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19 Feb 2008 : Column WA29
Written Answers
Tuesday 19 February 2008
Animal Welfare: Cruelty
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people in Northern Ireland have been successfully prosecuted in the past three years for cruelty to (a) dogs, and (b) cats. [HL1846]
Lord Rooker: The information is not available in the format requested as cruelty to dogs or cats do not constitute separate offences by legislation. Instead, it is only possible to determine from the court datasets the number of successful prosecutions for cruelty to animals. Tables 1 to 3 give the total number prosecuted and subsequently convicted for such offences for the calendar years 2004 to 2006 (the latest years for which data are available).
Data are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.
| Table 1: Number prosecuted and convicted for cruelty to animals by offence 2004 | ||
| Prosecuted | Convicted | |
| Table 2: Number prosecuted and convicted for cruelty to animals by offence 2005 | ||
| Prosecuted | Convicted | |
| Table 3: Number prosecuted and convicted for cruelty to animals by offence 20061 | ||
| Prosecuted | Convicted | |
| 1. Data for 2006 are provisional. | ||
Armed Forces: Airbridge
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the Ministry of Defence's end-to-end review of the airbridge, the Air Movements Process Study. [HL1852]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The Air Movements Process Study, the Ministry of Defence's end-to-end review of the airbridge is currently in draft form and is being finalised. Once completed, we will place a copy in the Library of the House.
Armed Forces: Recruitment
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
At what age young persons can be recruited to the Armed Forces in the United Kingdom; and how this compares with the rest of Europe. [HL1845]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The minimum age of entry into the UK Armed Forces is the school-leaving age of 16 years; recruitment is totally voluntary. The services provide challenging and constructive education, training and employment to many young people and provide them with valuable transferable skills. In the financial year 2006-07, 30 per cent of all new recruits were under 18 years of age.
Across European Armed Forces the minimum recruiting age varies, with the lowest outside the UK being 17 years of age at last birthday.
No young person, under the age of 18 years, may join the UK Armed Forces unless their application is accompanied by the formal written consent of his or her parents or guardian. Throughout the recruit selection process, the staffs at the Armed Forces Careers Offices provide comprehensive written and verbal guidance to all potential recruits, in particular those of less than 18 years of age, and their parents or guardians. This guidance covers the potential recruit's terms and conditions of service, the commitments that they would be undertaking, and their rights to discharge.
It is defence policy that service personnel under the age of 18 are not deployed on any operation, outside
19 Feb 2008 : Column WA31
Armed Forces: Services Police Crime Bureau
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The Service Police Crime Bureau is commanded by the Provost Marshal (Army) and lies within his budgetary area. It employs 42 civilian and 40 military personnel, including specialists from the Ministry of Defence Police, Royal Navy Police and Royal Air Force Police. It has an operations room and the capabilities to deal with: force intelligence; criminal justice and public protection; disclosure; forensic computing; multimedia and evidential imagery; airwave telecommunications; data compliance and processing; mobile telecommunications analysis; and information management support.
Army: Core Values
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will place in the Library of the House the action plan of the Army's Adjutant-General to develop better means to inculcate the Army's core values. [HL1743]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The values and standards action plan is an internal working document which is used to co-ordinate activities in the delivery and implementation of the Army's values and standards policy. I will place a copy of the plan, as at 12 February 2008, in the Library of the House.
Army: Operational Law Branch
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The Army's Operational Law Branch (OLB) was established in April 2003. It is part of the Directorate of Army Legal Services and is based at the Land Warfare Centre in Warminster. The OLB is headed by a brigadier, supported by a colonel and consists of four teams: individual training and lessons; collective training and reach; interoperability and doctrine; and lawyers training research and publications.
19 Feb 2008 : Column WA32
Central-Local Concordat
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
What changes they propose to make to the policies and working arrangements of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform following the signing of the Central-Local Concordat on 12 December 2007, both in general and in specific response to the agreement in the concordat (a) that “there should be a presumption that powers are best exercised at the lowest effective and practical level”; (b) that central government undertakes to “progressively remove obstacles which prevent councils from pursuing their role, including reducing the burden of appraisal and approval regimes, the ring-fencing of funds for specific purposes and the volume of guidance it issues”, (c) that the number of national indicators should be “around 200”; (d) that in relation to the negotiation of new-style local area agreements "this objective will require major changes in behaviour and practice from central government departments, their agencies, government offices, councils and local partners"; and what is the process and timetable for such changes. [HL1724]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Baroness Vadera): The Central-Local Concordat, agreed between the Government and the Local Government Association (LGA) on behalf of local authorities in England, was signed in December last year. It commits both parties to a framework of principles to secure a new relationship between central government and local government. Discharging the rights and responsibilities of central government and local government set out in the concordat will require major changes in the behaviour and practice of both parties. The operation of this agreement will be monitored on a continuing basis, through renewed central-local partnership arrangements.
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