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Colombia: Coal Mining
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make representations to the Government of Colombia about the compulsory displacement of 3,200 inhabitants from the village of Tabaco, La Guajira, Colombia as a result of coal-mining development at El Cerrejon, now owned by three London-listed companies. [HL1882]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): A group of Colombian citizens, including members of the Tabaco community, and British non-governmental organisations raised their concerns in relation to the Cerrejon opencast mine in northern Colombia with Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials on 30 January in London. Their concerns included claims of being forcibly displaced. Our embassy in Bogota has contacted Cerrejon in Colombia to pass on the concerns that the group expressed to the FCO. We regularly raise with the Colombian Government the importance that we attach to adherence to socially responsible business practices by extractive companies around the world, and will relay the concerns around the Cerrejon mine mentioned above to the Colombians.
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make representations to the Government of Colombia and the British-based
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Lord Triesman: A group of Colombian citizens, including members of the Tabaco community, and British non-governmental organisations raised their concerns in relation to the Cerrejon opencast mine in northern Colombia with Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials on 30 January in London. Their concerns included claims of being forcibly displaced, lack of compensation and damage to the environment. Our embassy in Bogota has contacted Cerrejon in Colombia to pass on the concerns that the group expressed to the FCO. We regularly raise with the Colombian Government the importance that we attach to adherence to socially responsible business practices by extractive companies around the world, and will relay the concerns around the Cerrejon mine mentioned above to the Colombians.
Common Agricultural Policy: Single Farm Payment
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What estimates the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has made of the total amount of fines that the Government may have to pay to the European Commission due to their failure to pay the 2005 single farm payments within the required timescale; and when these fines are due to be paid. [HL1873]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Government have explained to the European Commission why they believe that late-payment penalties in respect of the 2005 single payment scheme (SPS) would be inappropriate and, should the Commission make any relevant proposals in due course, will continue to defend the UK’s interests. Nevertheless, the possibility of late-payment penalties was reflected in Defra’s resource 2005-06 accounts, as laid before Parliament on 30 October 2006.
Compensation
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the cost of the independent assessor responsible for determining the amount of awards payable in the case of criminal offences; and how many such award recommendations have been overturned by the Secretary of State. [HL1857]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): In the latest completed financial year, 2005-06, £58,541 was paid in fees to the independent assessor of compensation for miscarriages of justice. Under Section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the Secretary of State has no locus to overturn any assessment made by the independent assessor in respect of awards made under that section. As regards awards
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Constitution
Lord Norton of Louth asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Cabinet Office does not employ constitutional lawyers as such. The First Parliamentary Counsel, who is in charge of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (which is organisationally located within the Cabinet Office), has a personal responsibility to provide advice on a range of legal and related issues including certain constitutional matters to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office also obtains legal advice from the Treasury Solicitor's Department on various matters which can sometimes involve the consideration of constitutional questions.
Crime: Rape
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have carried out any studies on rape conviction rates in Germany, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and the United States compared to the rates for the United Kingdom, and on the reasons for any differences in these rates. [HL1833]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): Home Office Research Study 293, A Gap or a Chasm? Attrition in Reported Rape Cases, published in 2005, includes information about rape conviction rates for Finland, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Denmark and the US. The report suggests that while some core problems link adversarial and investigative legal systems, including declining rates of conviction, most of these countries have higher prosecution and conviction rates than the UK.
The report does not offer reasons for these differences and any international comparisons need to be treated with caution as the criminal justice processes, definition of rape and data collection processes are not necessarily comparable between countries.
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has reclaimed the award of £11,000 paid to the accuser in the Leslie Warren rape case; and [HL1854]
Whether the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has reclaimed the award of £7,000 paid
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Baroness Scotland of Asthal: I refer the noble Lord to the Answers given on 23 January (col. WA 219) and 1 February (col. WA 73). CICA cannot release information about whether any applications have been made in particular cases.
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have carried out any studies on rape conviction rates in Australia and New Zealand compared to the rates for the United Kingdom, and on the reasons for any differences in these rates. [HL2013]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Home Office Research Study 293, A Gap or a Chasm? Attrition in Reported Rape Cases, published in 2005, includes information about rape conviction rates for Australia. The report identifies similar attrition patterns to those documented for England and Wales. The Government have not carried out any studies on rape conviction rates for New Zealand. International comparisons need to be treated with caution, as the criminal justice processes, definition of rape and data collection processes are not necessarily comparable between countries.
Crime: Religiously Aggravated Offences
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith on 9 January 2006 (WA26), whether the further review and consultation on whether to record the religion or belief of the perpetrator and victim of religiously aggravated crimes have now taken place; and, if not, what is the expected date of commencement and completion. [HL1880]
The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith): The further review and consultation have now taken place. This formed part of a wider Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) review of the information that the CPS records in the area of hate crime.
