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Immigration: Sri Lankan Tamils
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many Sri Lankan nationals of Tamil background in immigration detention in the United Kingdom have made applications to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg based on their claimed risk on return to Sri Lanka; whether
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The European Court of Human Rights does not routinely notify the Government when an application is made for interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court. Statistics on the number of applications should be sought from the court. The court only notifies the Government when an application is granted.
The Government replied to the letter of 23 October on 31 October stating that:
- “The Government do not consider that the current situation in Sri Lanka merits the conclusion that Tamils who face removal to Sri Lanka will necessarily face a real risk of ill treatment in breach of the Convention. Each case must be assessed on its merits against the available evidence”.
A copy of this letter was placed in the Library of the House.
This policy has already been subject to judicial scrutiny. The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal found in the case of LP[2007] UKAIT 00076 that Tamils are not per se at risk of serious harm from Sri Lankan authorities in Colombo and that consideration of a number of factors that may increase the risk to an individual is required in each case.
Where the European Court of Human Rights grant an application for interim relief the Government will not enforce removal until the court is satisfied that it is safe to do so.
The Government understand that the court may adopt a lead judgment dealing with the safety of return issues for Sri Lankan Tamils and that this is likely to be in the case of NA v United Kingdom. The Government are not aware that any such judgment has yet been adopted by the court.
Kenya: Military Personnel
Lord Ashcroft asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many military personnel are currently serving in Kenya; and whether there are any proposals to increase that number. [HL3346]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): There are currently 62 permanent staff serving in Kenya. These are split between several roles including: the Defence Section in the High Commission; the British Peace Support Team—East Africa (BPST-EA); and the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK). BATUK includes 13 permanent staff and 28 augmentees on six-month postings; we are currently reviewing this, and no decisions have been made.
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Licensing: Music
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of schools in England and Wales hold a premises licence authorising performances of live music. [HL3294]
Lord Davies of Oldham: This information is not held centrally, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost. Information on premises licences is held at local level by the 378 local licensing authorities in England and Wales.
Manufacturing
Lord Wade of Chorlton asked Her Majesty's Government:
What level of support for manufacturing industry has been provided to each region of the United Kingdom (a) in aggregate and (b) as a proportion of gross domestic product in each of the past 10 years. [HL3332]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Baroness Vadera): There are no precise figures available on the level of support provided to each of the regions of the United Kingdom for the manufacturing industry in each of the past 10 years.
Support for manufacturing is available from a variety of sources including the Manufacturing Advisory Service, R&D Tax Credit, Business Link, the Technology Programme, Selective Finance for Investment in England (SFIE), Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and Industry Forums.
The regional development agencies are responsible for developing and implementing the regional economic strategy, and they deliver a range of business support available to manufacturers including some national programmes and large capital projects such as the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).
Non-native Species
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
When the Non-Native Species Programme Board was formed; who are its members; and on what dates it has held meetings. [HL3405]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The proposed establishment of the GB Non-Native Species Programme Board was announced in March 2005 and the board held its first meeting on 12 September 2005. It consists of senior representatives from Defra, the Scottish Government, HM Revenue and Customs, the Environment Agency,
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The board has held meetings on the following dates:
Packaging
Baroness Wilcox asked Her Majesty's Government:
What mechanisms they will put in place to ensure that the Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards actively pursue prosecutions in cases of misleading packaging; and whether they will in future put on record the number of actions taken each year against misleading packaging. [HL3337]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Baroness Vadera): Enforcement policies are an operational matter for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Trading Standards.
The OFT will publish on its website the outcome of civil enforcement taken by the enforcement authorities to stop breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs). The department would use this information as part of the evidence to assess levels of consumer detriment caused by misleading packaging in its review on whether businesses should be given the power to take civil enforcement action to stop breaches of the CPRs.
Prisoners: Life Sentences
Baroness Stern asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many life sentence and indeterminate public protection sentence prisoners were held in Leeds Prison on 23 April; and what arrangements they are making for these prisoners to have access to the courses necessary to prepare them to apply for parole. [HL3238]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): On the 23 April, there were 34 life sentence prisoners and 72 indeterminate public protection sentence prisoners in custody in Leeds prison.
Leeds provides a short duration drug programme, which is focused on drug harm minimisation and is a first step of intervention which will indicate what appropriate services prisoners will need.
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Following the implementation of the recommendations of a strategic review of the service and systems for lifers and IPPs, and the introduction of new streamlined case management procedures, the management of these prisoners has improved considerably. Prison staff are under instructions to prioritise indeterminate sentence prisoners with short tariffs and move them as quickly as possible to establishments where their offending behaviour needs can be addressed. Recently, movement has accelerated significantly.
In coming to a view on whether to direct the release of an offender, the Parole Board will take account of all relevant information, not just whether the offender has completed any offending behaviour programmes. It is for the offender to demonstrate to the Parole Board that the risk of harm he presents has been reduced to the extent that he may be released safely to supervision in the community.
Prisoners: Mental Illness
Baroness Stern asked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements they have in place to ensure that seriously mentally ill prisoners in the area covered by Lincolnshire's health authority who are not normally resident in that area are transferred from prison to a mental health unit without delay. [HL3183]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Prisoners who are assessed as severely mentally ill under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983 should be transferred to hospital as quickly as possible. The usual residence of a prisoner should not be a delaying factor in the management of these cases.
Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust is currently working with the regional offender health team of the East Midlands Care Service Improvement Partnership to organise workshops to develop best practice and new procedures in increasing the speed of transfer of prisoners who require treatment under the Mental Health Act.
Questions for Written Answer: Unanswered Questions
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
On what date was each of the 25 House of Lords Questions for Written Answer that remained unanswered at the end of the last parliamentary Session tabled. [HL3506]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): Information on the Questions for Written Answer that remained unanswered at the end of the last parliamentary Session is set out in the following table:
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