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Guantanamo Bay
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they last discussed the continued functioning of the Guantanamo Bay camp with the United States authorities; and when they expect the United States to comply with the United Kingdom's official request for the camp to be closed down quickly. [HL1653]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Government have an ongoing dialogue with the US Government on how best we can work with them to see the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Recent discussions have focused on the Government's request for the release and return of five men who, while not UK nationals, were legally resident in the UK prior to their detention. Three of these men were released from the detention facility and returned to the UK on
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Health: Toxic Products
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have made an assessment of the steps being taken by companies and retail outlets to warn the public of the health hazards contained in certain consumer products with advertisements and suitable warnings on labels, particularly where such products contain carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxins. [HL1359]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): We have made no such assessment. Any adverse impact on human health and the environment arising from the use of consumer products is controlled effectively by a range of measures.
The safety of certain consumer products containing chemicals is governed by the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2002, which are administered by the Health and Safety Executive. These regulations require that manufacturers identify the dangers to human health and the environment of products containing chemicals, classify them under an EU-wide classification system and package them safely. If a product contains hazardous chemicals it must be labelled with the appropriate warning symbols indicating the hazards and with phrases explaining the dangers and how to use the product safely.
The Dangerous Substances and Preparations (Safety) Regulations 2006, which are administered by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, prohibit the sale to the general public of products containing chemical substances classified as category 1 or 2 carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxins.
House of Lords: Security Staff
Lord Laird asked the Chairman of Committees:
What proposals he has for ensuring the comfort and safety of security staff who work at Black Rod's Garden Entrance. [HL1714]
The Chairman of Committees (Lord Brabazon of Tara): The House undertakes to do all that is reasonably practicable to provide safe and healthy working conditions for its employees and to enlist their support in achieving this. Health and safety auditing is carried out on a regular basis in all offices to ensure this policy is achieved.
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Identity Security
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any projects in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been suspended or delayed due to concerns about identity security; if so, which projects have been delayed; and what the impact on the overall performance and work of the Office will be. [HL1568]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has needed to make a careful examination of a wide range of business processes involving personal data and this has involved a substantial commitment of staff resource. To date, there have been no significant delays to any projects, nor is any long-term impact on the work of the FCO anticipated.
Police: Databases
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the retention of bioinformation profiles for those not charged with or convicted of an offence has a significant impact on crime detection rates. [HL1514]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Information on the number of crimes that have been detected using DNA profiles and fingerprints taken from suspects who had, previously been arrested but not charged, or convicted, of an offence is not held centrally as detections are achieved through integrated criminal investigation and not by forensic science alone.
Some research information is, however, available on the number of DNA profiles taken from those arrested but not charged and from those arrested, charged but not convicted of an offence that have resulted in a DNA match, thus providing the police with an intelligence link on the possible identity of the offender and assisting in the detection of crimes.
In April 2004, an amendment to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 came into effect which enabled the police to take and retain DNA and fingerprints from persons who had been arrested for a recordable offence. In the period April 2004 to December 2005, the retention of DNA profiles of arrested persons who had not been charged or proceeded against had resulted in matches with crime scene profiles from over 3,000 offences including 37 murders, 16 attempted murders and 90 rapes.
In May 2001, an amendment to PACE 1984 came into effect which enabled the police to retain DNA samples taken from persons who had been charged but not convicted of an offence. In the period May 2001 to December 2005, an estimated 200,000 DNA samples taken from people charged with offences had also been retained on the National DNA Database, which would previously have had to be removed
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Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many individuals have been given access to the National DNA Database for the purpose of non-operational research; and, of those, how many were given access to datacards as well as DNA records. [HL1517]
Lord West of Spithead: The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) states that DNA samples and the profiles derived from them can only be used for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of an offence, the conduct of a prosecution or, since April 2005, for the purposes of identifying a deceased person.
Requests for the release of profiles or samples must be approved by the National DNA Database (NDNAD) Strategy Board. In the first instance, requests are made to the custodian of the NDNAD, who provides the board with details of the request, together with his observations on its merits, for the board to consider. In accordance with the requirements of PACE, the board does not approve any research unless it has clear operational benefit to the police.
Therefore, no access to the NDNAD has been given to any person or organisation for non-operational research.
Police: Operation Pentameter
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will place in the Library of the House the full evaluation report on Police Operation Pentameter 1. [HL1648]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): We expect to publish an evaluation report of Pentameter 1 in the spring. This will present the salient issues and lessons learnt from the operation but will not contain restricted operational information as to do so would breach confidentiality and jeopardize effective law enforcement.
Powers of Entry
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which Bills currently before Parliament contain provisions for, or amendments to, powers of entry. [HL1519]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The information requested is set out in the attached table. In addition the Climate Change Bill and the Energy Bill include provisions to enable the Secretary of State to create powers of entry under regulations.
The draft Cultural Property (Armed Conflict) Bill, which has been published for parliamentary consideration, also contains provisions for, but does not include any amendments to, powers of entry.
| Table of Government Bills | ||
| Government Bills before Parliament | Contains power of entry | Amends existing power of entry |
Prisons: Domestic Violence Programmes
Baroness Corston asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Five prisons in England and Wales are delivering accredited domestic violence programmes. The five prisons are Acklington, Erlestoke, Gartree, Manchester and Whatton.
Regulators: Criminal Prosecutions
Lord Lyell of Markyate asked Her Majesty's Government:
In respect of (a) the Environment Agency; (b) the Forestry Commission; (c) the Gangmasters Licensing Authority; (d) the local fisheries committees; and (e) Natural England, how many criminal prosecutions were brought by that regulator for each of the last three years for which figures are available; and, of those cases, how many gave rise to a conviction. [HL1373]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The following represent the number of criminal prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency; the Forestry Commission in England; the Forestry Commission in Wales; and Natural England. The Gangmasters Licensing Authority has not, to date, instituted any criminal proceedings.
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| The Environment Agency | ||
| Year | Total No. Prosecutions | Conviction |
| The Forestry Commission: England | ||
| Year | Total No. Prosecutions | Conviction |
| Wales | ||
| Year | Total No. Prosecutions | Conviction |
| Natural England | ||
| Year | Total No. Prosecutions | Conviction |
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