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Revenue and Customs: Loss of CDs
Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in light of the missing computerised personal data relating to child benefit from HM Revenue and Customs, they will reconsider their proposal to introduce a national identity card and database. [HL400]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Her Majesty's Government remain committed to the implementation of the national identity scheme, including the issue of identity cards and establishing a national identity register.
The national identity scheme will be security accredited to the highest standard necessary and, as the national identity register is not yet in place, we will be able to learn any lessons from the HM Revenue and Customs incident.
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the interim report due on 14 December by Mr Kieran Poynter into the loss of personal confidential information by HM Revenue and Customs; and [HL610]
Whether they have entered into a contract with Mr Kieran Poynter to carry out a review of the loss of personal confidential information by HM Revenue and Customs; and, if so, whether they will place a copy of the contract in the Library of the House; and [HL611]
How much they expect to pay for the work being carried out by Mr Kieran Poynter for the review of the loss of personal confidential information by HM Revenue and Customs. [HL612]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Kieran Poynter's interim report was published on 17 December and I repeated in your Lordships' House the Statement on the matter which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had made to the House of Commons on that day. Mr Poynter is being assisted by a team from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
The Treasury has entered into a contract with PWC that is commercially confidential and it is too soon to say what the final cost of the ongoing review will be.
Sudan: Comprehensive Peace Agreement
Lord Steel of Aikwood asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much money they committed to assist implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan; and how much of that has been paid so far. [HL982]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Vadera): Following the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in January 2005, the UK pledged £317 million in aid to Sudan over three years (2005-2007). To date, the UK has spent £290 million in humanitarian and development aid and stands to exceed this pledge. Within this, the UK contributed £49.6 million to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund over three years (2005-2007), which is split evenly between MDTF-National and MDTF-South Sudan.
Tobacco
Baroness Coussins asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make it an offence for adults to buy cigarettes on behalf of children under 18 years of age, in the same way as it is already a proxy purchase offence to buy alcoholic drinks to pass on to children. [HL650]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): We are not considering an offence of proxy purchasing of tobacco. In practice, it would be extremely difficult to enforce and therefore be of limited value in the Government's efforts to reduce smoking among young people under the age of 18.
Transport: Flammable Liquids
Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many tanker vehicles carrying flammable liquids have caught fire in each of the past five years. [HL764]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The information requested is tabled below. 2005 is the most recent year for which we have data.
| Fires in tankers carrying flammable liquids, England, 2001-2005 | |
Turkey: Aid and Development
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the European Union has made payments to Turkey for aid or development purposes in the current or previous years; if so, of what amounts; and what inspections or other methods are in use to verify that payments are spent for the purposes intended. [HL998]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Vadera): According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) figures, the European Commission disbursed $187 million of official development assistance (ODA) to Turkey in 2000, $143 million in 2001, $151 million in 2002, $140 million in 2003, $303 million in 2004, $392 million in 2005 and $383 million in 2006. The Commission has also committed €2.3 billion in assistance to Turkey from 2007 to 2010 which is funded from the Instrument for Pre-Accession.
To verify that payments are spent for the purposes intended, the Commission has developed a results-orientated monitoring (ROM) process which is based on regular on-site assessments by independent experts of ongoing projects and programmes. The outcome of this process forms part of the Commission's annual report on the European Community's development policy and implementation of external assistance.
Assistance to Turkey is also scrutinised by EU member states through the management committees for each instrument. From 2007, this function is carried out by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Management Committee.
Vulnerable People: Ombudsman
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
In what respects their proposals to amend the existing statutory public sector ombudsmen arrangements through the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill will remove from the investigative reach of the existing ombudsman areas of state provision for vulnerable people. [HL1083]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The proposals in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill will amend the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 so as to exclude from the Parliamentary Ombudsman's remit any matter that falls within the complaints or deaths remit of the proposed HM Commissioner for Offender Management and Prisons. That will ensure that there is no question of both statutory ombudsmen investigating the same complaint or death.
In practice, we consider that the amendment to the 1967 Act will make little difference to the handling of prisoners' complaints; the large majority of which are currently made to, and resolved by, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. Prisoners, those supervised by the Probation Service and immigration detainees will continue, as now, to be able to complain to an ombudsman who specialises in their concerns. The important difference created by the Bill is that that the Commissioner for Offender Management and Prisons will be legally independent of the department and equipped with statutory powers of investigation equivalent to those of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
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Waste Management: Sewage
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they expect the majority of sewage treatment units in the United Kingdom to be converted to the fast activated sludge processing technique. [HL889]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): There are many forms of activated sludge treatment. All sewage works serving more than a population of 2,000 receive at least secondary treatment which can be delivered through several techniques, of which activated sludge is one.
The Environment Agency has no policy requirements for a specific variant of urban waste water secondary treatment. Although the Environment Agency sets the standards that the discharge must meet, the choice of treatment technique rests with the operator.
Waste Management: Solutia Bankruptcy
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why no proofs of claim against Solutia Inc were ever filed by lawyers representing United Kingdom interests in the United States Bankruptcy Court on the basis of evidence that was available in 2004. [HL755]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Environment Agency filed no proof of claim in the US Bankruptcy Court, as it had no crystallised claim against Solutia Inc for environmental remediation of Brofiscin Quarry and/or other UK sites. The Environment Agency is still investigating potential appropriate persons pursuant to its duties under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in order to determine responsible parties and the extent of any prospective claims.
Water Supply: Dry Toilets
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have made a recent assessment of the research into and development of dry toilet units as a water-saving device. [HL920]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Government's market transformation programme (MTP) has published a number of documents related to the water use of WCs, including briefing notes that assess future consumption trends for WCs, and what actions are necessary to improve WC design and efficiency. Actions identified for further work include an evaluation of available research on the consumer acceptance of waterless toilets and a review of the potential for the use of waterless WCs in houses. These documents are available on the MTP website.
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Water Supply: Pollution
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/2734), under what regulations and at what intervals water undertakers and licensed water suppliers test for the presence of substances harmful to health which may have been deliberately introduced into the water supply. [HL799]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 and the Water Supply (Water Quality) Amendment Regulations (SI 2007/2734) require water undertakers and licensed water suppliers to undertake monitoring and carry out a risk assessment for hazards. This risk assessment will be carried out in accordance with guidance to be issued by the Drinking Water Inspectorate which will follow the internationally recognised World Health Organisation water safety plan approach. For any given water supply the risk assessment will inform the controls that water undertakers and licensed water suppliers will be required to have in place, including
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Young Offenders: Victims
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Parole Board is satisfied that the substitution of a one-day victim empathy course for an eight-week victim awareness course at Aylesbury young offender institution will allow the prisoners concerned, who are serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection, to meet the board's requirements; and whether, in general, HM Prison Service is tending to offer shorter courses as part of the drive to cut costs. [HL658]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Parole Board is an independent organisation and it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on the weight it might attach to any activity. However, neither the previous victim awareness course at Aylesbury (which was 2.5 days long) nor the current one is accredited as an offending behaviour programme. There has been no general policy to reduce the length of accredited programmes or other interventions in order to reduce costs.
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