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Independent Monitoring Commission
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Rooker): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Peter Hain) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
I have received the 10th report of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC). This report has been made under Articles 4 and 7 of the international agreement that established the commission. I have considered the content of the report and I am today bringing it before Parliament. I have placed copies in the Library of the House.
The commission has provided an assessment of ongoing levels of paramilitary activity and criminality.
In respect of the Provisional IRA, the report states that "it remains our absolutely clear view that the PIRA leadership has committed itself to following a peaceful path. It is working to bring the whole organisation fully along with it and has expended considerable effort to refocus the movement in support of its objective". The report also observes that "in the last three months this process has involved the further dismantling of PIRA as a military structure".
The report notes that progress with regard to other paramilitary groups remains "extremely uneven". It further notes that "dissident republicans remain determinedly committed to terrorism and deeply engaged in other crime, but they are not always capable of fulfilling their paramilitary ambitions and have recently been foiled by successful police operations. The indications on the loyalist side that
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some would like to wean the paramilitary groups from violence to community and other lawful activities have still to bear significant fruit".
The report recognises that some organised crime continues, and is an issue for both republican and loyalist paramilitaries. However, it notes, "we have found signs that PIRA continues to seek to stop criminal activity by its members and to prevent them from engaging in it. We believe that some senior PIRA members may be playing a key role in this. This seems to us to be in accordance with the publicly articulated strategy. We believe that volunteers who had previously engaged in illegal fundraising have been told to refrain from doing so". The report observes that some members of PIRA remain involved in organised crime but categorises them "as distinct from the organisation itself".
On the issue of arms, the report states that "we did not say three months ago that the PIRA leadership had in any way given instructions to retain arms. Indeed, our present assessment is that such of the arms as were reported to us as having been retained would have been withheld under local control despite the instructions of the leadership. We note that, as reported by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), the leadership claimed only to have decommissioned all the arms 'under its control'. The relevant points are that the amount of unsurrendered material was not significant in comparison to what was decommissioned and that these reports do not cast doubt on the declared intention of the PIRA leadership to eschew terrorism and to follow the political path. We will continue to monitor the position".
On the issue of intelligence gathering, the report notes that "though PIRA has access to people in positions in public and private organisations who could provide them with sensitive information on individuals which might be of use to them, we have no indication that people are currently being tasked to supply such information. While PIRA continues to receive information from members and sympathisers we do not know of information being proactively sought". The report goes on to state that "we are currently not aware of intelligence-related activity which is outside the aims of the July statement".
The Government believe that this report provides further evidence of the direction of movement that PIRA and its leadership are taking in accordance with its commitments on 28 July 2005. The report is positive in that respect and the Government believe that it should make a helpful contribution to the rebuilding of trust and confidence in Northern Ireland which is necessary for a return to full devolution.
Once again, I am grateful to the commission for its submission of this report and for its careful analysis.
Nepal
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Following nearly three weeks of strikes and demonstrations across Nepal in which at least 14 people died, on 21 April
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King Gyanendra announced that he would hand over executive power to the Seven Party Alliance and invite them to appoint a Prime Minister. On 24 April, King Gyanendra went further and reaffirmed that the,
and reinstated the Parliament of Nepal which he had suspended in 2002. The first session of Parliament is planned for Friday, 28 April.
On 21 and 25 April, my honourable friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Dr Kim Howells) issued statements welcoming these developments, which are a victory for the democratic aspirations of the people of Nepal. The UK has worked closely with the wider international community over many months in support of these aspirations.
There is much still to be done to secure a fully functioning democracy and peace in Nepal. In the first instance, we hope that calm will return to the streets of Nepal, and that the security forces will exercise the restraint that has been absent from much of their behaviour in recent weeks and months. In his statement of 21 April, Dr Howells condemned the loss of life that resulted from the excessive use of force by the security forces.
We further hope that an early result of the recall of Parliament will be a transfer of the Royal Nepalese Army and security forces to full civilian authority, and that these forces will work under a democratic government as soon as it is formed. We would hope to see a ceasefire by both sides to accompany these changes, as a step towards a peace process.
In November 2005 the Maoists announced an understanding with the Seven Party Alliance which opened up the possibility of reintegrating the Maoists into a democratic political process. A comprehensive peace process, to underpin the political process, remains a key objective. The Maoists must commit to an end to violence. They must commit to democracy by entering into a peace process with the new government, beginning with a ceasefire.
The role of the King in a future multi-party democracy is for the people of Nepal to determine. He should understand that there can be no rowing back from the transfer of full executive power to a government representing the will of the people.
A paramount concern for the UK Government throughout the current crisis has been the safety of British citizens and staff in Nepal. We continue to advise against non-essential travel to Nepal while the situation remains unstable. We will continue to keep this under daily review.
The UK stands ready, with international partners, to work with the new government and the people of Nepal in this new context. We are looking closely at what practical assistance might be appropriate, in the form of development and other support.
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NHS: Foundation Trusts
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health (Patricia Hewitt) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
Section 4(1) of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 provides that an NHS trust may make an application to Monitor (whose statutory name is the Independent Regulator of NHS foundation trusts) for authorisation to become an NHS foundation trust, if the application is supported by the Secretary of State.
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I am today announcing that I support Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust in its bid to become an NHS foundation trust, as part of wave 2A of NHS foundation trust applications. The trust can now apply to Monitor for authorisation as an NHS foundation trust, and set up new governance arrangements including recruiting members and holding elections to the board of governors. Section 6 of the 2003 Act sets out the matters to be taken into account by Monitor and the terms under which authorisation of NHS foundation trust status can be given.
I understand from the chairman of Monitor that Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust, if successful, would be authorised on 1 August 2006.
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