| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Housing: South-East England
Lord Trefgarne asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the number of new homes to be built in the south-east of the United Kingdom over the next 20 years. [HL1369]
Baroness Andrews: Regional planning guidance for the south-east (RPG9) provides for over 29,500 additional dwellings a year in the south-east until 2016. The amount is being reviewed through the statutory planning system; the South-East England Regional Assembly is preparing a draft south-east plan, which will ultimately replace existing policy in RPG9.
Identity Cards
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government announced their intention to introduce legislation for an identity cards scheme in November 2003 following a six month consultation exercise. In preparation £19 million has been spent since the start of the 2003 financial year and the end of June 2005. A further £1.61 million has been spent on trials.
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any consultants have been employed to date to work on the identity card scheme; if so, whom; and how much public money has been spent on such consultancy work. [HL1245]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Identity Cards Programme appointed PA Consulting as a delivery partner in June 2004 to provide services which include technical requirements, design of the scheme and resilience and security. Committed spend in relation to PA Consulting (as at end of May 2005) was £12,016,638.
The Identity Cards Programme has used the services of a number of other consulting companies and I attach a table below showing the details of the contract as well as the value of the contract.
10 Oct 2005 : Column WA37
10 Oct 2005 : Column WA39
10 Oct 2005 : Column WA39
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What biometric details are included in (a) passports, and (b) identity cards (where issued), of each country in the European Union. [HL1469]
Lord Triesman: (a) At present, no EU member state includes biometric identifiers in its passports. However, Council Regulation (EC) No.2252/2004 of 13 December 2004, on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by member states, provides for member states to include in their passports a digital photograph and two fingerprints.
(b) As far as we are aware, Portugal and Italy are currently the only countries to use biometric identifiers (in both cases fingerprints) on national ID cards.
Illegal Immigrants
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish their plan to remove the 350,000 to 500,000 persons they estimate to be in the United Kingdom illegally. [HL1356]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: No government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure of the number of people who are in the country illegally. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately, and that remains the case. Although it is impossible to determine accurately how many people are in the UK illegally the Home Office published a report which included an estimate of the size of the illegal migrant population in the UK in 2001. It should be noted that the report included an estimate, not an accurate or definitive figure. In February 2005, we published a five-year strategy for asylum and immigration, Controlling Our Borders: making migration work in Britain, which sets out plans for removing those illegally residing in the UK. The strategy sets out plans to ensure that by the end of 2005, the monthly rate of removals exceeds the number of unfounded applications so that we can begin to deal with the backlog.
A copy of Sizing the unauthorised (illegal) migrant population in the United Kingdom in 2001 can be found at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/notes/June–summaries.html.
A copy of the five-year strategy can be found at www.archive2.official–documents.co.uk/document/cm64/6472/6472.htm.
10 Oct 2005 : Column WA40
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether their estimates of the number of persons illegally in the United Kingdom relate only to heads of households or include dependants. [HL1357]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The estimates of the size of the unauthorised (illegal) population contained in RDS online report 29/05, Sizing the unauthorised (illegal) migrant population in the United Kingdom in 2001, includes foreign-born dependents.
International Criminal Court
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, where a charge which might fall within the competence of the International Criminal Court against a member of the British Armed Forces has been dismissed by the military justice process, they foresee a possible need to reopen the charge in the civil courts in order to satisfy the criterion that the International Criminal Court does not have jurisdiction where the case has been properly addressed by the domestic legal system with jurisdiction in respect of the prospective accused. [HL1477]
Lord Triesman: No, there is no such need.
Iraq: C130 Hercules Crash
Lord Garden asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Ministry of Defence has completed the investigation into the cause of the loss of the C130 Hercules and its crew in Iraq on 30 January; and, if so, what were the findings. [HL1341]
Lord Drayson: As my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence indicated in another place on 7 July 2005, (Official Report, col. 473) the board of inquiry continues to work to determine the cause of this tragic event.
Iraq: Development Fund
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they are taking on the irregularities concerning the Development Fund for Iraq reported by the auditors KPMG. [HL1297]
10 Oct 2005 : Column WA41
Lord Triesman: The latest report by the Independent Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) is based on audit reports by external auditor (KPMG) of activities relating to the Development Fund of Iraq (DFI), covering the period 29 June 2004 to 31 December 2004.
Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1546, Iraq has sole control over its financial assets and the DFI and how they are managed. The IAMB continues to monitor Iraqi management of the DFI to ensure transparency and that DFI funds are used to benefit the Iraqi people.
The UK continues to study the detailed points made in the KPMG report. We are continuing our support to improve transparency and accountability of public financial management in Iraq through Department for International Development-funded technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance.
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |