture, Media and Sport1
Defence1
Education and Skills11
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs11
Foreign and Commonwealth Office2
Health2
Home Office(3)4
International Development(4)
Leader of the House of Lords(5)11
Lord Chancellor's Department1
Northern Ireland Office2
President of the Council2
Scotland Office11
Trade and Industry(6)111
HM Treasury(7 8)1121
Transport(9)1
Wales Office1
Work and Pensions(10)
Total1326214

The cost of special advisers in 2001–02 is £5.1m.

(1) Plus two special advisers who are paid beyond Pay Band 4 but still within the scheme.

(2) Provision for three full-time posts but currently only 2.5 special advisers employed.

(3) Includes one special adviser who is part-time.

(4) One special adviser has been appointed but the job has not yet been evaluated.

(5) Includes one part-time special adviser who provides advice to the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

(6) Plus one adviser who is part-time and unpaid.

(7) Includes the Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury.

(8) Plus the five members of the Council of Economic Advisers who are employed on special adviser terms (one in Band 4, three in Band 3 and one in Band 1—one is part-time).

(9) Plus one special adviser who has been appointed but the job has not yet been evaluated.

(sup10) One special adviser has been appointed but the job has not yet been evaluated.


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Legal and Regulatory Framework for Charities Review

Lord Graham of Edmonton asked the Minister for the Cabinet Office:

    When the Strategy Unit Review of the legal and regulatory framework for charities and the not-for-profit sector will be published.[HL5598]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The Strategy Unit (formerly Performance and Innovation Unit) review of the legal and regulatory framework for charities and the not-for-profit sector will be published in September.

Central Office of Information Annual Report and Accounts

Baroness Lockwood asked Her Majesty's Government:

    When they will publish the Central Office of Information's (COI) annual report and accounts 2001–02.[HL5600]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The COI annual report and accounts 2001–02 was today laid before Parliament, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Emergencies Head Departments

Lord Evans of Temple Guiting asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Which departments will take the lead in the event of different kinds of emergency taking place in the United Kingdom.[HL5562]

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Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: Most emergencies are handled at a local level by the emergency services and by the appropriate local authority or authorities with no direct involvement by central government.

Where central government do become involved because the incident is of such a scale or complexity to require central co–ordination or support, it is essential that we are clear in advance which department will be in the lead.

The Civil Contingencies Committee has had an up-to-date list of pre-nominated leads produced in order to reflect the devolution settlement, the changes to the machinery of government made by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister since the general election and incidents which were not covered in the earlier Dealing with Disaster guidance document.

A paper explaining the respective roles of lead government departments and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat and a table summarising which departments will have the lead for different categories of emergency have been placed in the libraries of the House.

The tables show the position that holds within the devolved administrations, and arrangements are being made to place the material in the Libraries of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Arrangements are also being made for this material to be made available to the local authority and emergency service associations and to be placed on the Internet at www.ukresilience.info, which will be updated whenever necessary and should be consulted for the latest information on pre-designated lead departments.

Castlereagh Police Complex Break-in

Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Who they consider carried out the raid on Castlreagh police complex on 17th March.[HL4985]

The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn): The break-in at the Castlereagh police complex is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. While it continues it would not be appropriate for the Government to speculate about the circumstances of the incident.

Northern Ireland: Police Resources and Crime

Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether they consider the fall of over 20 per cent in the number of police officers in Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2001 and the rise in the crime rate over the same period to be related.[HL5184]

Lord Williams of Mostyn: Crime rates in the whole of the United Kingdom increased between 1998 and 2002. It is not possible to identify one factor alone being responsible for increase in crime rates in Northern Ireland. As acknowledged in the 2001–02

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chief constable's report, the new electronic recording systems have resulted in a significant increase in recorded crime.

While police numbers in Northern Ireland have reduced since 1998, the Government continue to be guided by the chief constable's assessment of policing requirements. The PSNI and Policing Board are working together to develop an overall human resource strategy which will help to ensure optimum use is made of the resources the PSNI has available. However, the Government accept the analysis of the chief constable, again from his annual report, that the need to devote resources to police public disorder situations places great pressure on the ability of PSNI to respond to other crime.

PSNI: Wearing of Poppies

Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether they will take steps to ensure that members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland will not be required to remove Remembrance Poppies during visits to the United Kingdom by the President of the Republic of Ireland.[HL5282]

Lord Williams of Mostyn: Policy on the wearing of poppies in the PSNI is a matter for the acting chief constable, who has no plans to amend the current instructions.

Justice ( Northern Ireland) Bill: Funding

Lord Kilclooney asked Her Majesty's Government:

    What is the estimated funding required to finance those matters in the Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill to be eventually devolved to the Northern Ireland Administration.[HL5283]

Lord Williams of Mostyn: It is not possible at this stage accurately to predict the funding required for those matters in the Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill to be devolved to the Northern Ireland Administration. This precise sum will depend among other things on the timing of further devolution and in some instances on detailed discussions yet to be held with devolved departments.

However, I can assure the noble Lord that the Government will make every effort to ensure that those functions devolved to the Northern Ireland Administration will be adequately resourced.


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