The outcome of this review and consultation is that, from April 2007, the CPS will record the religion or belief of the perpetrator and the victim of all crimes, including religiously aggravated crimes.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they expect to publish statistics on racially and religiously aggravated crime for 2005-06. [HL1881]
Lord Goldsmith: Her Majesty's Government published statistics on cases of racially and religiously aggravated crime that occurred during 2005-06 on
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Crime: Sexual Offences
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there is consistency in the services offered by sexual assault referral centres and in the response of police constabularies to their operations. [HL1831]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The Home Office has agreed with the national steering group for sexual assault referral centres’ (SARCs) recommended minimum elements of service for SARCs. These are accessible on the Home Office website and were included in national service guidelines on developing SARCs (2005). All SARCs endeavour to provide these services, although the model through which they are delivered varies according to local demographics and circumstances. SARCs are normally operated by police and health services, often in partnership with the voluntary sector.
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the estimated cost of the national tracking project for sexual offences proposed by the Jamieson research project in 1998. [HL1832]
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting: The study by Jamieson et al, The Attrition of Sexual Offences in the Criminal Justice System: A Report of a Pilot Study Monitoring Cases from First Report to the Police Final Outcome (unpublished), was submitted to the Scottish Office in 1998. This research was a small-scale pilot study conducted in two Scottish police forces and no details of the cost of implementation of the recommendations are provided in the paper. Following publication of that report, the then Scottish Executive Minister for Justice announced that the priority was to produce legislative proposals to improve the protection of victims in sex offence cases.
Demonstrations
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Under Section 134(7)(b) of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, when a person who is in contravention of the particulars specified in an authorised demonstration is guilty of a crime. [HL1744]
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The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): It is for the courts to decide when a person is guilty of an offence. Under Section 134(7)(b), a person who takes part in or organises a demonstration in the designated area is guilty of an offence if he knows, or should have known, that the demonstration is carried on otherwise than in accordance with the particulars set out in the authorisation. There are defences for a person accused of an offence under Section 134(7)(b) that the divergence from the particulars arose from circumstances beyond his control, or from doing something done with the agreement, or by the direction, of a police officer.
Domestic Workers
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they will take to ensure that their proposals for accompanied domestic workers do not add to existing problems. [HL2014]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): We have already stated that, in line with the Government’s policy to phase out low-skilled migration, we will be terminating the overseas domestic worker in private households category.
Limited provision will, however, be made to allow visitors to the UK to be accompanied by their “domestic assistants” under revised business visitor arrangements. These are not migrant workers but people who are ordinarily employed and resident outside the United Kingdom.
As part of our continued work to combat trafficking, our emphasis will be on developing robust procedures, including appropriate safeguards, such as the identification of cases of possible abuse at the pre-entry stage to minimise the risk of subsequent exploitation.
Egypt: Identity Cards
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will propose to the German presidency of the European Union that the agenda for the next meeting to discuss progress on the European Union-Egypt Association Agreement should include an item on the recently introduced computerised identity card system, which requires a person to state that he is Muslim, Jewish or Christian. [HL1883]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): We raised this matter with the German presidency of the European Union on 7 February and it is currently exploring the most appropriate way of taking this forward.
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Energy: Co-firing
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of United Kingdom research into combined biomass and fossil-fuel firing in existing and future power plants. [HL1336]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Truscott): The DTI has commissioned a number of reports into biomass co-firing, the most recent being two independent reports as part of the energy review and review of the renewables obligation: Evaluating the Sustainability of Co-firing in the UK, Themba Technology Ltd, 2006, http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file34448.pdf, and The Economics of Co-firing, IPA Energy Consulting, 2006, http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file34449.pdf. Preparation of these reports involved consultation with industry and reviewing existing literature. Other reports include Best Practice Brochure: Co-Firing of Biomass, May 2005, http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file20737.pdf; Low Cost Utilisation of Biomass, March 2005, http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file15015.pdf; and Co-firing Sewage Sludge and Biomass, Power Generation Technology Centre, November 2005, http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file29951.pdf.
Energy: Solar Power
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will hold discussions with researchers in the public and private sectors to examine the modalities of enhancing surface productivity on photovoltaic solar cell units, to bring the carbon dioxide coefficients closer to the life cycle emissions for stronger and longer sunlight areas in southern Europe. [HL1846]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Truscott): The DTI’s technology programme, which includes support for collaborative research between academia and industry, supports all areas of research in photovoltaic cells, with an ongoing focus on improved cost and efficiency of all types of cell. This will help to improve the energy output of photovoltaic cells and hence reduce their financial and carbon payback time. To help to achieve these objectives, officials work closely with key researchers in the UK and internationally.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council also funds the SUPERGEN (Sustainable Power Generation and Supply) initiative, which is a programme of research at UK universities. The SUPERGEN PV group is looking at photovoltaic materials for the 21st century. More information on this work is available at http://www.pv2l.org/intro.htm.
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EU: Gendarmerie Force
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the proposed strength of the European Gendarmerie Force; what is its intended purpose; how is it being financed; and how much will it cost. [HL1959]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): The European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) is an initiative of five EU member states (France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain). The UK is not a member of the EGF and therefore does not have detailed information about the force.
I understand that the purpose of the EGF is to make available rapidly deployable paramilitary police units able to perform a variety of policing roles, primarily in support of EU crisis management operations. It has a permanent headquarters (HQ) of 30 staff based at the Centre of Excellence for Stability Police Units, in Vicenza, Italy. The HQ consists of a multinational core that can be reinforced as needed by agreement of the contributing states.
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