---

Over the next three years we will provide additional prison places in order to reduce doubling and meet shorter-term population pressures. Specifically, we will redevelop Mourne House at Maghaberry Prison as a 300-bed unit (240 new places), work on which has already commenced. There will be up to an additional 170 places at Magilligan, including the recently opened Alpha Unit.

I have placed copies of the options appraisal in the Library of the House.

Sanctions

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Kim Howells) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Government are committed to informing Parliament annually of the sanctions regimes that the United Kingdom implements. Currently the United Kingdom implements United Nations sanctions in relation to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and terrorism.

The UK also implements sanctions regimes imposed autonomously by the EU in relation to Belarus, Burma, China, the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (in connection with individuals indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or responsible

18 Dec 2007 : Column WS104

for certain acts of violence at Mostar), Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

In accordance with a decision of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the United Kingdom implements arms embargoes on Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Government also take full account of the Economic Community of West African States moratorium on certain exports of small arms and light weapons to Economic Community of West African States members.

A full list of sanctions regimes and restrictive measures implemented by the UK is published on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at www.fco.gov.uk/sanctions. Following a request from the right honourable Lord Wakeham during the 12 October Lords debate on the impact of economic sanctions, this document now includes objectives and lift criteria for each regime.

Skills Pledge

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Lord Triesman): Today my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (John Denham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I am drawing the attention of the House to a factual error of reporting in relation to the number of employers who have voluntarily made the Skills Pledge to support the upskilling of their employees.

On 12 December 2007 the House was informed by David Lammy, Minister for Skills within the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, that the number of employees covered by the voluntary pledge was 3.1 million, based on information from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Incorrect figures were used in a small number of other instances in reply to Members' Questions and in another place. However, I was informed on Friday 14 December by the LSC that the correct figure is 2.3 million and that the mistake was due to a computer programming error which has now been detected and rectified. The LSC has confirmed that the number of employers making the skills pledge (630) was correct. I apologise to the House unreservedly for this inadvertent error. I am also writing to Members who were given the incorrect figure.

The LSC's internal quality assurance processes identified this programming error. However, I have asked the LSC chief executive to ensure through a rigorous review of his organisation's information and reporting systems that there is no recurrence of this problem. This review will report to me in January 2008 as part on my ongoing considerations on the future leadership and management of the Skills Pledge and its contribution to making the skills of the workforce world class.

---