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Northern Ireland: Victims' Groups
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 10 November (WA 106) on funding for victims and ex-prisoners groups in Northern Ireland, why some ex-prisoners groups are listed as victims groups. [HL2666]
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Rooker): My Written Answer on 10 November (WA 106) gave details of funding allocated to groups, organisations and projects involved in providing support for victims, and included funding provided through the European Union Peace II Programme.
Three ex-prisoner groups successfully applied for funding under Measure 2.4b (Integration and Reconciliation of Victims) of that programme, hence their names, along with the amounts of money involved, appeared on the list.
Pensions Commission
Lord Palmer asked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the total costs of the inquiry leading to the 2nd Report of the Pensions Commission. [HL2710]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Pensions Commission's estimated monthly average costs between April 2003 and October 2005 have been as follows.
| Cost of Pensions Commissioners' time | Nil |
| Cost of Pensions Commission Secretariat staffing | £35,000 |
| Cost of Pensions Commission non-staff costs | £ 8,000 |
| Cost of Pensions Commission social research | £ 10,000 |
Notes:
(a) Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000.
(b) The DWP also meets the costs of general office overheads eg accommodation, IT etc. These costs are not separately identifiable from DWP running costs.
(c) The design, publication, print and distribution costs for the 2nd Report are yet to be brought to account. We expect these to be in the range of £100,000 to £125,000.
Pensions: Reciprocal Uprating Agreements
Lord Jones of Cheltenham asked Her Majesty's Government:
For British citizens living overseas and in receipt of the state pension, with which countries and territories (a) they have reciprocal agreements to allow for annual pensions uprating; (b) they do not have such agreements, but pensions are uprated annually; (c) negotiations are ongoing aimed at reaching agreement on reciprocal arrangements to allow annual uprating; and (d) no attempt is being made to reach agreement on reciprocal arrangements to uprate pensions annually. [HL2806]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The information requested is provided below. The Government have no plans to enter into further reciprocal agreements covering uprating state pensions and are not in negotiations with any foreign government to do so.
The countries with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement providing for the uprating of UK state pensions:
Yugoslavia (including the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Slovenia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).
The countries are those within the European Community, Switzerland and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Reciprocal agreements for European Economic Area countries and Switzerland have been superseded by European Community legislation.
* Slovenia entered the European Union from May 2004
Sugar
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
What changes, in money and percentage terms, are forecast in the prices paid for cane sugar products imported into the United Kingdom in each of the next four years following the introduction of the reform to the common market organisation for sugar. [HL2843]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach): The reformed EU sugar regime will establish a new reference price for imports of raw sugar applicable from 2009–10 onwards, following a transitional period. The 2009–10 reference price of euro 335.2 per tonne compares with the present intervention price of euro 523.7 per tonne, a reduction of 36 per cent. The change from an intervention price to a reference price system is part of the move to a more market based, liberalised regime where prices are fixed less rigidly. The actual price paid for cane sugar products in the reformed regime will be the subject of commercial negotiations between the cane growing country exporters and the EU importers and may result in levels higher than the reference price guide.
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
What changes, in money and percentage terms, are forecast in the prices of white sugar to consumers in the United Kingdom over the next four years following the introduction of the reform to the common market organisation for sugar. [HL2844]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach): The reformed EU sugar regime will establish a new white sugar reference price applicable from 2009–10 onwards, following a transitional period. The 2009–10 reference price of euro 404.4 per tonne compares with the present white sugar intervention price of euro 631.9 per tonne, an overall reduction of 36 per cent. The change from an intervention price to a reference price system is part of the move to a more market-based, liberalised regime where prices are fixed less rigidly. No forecasts have been made of how these price cuts will translate into the cost of white sugar to consumers.
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Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have commissioned an investigation into the likely increase in sugar consumption in the United Kingdom by consumers and by the food industry, due to lower prices following the introduction of the reform to the common market organisation for sugar, and the consequent effects on the health of (a) children, and (b) adults; and, if so, whether they will publish the results of the investigation. [HL2846]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach): An assessment of the health impacts of sugar reform was included in the Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment of Options for Reform of the EU Sugar Regime published by Defra in June 2005.
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
In which European Union countries sugar beet will continue to be eligible to receive direct production subsidies; and for what reasons. [HL2847]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach): Under the existing EU sugar regime, the growing of sugar beet is supported by a system of price guarantees passed on to the final consumer, without any direct production subsidies financed by the common agricultural policy budget. From July 2006, as agreed at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in November, growers will receive new decoupled direct CAP payments to compensate them for the cuts in guaranteed prices in the reformed regime. For a transitional period and in order to help the adjustment process the possibility exists in limited circumstances for an additional coupled aid to be paid to farmers who continue to grow sugar beet in member states where the overall reduction in sugar production is more than 50 per cent. This aid is open to all member states who meet the quota reduction thresholds, but is expected to be relevant only to countries with low sugar production efficiency.
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
What changes, in money and percentage terms, are forecast in farm gate prices for sugar beet in the United Kingdom in each of the next four years following the introduction of the reform to the common market organisation for sugar. [HL2842]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach): The reformed EU sugar regime will establish a new minimum beet price applicable from 2009-10 onwards following a transitional period. The 2009-10 price of euro 26.3 per tonne will be 40 per cent. lower than today's minimum beet price of euro 43.6 per tonne, a reduction of euro 17.3 per tonne. The actual price paid for sugar beet in the reformed regime will be the subject of contractual negotiations between the growers and the beet processors and may well be higher than the legislative minimum.
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