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Fraud Trials
Lord Christopher asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which fraud trials would have fallen within the 15 to 20 trials a year that the Attorney-General proposed should be heard without juries for each of the past five years; and what were the length and outcome of each trial. [HL740]
The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith): It is not possible to identify individual past cases which might have been suitable for trial without a jury as provided for by Section 43 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Guantanamo Bay: Jamel Abdullah
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why they have not so far taken up with the United States Government the cases of Mr Jamel Abdullah and other former British residents, detained at Guantanamo Bay without trial or access to their families and to legal advice. [HL837]
Lord Triesman: Mr Jamel Abdullah, otherwise known as Anthony Kiyemba is not a British national. It is long-standing government policy that we provide consular assistance only to British nationals. However, my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary exceptionally agreed earlier this year that a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister should meet with the families and legal representatives of Mr Abdullah and the other former British residents detained at Guantanamo Bay to listen to their concerns. My noble friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, the then Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, met with the representatives of Mr Abdullah on 22 March. The concerns raised at that meeting have been passed to the US authorities.
HM Revenue and Customs
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the status of the external routing interface component system being introduced by HM Revenue and Customs. [HL879]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: The external routing interface component moved from testing to live running on 5 June and is processing employers' annual returns for 2004–05.
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the processing of employers' 2004–05 returns of employees' tax and national insurance records was satisfactory. [HL880]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: The processing of employer's annual returns for 2004–05 is progressing and HM Revenue and Customs expect to meet its targets to process 97 per cent of returns by 31 December 2005 and 98 per cent by 31 March 2006.
Homicides
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
On what basis statistics for England and Wales, initially recording homicides between 1997–98 and 2002–03 at 5,853, now record 5,314 homicides; and what comparable statistical analysis is available for Scotland and Northern Ireland. [HL489]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information referred to relates to the period 1997–98 to 2003–04. Figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. In nearly three-quarters of the cases that are no longer recorded as homicide, the suspect was acquitted on such grounds as an accident or self-defence. Other reasons include the suspect found guilty of a lesser offence or the case discharged at magistrates' court. Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for Ministers in the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Office.
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
What have been the primary causes of the 20 per cent rise in recorded homicides in England and Wales between 1997–98 and 2003–04; and whether similar information is available for Scotland and Northern Ireland. [HL490]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The latest available information on homicide was published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 02/05, Crime in England
6 Jul 2005 : Column WA99
and Wales 2003–04: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime. This is available from the website www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm. Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for Ministers in the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively.
Housing: Design for Manufacture
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many £60,000 homes they expect to be built by 2010 under the first-time buyers initiative Design for Manufacture competition. [HL424]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Baroness Andrews): It is expected that a total of around 1,000 homes will be built under the Design for Manufacture competition; lessons learnt from the 1,000 homes will aim to influence about 100,000 more over next three years. The competition challenges developers to build quality two bedroom homes at a construction cost of approximately £784 per square metre, which equates to £60,000, or less. About a third of the homes will be built to this size and cost—the rest will be larger or smaller, in order to provide a mix of dwellings. But all of them will be built at similar cost per square metre.
InterTradeIreland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Rooker): At 1 June 2005, InterTradeIreland employed 38 permanent staff. The religious make-up of these staff is 81.5 per cent. Catholic and 18.5 per cent Protestant.
Lord Birt
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Prime Minister's Strategy Adviser, the Lord Birt, is, or has been, present at discussions on political matters as well as official ones. [HL709]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Information relating to party political discussions is not a matter for government.
McKinsey and Co.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
(a) whether McKinsey and Company Incorporated is currently carrying out any work for the Department for Work and Pensions; (b) how many projects the firm has carried out for the department during each year in the past five years;
- (c) for each project, how long such work lasted and how many McKinsey and Company employees were involved; (d) what was the nature of the contracts with the company; and (e) what was the total value of payments made by the department to McKinsey and Company Incorporated in each of the past five years. [HL442]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): McKinsey and Company Incorporated is not currently carrying out any work for the Department for Work and Pensions and has not carried out any projects for the department in the past five years.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
On how many occasions in the past five years Mr Ian Davis, managing director of McKinsey and Company Incorporated, visited 10 Downing Street; on each occasion what official or Minister he met; what issues were discussed; and whether an official minute was kept. [HL606]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain the information would incur disproportionate costs.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the United Kingdom-based operation of McKinsey and Company Incorporated is currently carrying out work for any executive non-department public body or advisory non-department public body sponsored by H M Treasury; and, if so (a) how many projects the firm has carried out for each of those bodies in the past five years; (b) for each project, how long such work lasted and how many McKinsey employees were involved; (c) what was the nature of the contracts with each of the bodies; and (d) what was the total value of payments made by each such body to the company in each of the past five years. [HL876]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: I understand that no work has been carried out by McKinsey and Company Incorporated for any public body sponsored by the Treasury.
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