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Cabinet Office: Departmental Report 2003
Baroness Wilkins asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will publish the Cabinet Office Departmental Report 2003.[HL2890]
The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston): I have today laid the Cabinet Office departmental report 2003 before Parliament. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Advanced Sound Ranging Programme
Lord Vivian asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether acceptance trials of the Mark 2 Hostile Artillery Location system (HALO) have been completed; and[HL2674]
When the installation of the Mark 2 Hostile Artillery Location system (HALO) will begin; and when the process of installation is expected to be completed; and[HL2675]
What is the anticipated in-service life of the Mark 2 Hostile Artillery Location system (HALO); and how will the cost of this equipment be calculated taking into account annual depreciation and carrying cost.[HL2676]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach): The Ministry of Defence's variant of the Mark 2 HALO system, the Advanced Sound Ranging Programme (ASP), has completed all acceptance trials. Integration is complete and the ASP system was deployed in March 2003. It is expected to be in-service until 2017.
The through-life cost of ownership of the system is calculated from acquisition, in service support, training and manpower costs. Normal accounting conventions are followed to make provision for depreciation and interest on capital.
Military Service: Compensation
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 9th April (WA 40–41), whether people who have served in the armed forces should continue to receive the benefit of the reasonable doubt standard of proof, which permits claimants to receive assistance while research is carried out into the cause of any apparent new medical condition.[HL2731]
Lord Bach: Those who have served in the Armed Forces currently receive compensation under two schemes. Under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, decisions on whether a condition is attributable to service are taken on a balance of probabilities standard of proof. Under the War Pensions Scheme, within seven years of termination of service, the onus is wholly on the Secretary of State to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the disablement was not due to service. Ministers have yet to take a decision on the arrangements for a new compensation scheme but the concerns of the ex-service organisations in this respect are fully understood and will be taken into account.
Baton Rounds
Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What changes have been made to the Guidelines on the Rules of Engagement for the use of Baton Rounds by the Armed Forces in Northern Ireland.[HL2889]
Lord Bach: On 23 October 2002, we placed in the Library of the House details of the Guidelines on the Rules of Engagement for the use of Baton Rounds in Northern Ireland. We did this as an exceptional measure aimed at building confidence in Northern Ireland following a request from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
Since then, a change has been made to the guidelines in the light of a recommendation made by the Independent Assessor of Military Complaints Procedures in his report on the military use of baton rounds in Northern Ireland. This report was placed in the Library of the House in December 2002. As such we are now placing the updated extract in the Library of the House. It is drawn from a more general guidance card and includes all the relevant guidance on the rules of engagement for the use of baton rounds by the Armed Forces in Northern Ireland.
UK State Pensioners Living Abroad
Baroness Greengross asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their latest estimate of the percentage and number of people in receipt of a United Kingdom state pension who live outside the United Kingdom whose state pension is:
(a) uprated; and
(b) not uprated.[HL2722]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): The information relating to the number and percentage of people receiving a UK State Pension who live in Great Britain or overseas is in the table.
| Number of people receiving a UK state pension | Percentage of total number of people receiving a UK state pension | |
| Recipients of a state pension in Great Britain | 10,310,000 | 92 per cent |
| Recipients of a state pension living overseas—pension uprated | 410,000 | 4 per cent |
| Recipients of a state pension living overseas—pension not uprated | 490,000 | 4 per cent |
| Total recipients of a state pension | 11,210,000 | 100 per cent |
Source: September 2002 State Pension Summary of Statistics
Notes:
1. Numbers in the table have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and the percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole per cent.
2. Figures provided are for Great Britain and overseas only. The DWP only has access to Great Britain and overseas data. The Northern Ireland Office holds Northern Ireland data separately.
Baroness Greengross asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Thirteen countries have applied to become new members of the European Union.
Ten of these countries signed the Treaty of Accession to the European Union in April 2003. They are: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. These acceding countries will not become full members of the European Union until 1 May 2004.
Bulgaria and Romania are due to sign the Treaty of Accession to the European Union but this is not expected until 2007.
Turkey is not currently negotiating its membership to the European Union.
However, agreements that allow for uprating of the UK state pension already exist with Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia and Turkey.
The numbers of people receiving a State Pension who live in the 13 countries that have applied to become new members of the European Union are shown in the table:
Source: Pensions Strategy Computer System—30 September 2002
Notes:
1. Figures are subject to a high degree of sampling variation and should only be used as a guide.
2. Figures are in thousands and are rounded to the nearest hundred.
3. The use of a hyphen (-) denotes nil or neglible.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician and Registrar General, who has been asked to reply.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Executive Director of the General Register Office on behalf of the National Statistician and Registrar General, dated 16 May 2003.
The National Statistician and Registrar General has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning arrangements to enable the registrar of deaths to notify agencies of both central and local government of a person's death. I am replying in his absence.[HL2820]
Registrars currently notify the deaths they register to a number of agencies, including local council tax departments, electoral registration and the health service. They may make notifications only where there is specific statutory provision for them to do so.
On 22 January 2001, the Government published proposals for modernising civil registration in England and Wales in the White Paper 'Civil Registration: Vital Change', copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House. The White Paper proposes that named central and local government agencies be notified of events that have been registered, including deaths, directly from a new central database, rather than from individual registrars.
It is also proposed that central and local government agencies and some private sector organisations may access registration records with the consent of the person named in the record or their family in some circumstances. In the case of death records, consent would need to be given by the deceased person's next of kin or representative.
The necessary changes to legislation will be made by means of an Order under the Regulatory Reform Act.
Lord Acton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Andrews: The Food Standards Agency's departmental report, Spring 2003, was laid before Parliament today. Copies are available in the Library.
In which of (a) the 10 European Union accession countries; and (b) the 13 other possible European Union member countries, the United Kingdom state pension is not currently uprated; and how many people in receipt of a United Kingdom state pension live in each country.[HL2721]
Country Thousands
Bulgaria -
Cyprus 7.1
Czech Republic 0.1(1)
Estonia -
Hungary 0.3(1)
Latvia 0.1(1)
Lithuania 0.1(1)
Malta 2.8
Poland 1.6
Romania -
Slovakia -
Slovenia 0.1(1)
Turkey 0.7
Whether they will make arrangements to enable the registrar of deaths to notify agencies of both central and local government of a person's death.[HL2820]
When the Food Standards Agency's departmental report for Spring 2003 will be published.[HL2930]
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