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Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the reasons for delaying the coming into force of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 until autumn 2008. [HL964]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Government are working to implement the Act as speedily as possible. As the Government stated during the passage of the Bill, implementation of any legislation requires a significant programme of work. In overview, this programme of work will include the development of the necessary court rules and forms, the setting up of the appropriate court processing systems, guidance developed for staff and judicial training undertaken. The views of the public will also be taken into account and the Government have already published a public consultation on the issue of who should be a relevant third party to forced marriage proceedings. The implementation plan therefore includes the time needed to prepare staff and the judiciary and to ensure that support systems are in position once the Act comes into force.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are their plans for ensuring that the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 is implemented effectively. [HL965]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government have recently announced that the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 will be brought into force in
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Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
What civil protection will be given to the victims of forced marriage during the period before the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 is brought into force. [HL966]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 adds to the existing civil protection that is already available to victims of forced marriage. This includes civil remedies under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and non-molestation orders under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996 as well as injunctions. Applications for protection under the Children Act 1989 and High Court wardship proceedings may be made in the case of victims of forced marriage who are children.
Freedom of Information
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many requests for information the Northern Ireland Office has received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and how many have been granted. [HL809]
Lord Rooker: Since the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into operation on 1 January 2005, until 30 June 2007 the Northern Ireland Office has received a total of 507 requests.
The following information applies for the Northern Ireland Office until 30 June 2007:
| No. Requests received | Information fully disclosed | Information partially disclosed | Information Not held |
The remaining balance of requests constitutes those which have been withheld in full, transferred to other departments and a small number that are current.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has committed to publishing quarterly updates in relation to departmental performance under FOI, including information on both the volume and outcome of requests. The bulletins up to the 2007 second quarter can be found on the DCA website at http://www.foi.gov.uk/reference/statisticsAndReports.htm and in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Gershon Review: DCMS
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
In the case of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies have been taken to date as a result of the Gershon review, what is the total departmental bill for each type of redundancy; and what is the natural wastage during the Gershon period to date for the department.[HL988]
Lord Davies of Oldham: In the Department for Culture, Media and Sport there have been no (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies as a result of the Gershon review. The natural wastage during the Gershon period from April 2005 to 31 March 2007 is shown in the table below.
| Year | Natural wastage as % of average headcount for the year |
Gershon Review: Treasury
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
In the case of the Treasury, how many (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies have been taken to date as a result of the Gershon review, what is the total departmental bill for each type of redundancy; and what is the natural wastage during the Gershon period to date for the department. [HL987]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Since 2004 HM Treasury has made the following number of redundancies:
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
Please note, figures for 2007-08 are as at 30 September 2007 and estimates for costs in the current financial year are unavailable.
HM Treasury systems do not distinguish between voluntary and compulsory redundancies. Identifying redundancies between these classifications can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Gershon Review: Wales Office
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
In the case of the Wales Office, how many (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies have been taken to date as a result of the Gershon review; what is the total departmental bill for each type of redundancy; and what is the natural wastage during the Gershon period to date for the department. [HL1063]
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: None.
Government: Diary Secretaries
Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Secretary of State for Defence has a diary secretary provided at public expense. [HL812]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): Yes.
Government: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
In what proportions the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales, Mr Peter Hain MP, has divided his time between those two offices. [HL950]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Secretary of State for Work and Pension and for Wales divides his time between the two roles as necessary and appropriate to discharge his responsibilities.
Guantanamo Bay: British Detainees
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are experiencing delays in securing the return of former British residents detained at Guantanamo Bay; and, if so, what are the reasons for such a delay. [HL962]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): In August this year, my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to US Secretary of State Rice to request the release and return of five men, who while not British nationals, had close links to the UK having been lawfully resident here prior to their detention in Guantanamo Bay. Three of these men, Mr Sameur, Mr El Banna and Mr Deghayes, returned to the UK on the evening of 19 December 2007.
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The US has so far declined to agree the request for the release and return of a fourth man, Mr Aamer, and we are no longer in active discussions regarding his transfer to the UK. We are still discussing with the US the case of a fifth man, Mr Mohammed, although again the US Government are not inclined to agree to his release and return because of security concerns.
Health: Cord Blood
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of the 8,000 cord blood transplants which have taken been place worldwide have been performed in the United Kingdom.[HL832]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): This information is not held centrally. However, the NHS Cord Blood Bank estimates that around 150 transplants using material from cord blood have been undertaken in the United Kingdom.
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many blood disorders have been successfully treated in the United Kingdom using cord blood. [HL833]
Lord Darzi of Denham: The department does not hold this information. Cord blood units are used to treat the same diseases as those treated by bone marrow transplant; that is to say, acute leukaemia, immunodeficiencies and metabolic defects.
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
In respect of women donating cord blood, (a) how many NHS hospitals allow this procedure; (b) how many of these are outside London; (c) how many NHS hospitals there are in total in the United Kingdom; (d) what public funds have been allocated to develop these services; and (e) how long it will be before there is a national network of hospitals able to collect blood. [HL834]
Lord Darzi of Denham: Currently the NHS Cord Blood Bank collects cord blood stem cells from four collection sites—Barnet General, Northwick Park, Luton and Dunstable and Watford General hospitals. Luton and Dunstable and Watford General are not covered by London NHS trusts. Department funding for the NHS Cord Blood Bank from 2006-09 is approximately £10 million.
The aim of the NHS Cord Blood Bank is to redress the imbalance of minority groups that are represented on bone marrow registries by focusing collection at hospitals with high ethnic diversity and high delivery rates. As a consequence, approximately 40 per cent of donations in the NHS Cord Blood Bank derive from ethnic minority mothers,
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All the cord blood units stored in the NHS Cord Blood Bank are available to NHS patients across the country. For these reasons, it is not considered necessary to collect cord blood from all hospitals.
The development of these services is kept under regular review and the Government will continue to support this work in the best way possible.
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
What would be the justification or rationale for the creation of saviour siblings, as provided for in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, if there existed in the United Kingdom a coherent and effective cord blood service. [HL835]
Lord Darzi of Denham: The NHS Cord Blood Bank has been set up to complement bone marrow registries. In most cases, if a patient requires a stem cell transplant, cord blood is used only if an appropriate matched bone marrow donor cannot be found. Only 25 to 35 per cent of patients have a matched sibling. The chances of obtaining matched stem cells from an unrelated donor vary, depending on the ethnic origin of the patient. Therefore, matching is greatly improved when the donor and recipient have the same ethnic and racial background.
Since the majority of the 10 million unrelated donors available in registries worldwide at present are of white caucasoid ethnic background, most patients from this racial group have more than a 90 per cent chance of finding a matched, unrelated donor. However, this figure falls substantially for patients from ethnic minorities, who have only a 30 to 40 per cent chance of finding a good match.
The aim of the NHS Cord Blood Bank is to redress the imbalance of minority groups that are represented on bone marrow registries by focusing collection at hospitals with high ethnic diversity and high delivery rates. As a consequence, approximately 40 per cent of donations in the NHS Cord Blood Bank derive from ethnic minority mothers, contrasting with approximately 3 to 4 per cent ethnic minority bone marrow donors presently in the British Bone Marrow Registry, hence increasing the potential matches for patients from diverse ethnic groups.
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