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26 Apr 2006 : Column WA21
Written Answers
Wednesday, 26 April 2006.
Afghanistan: Helmand Province
The Earl of Sandwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
What small-scale sustainable development projects they intend to support in Helmand province, and on what scale, to help reduce poverty and improve security in Afghanistan. [HL5197]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): DfID has agreed to allocate up to £20 million per year to support development projects in the Helmand province. We have allocated £1 million annually to a £3 million quick impact fund, which will be managed by the provincial reconstruction team and include money from other parts of the UK Government. It will fund small-scale projects in a number of areas including community development; stabilisation activities implemented by local non-governmental organisations in areas where the Government of Afghanistan cannot work; and support to refurbish drug rehabilitation clinics. This may include irrigation schemes; local access roads; canal cleaning; and skills training for women and war widows. Sustainability will be a criterion for assessing the use of quick impact funding.
The majority of DfID funding to Helmand will go through Government of Afghanistan national programmes to build the capacity of the Government and extend their authority throughout the country. DfID's support will help strengthen key institutions of government including the Office of the Governor; the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development; and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food. DfID also supports programmes that promote alternatives to poppy production in Helmand, including the development of legal crops, access to agricultural services and broader rural development issues such as infrastructure, access to credit and markets and skills development.
Agriculture: Northern Ireland Beef Sales
Lord Kilclooney asked Her Majesty's Government:
When it became possible to sell Northern Ireland beef in the rest of the European Union; in which European Union countries Northern Ireland beef is being promoted at present; and what proposals there are to promote Northern Ireland beef in the European Union in future. [HL4864]
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Rooker): During the beef export ban, UK beef could be exported only after meeting strict traceability and processing criteria laid down in legislation. Following
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the EU decision on 8 March to lift the ban on UK beef, it is expected that legislation to allow beef from Northern Ireland to be treated in Europe will be in force by the end of April. That is a very welcome move and will allow exports of Northern Ireland beef and cattle to resume as quickly as possible.
Because of the beef export ban, Northern Irish beef has not been promoted in Europe. However, the Government have been proactive in recent months, undertaking a wide range of vital preliminary work in anticipation of the lifting of the ban. It has included commissioning extensive research into export market opportunities and assessing the export potential of Northern Ireland companies; the provision of access to Food From Britain's world-wide network of international buyer contacts; and funding a three-year, £1.2 million beef market restoration programme, carried out by the Livestock and Meat Commission, a major element of which aims to assist local companies develop successful export businesses in the long term.
Under current EC state aid rules, the spending of public money on any promotional activity is severely restricted, and government support for promotion based solely on product origin is banned. However, I can assure the noble Lord that the Government will continue to make every effort to facilitate the complex and lengthy state aid approval process in order to maximise benefits to industry.
Anti-social Behaviour: Individual Support Orders
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
What they are doing to expand the use of individual support orders; and [HL4628]
Whether they plan to extend intervention orders to adults whose anti-social behaviour is not drugs-related; and [HL4629]
Whether they plan to extend individual support orders to adults. [HL4630]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): Individual support orders (ISOs) are already widely available for the courts, and they are obliged to consider making the orders in every case where a stand-alone anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) is issued to a person aged 10–17 years. There are currently no plans to expand the scope of ISOs or extend them for use with adults. We are keen to increase the uptake of ISOs and are working both with the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) to ensure that local areas are aware of the benefits of this support. Drug intervention orders will be available later this year. Although there are currently no plans to extend the drug intervention orders to adults whose behaviour is not drug-related, we are keen to see what more we can do to support adults with ASBOs who have special support needs.
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Consultants: Department for Education and Skills
Lord Smith of Clifton asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much was spent in each year on external management consultants by the Department for Education and Skills and its agencies from 2000 to 2005. [HL5022]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Lord Adonis): The Department for Education and Skills spent the following sums from administration costs on consultancy:
| £ million | |
| 2000–01 | 4.3 |
| 2001–02 | 5.0 |
| 2002–03 | 4.0 |
| 2003–04 | 4.7 |
| 2004–05 | 3.9 |
| 2005–06 | 3.5 |
The costs of consultancy charged to programme budgets before November 2004 were not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Consultancy costs recorded against programmes from November to March 2004–05 were £4.4 million. £13 million was recorded in 2005–06. It would not be possible to separate management consultancy as recently redefined by the Office of Government Commerce from some forms of wider consultancy expenditure, except at disproportionate cost. The department does not have any executive agencies. Consultancy firms also supply a range of professional services and delivery functions that are outside the definition of consultancy. They are excluded from the above figures.
Consultants: Department for Work and Pensions
Lord Smith of Clifton asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much was spent in each year on external management consultants by the Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies from 2000 to 2005. [HL5023]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Department for Work and Pensions spending on external management consultants is set out below. The department was formed in June 2001, and therefore the 2001–02 figure relates to the former DSS only. Full spend for the 2005–06 financial year will not be available until July 2006.
Spending in 2003–04 represented the peak of the department's major modernisation programme with its high requirement for external expertise.
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| Financial year | £ millions |
| 2001–02 | 23.79 |
| 2002–03 | 47.57 |
| 2003–04 | 223.35 |
| 2004–05 | 98.64 |
Employment: County Tyrone
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proposals they have to create jobs in the Castlederg area of County Tyrone; and [HL5000]
What plans they have to create new employment in the Donemana area of County Tyrone. [HL5074]
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Rooker): The Urban Regeneration and Community Development Group within the Department for Social Development utilises different policies and regeneration tools to tackle disadvantage and deprivation and consequently promote economic regeneration and employment opportunities. The department's comprehensive development schemes and urban development grants unlock development opportunities by releasing underused or derelict land and buildings to encourage economic and physical regeneration and promote job creation, inward investment and environmental improvement. In addition, the department launched the neighbourhood renewal strategy in 2003, aimed at tackling deprivation in the top 10 per cent. most deprived areas in Northern Ireland. The strategy has four key strands, one of which is economic renewal. The department aims to encourage business development in these areas and to make sure that people from these areas have the skills that they need to participate in the labour market.
The Department for Employment and Learning will support employers who are expanding their workforce or creating new jobs by providing job-brokering services and suitable training programmes where appropriate. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development delivers the rural development programme 2000–06, which aims to create 1,000 jobs in rural areas in Northern Ireland.
The Government have introduced a wide range of measures to deliver their long-term goal of improving Northern Ireland's competitive position, which will ultimately lead to better employment opportunities for all. Examples include DETI's accelerating entrepreneurship and regional innovation strategies, DARD's vision action plan and a number of DSD initiatives designed to regenerate rural and urban areas and promote private sector investment and job creation.
The overall aim of the EU programme is to move Northern Ireland to a state of sustainable prosperity in a competitive modern economy by focusing on the restructuring of its businesses and the key skills development of its people while maintaining a quality environment.
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