| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Written Answers
Thursday, 15 January 2004.
Afghanistan: Aid and Education
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When foreign aid grants are redirected from CARE to the Afghan Ministry of Education, they will ensure continuity of funding for the children in schools in Afghanistan sponsored by CARE under the Community Organised Primary Education Programme.[HL373]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): Donors in Afghanistan are encouraged to provide funding for programmes that appear in the Afghan Government's National Development Budget (NDB). The Community Organised Primary Education Programme is listed as a programme for donor funding in the NDB. This shows that the Ministry of Education itself sees this programme as a priority. Donors can fund this programme either by providing funding to the Ministry of Education or by providing funding directly to the implementing agency, which in this case is CARE.
DfID provided a total of £550,000 to CARE for it's work in Afghanistan in financial years 2001–02 and 2002–03. In line with the Afghan Government request that donors concentrate on key areas of support, we are no longer providing funding to the education sector although we continue to provide funding to the Afghan Government budget, which includes teachers' salaries. A number of other donors are focusing on education. They include the US, Denmark and Sweden.
Cross-Border Implementation Bodies
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what dates the final versions of the 2004 business plans for cross-border bodies were provided to the appropriate departments.[HL406]
Baroness Amos: Details of the date on which each body supplied a final version of the 2004 business plan to the relevant sponsor departments are set out in the attached table.
| North/South Body | Date Final Business Plan Submitted |
| Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission | 5 September 2003 |
| Waterways Ireland | 23 October 2003 |
| Language Body— | |
| Ulster Scots Agency | Final version Not yet agreed |
| Foras na Gaeilge | Final version Not yet agreed |
| InterTradeIreland | 23 October 2003 |
| Special EU Programmes Body | 3 November 2003 |
| Food Safety Promotion Board | 27 November 2003 |
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answers by the Lord President on 10 December (WA 63) and 11 June (WA 44) on the Ulster Agency budget, whether the correct procedure was used in assessing the budget in this case.[HL435]
Baroness Amos: I have nothing further to add to the Answer given on 12 November 2003 (WA 197).
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether it is their policy that the cross-border implementation bodies can only function in the long term with devolution arrangements in place.[HL654]
Baroness Amos: I have nothing to add to the previous Answer given on 11 June (WA 43).
Belfast Agreement
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether their expectation, on signing the Belfast agreement, was that the Government of Eire would undertake their tasks with respect to the agreement; how these obligations are monitored; and what steps will be taken if there is a failure to comply.[HL693]
Baroness Amos: The Government intend to observe all of their commitments under the Belfast agreement and have always believed that the Irish Government would do so as well. All aspects of the agreement are kept under close review. We have no grounds to expect any failure on the part of the Irish Government in meeting their obligations.
Emergency Vehicles: Road Traffic Legislation
Lord Norton of Louth asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What requirements have to be met by drivers of emergency vehicles, including private ambulances, and what plans there are to introduce statutory requirements.[HL638]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Drivers of emergency vehicles are subject to the rules of the Highway Code, many of which are legal requirements.
However, Section 87 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 exempts drivers of vehicles used for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes from speed limits in an emergency. The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations 1997 give qualified exemptions from signals at puffin and pelican crossings to vehicles used for fire brigade, ambulance, national blood service and police purposes, and the
Traffic Signs Regulations 2002 give similar qualified exemptions from other red light signals and keep right/left arrows to vehicles being used for fire brigade, ambulance, bomb or explosive disposal, national blood service or police purposes.In no case is any distinction made as to whether a vehicle being used for ambulance purposes is private or not.
Officials in the Driving Standards Agency working together with the Department of Health, the fire brigade, police and the Ministry of Defence have developed an agreed set of minimum core competences for drivers of emergency vehicles of all types which have been adopted by these "blue-light users". The DoH has agreed that the core competences should apply to all ambulance drivers employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Powers were taken in the Transport Act 2000 to require drivers of certain classes of motor vehicles to take a prescribed training course. We are considering what regulations should be introduced using these powers, including post-test training for drivers of vehicles under "blue-light" conditions.
West Coast Main Line
Lord Bradshaw asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why the West Coast Main Line, especially the section north of Colwich, has received a large proportion of rail expenditure, when recently published figures show that this route has had a 6 per cent decline in passenger miles since privatisation, compared to an average 25 per cent rise on other intercity routes.[HL713]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Patronage on the West Coast Main Line reflects unreliability, limited capacity and restricted line speeds arising from past lack of investment. The Strategic Rail Authority's West Coast Route Modernisation Strategy is designed to remedy that.
Horse Passports
Lord Higgins asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether any money paid for horse passports has been paid to the Government; and, if so, by what authority the money has been levied.[HL535]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): Her Majesty's Government have not directly received any of the money received by passport issuing organisations from the issue of equine passports. No money paid for horse passports has been paid to the Government. Fees are paid to the passport usury authorities, which set their own fees. Normal taxation rules apply to these organisations so Her Majesty's Government may receive money indirectly. No specific authority is needed for this purpose.
Iraq: Oil Industry
Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether there are plans to privatise the Iraqi oil industry.[HL30]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): We are not aware of any plans to privatise Iraq's oil industry.
I apologise for the delay in answering this question; an administrative error led officials to believe that this question had been answered by the Department for Trade and Industry.
Iraq: Elections
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Oil for Food Ration List could be used as the basis for the electoral register for democratic elections in Iraq; and what would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing this. [HL635]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: On 15 November 2003, the Iraqi Governing Council announced plans for establishing a Transitional National Assembly formed through caucus elections at provincial level. The Assembly will be elected no later than 31 May 2004, leading to the creation of a new transitional administration by the end of June 2004. This will be followed by elections for a Constitutional Convention and the holding of a census, leading in turn to national elections for a new representative Iraqi Government by the end of 2005. The Oil for Food Ration List would only be used at national level if direct elections were held before the census. There are no plans to do so at this time.
Moldova
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their assessment of the recent Russian Memorandum for the resolution of constitutional and other issues in the Republic of Moldova.[HL259]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Our aim is a political settlement in Moldova acceptable to all there. The memorandum recently drawn up by Russia following negotiations with the parties represented significant progress on some constitutional issues. But it was not ultimately accepted by President Voronin, who had reservations about certain aspects of the proposed settlement. Other OSCE member states, including the United Kingdom, shared some of these concerns. We remain committed to encouraging the parties to continue negotiations, with a view to concluding a settlement acceptable to all concerned at the earliest possible date.
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |