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Police: Green Paper
Lord Dear asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The policing Green Paper will be published shortly.
Lord Dear asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The policing Green Paper will set out this Government's vision for policing. It will provide a substantive response to Sir Ronnie Flanagan's independent review of policing and will set out proposals for further improvements in four broad areas:
making best use of resources and capacity;
effective leadership and governance;
clear, effective performance machinery; and
clarity and co-operation over competing demands.
Police: Northern Ireland
Lord Browne of Belmont asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many police stations have been closed or scheduled to close since the establishment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. [HL3777]
Lord Rooker: The chief constable has provided the following Answer:
Twenty-nine police stations have closed since the establishment of the PSNI on 4 November 2001. Stations that are scheduled to close will be subject to the PSNI estate strategy, which is currently being considered by the Northern Ireland Police Board.
Lord Morrow asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the proposed commencement date of the new police training college at Loughry, Cookstown, County Tyrone. [HL3779]
Lord Rooker: The proposed commencement date of the new joint police, fire and prisons training college is summer 2012.
Lord Morrow asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the number of reserve officers presently serving in the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and how this compares with the numbers in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. [HL3780]
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Lord Rooker: The chief constable has provided the following Answer:
The number of reserve officers presently serving in the Police Service of Northern Ireland is 659. This compares to 1,237 in 2005, 985 in 2006 and 704 in 2007.
Post Offices
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What have been the latest developments regarding the proposed closure of post offices in Northern Ireland. [HL3801]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Baroness Vadera): The local consultation period for Northern Ireland started on 1 April and closed on 12 May. Post Office Ltd announced its final decisions on 3 June.
Questions for Written Answer
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 2 June (WA 6), who takes the decision that a Question should not be answered in the Official Report; on what basis; and when this policy first arose. [HL3958]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Ministers take full responsibility for answering Questions. We answer for issues for which the Government are responsible. I am satisfied that the Answer was sufficient to give the noble Lord the information he was seeking.
Questions for Written Answer: Guidance to Civil Servants
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the most recent guidance that has been issued to civil servants by the Home Office on the drafting of Answers to Questions for Written Answer in the House of Lords. [HL3549]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Cabinet Office guidance for civil servants on drafting Answers to Parliamentary Questions was published in February 2005. A copy of the guidance is in the Library of the House. It can also be found on the Cabinet Office website at: www.cabinet office.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/civil_service/pq_ guidance.aspx.
A note and guidance on timeliness and the quality of answers to Parliamentary Questions was circulated to all members of the Home Office's Senior Civil Service on 10 March 2008.
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Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the most recent guidance that has been issued to civil servants by the Department for Work and Pensions on the drafting of Answers to Questions for Written Answer in the House of Lords. [HL3649]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): I have deposited a copy of the most recent guidance available to the department's staff in the Libraries of both Houses.
Railways: Electrification
Lord Bradshaw asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 3 June (WA 48), how the business case for further electrification takes account of the United Kingdom's dependence on oil as the major tractive force in the transport system. [HL3982]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Department for Transport will take into account a range of scenarios to reflect uncertainties about longer-term oil supply and demand when analysing the business case for further electrification. This will include considering the impact of sustained high oil prices.
Railways: InterCity
Lord Bradshaw asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 3 June (WA 48), what is the anticipated cost of operating the InterCity Express train in an all-electric formation compared with a bi-mode (electric and diesel) version. [HL3980]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The operating cost of InterCity Express programme (IEP) trains is subject to tenders from the market which are set to be submitted at the end of June. An all-electric IEP train is expected to have marginally lower operating costs than the bi-mode version under electric power. The bi-mode train can clearly operate to destinations off-wire or on diversionary routes.
Lord Bradshaw asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 3 June (WA 48), whether they have assessed the possibility of providing an all-electric InterCity Express train with an automatic coupling device so that it may be hauled by a diesel locomotive beyond the periphery of the electrified network. [HL3981]
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Lord Bassam of Brighton: The invitation to tender for InterCity Express programme (IEP) does not preclude this option. It is for the market to propose a solution that best meets the IEP specification. We will be able to verify these proposals when we have received bids from the market later this month.
Religious Freedom
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they are taking to raise bilaterally and in appropriate multilateral international fora the safety and religious freedom of apostates from Islam to Christianity. [HL3895]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) takes every opportunity to urge states to implement laws and practices which foster tolerance and mutual respect. FCO officials often make representations on behalf of people whose rights to profess their religion of choice are violated. We have recently made representations, bilaterally and with EU partners, to Governments in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt.
The UK, in conjunction with the EU, successfully argued for the inclusion of the right to change or renounce one's religion or belief in the UN Resolution on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief at the 6th session of the UN Human Rights Council in December 2007.
Schools: Nurses
Lord Bradley asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many school nurses were employed in secondary schools in England and Wales in each of the past 10 years; and what proportion of secondary schools employed one or more school nurses in each of the past 10 years. [HL3923]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): This information is not held centrally.
Such information as is available is shown in the following table and shows the number of school nurses employed by each primary care trust (PCT) in England from 2004-07. School nurses were identified for the first time in the 2004 annual workforce census.
School nurses are generally employed by PCTs although some school nurses will be directly employed by both state and independent schools. The National Health Service workforce census does not capture these. A number of qualified school nurses will also work coterminously across PCT boundaries but be directly employed by one single PCT.
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- (1) More accurate validation processes in 2006 have resulted in the identification and removal of 9,858 duplicate non-medical staff records out of the total workforce figure of 1.3 million in 2006. Earlier years' figures could not be accurately validated in this way and so will be slightly inflated. The level of inflation in earlier years' figures is estimated to be less than 1 per cent of total across all non-medical staff groups for headcount figures (and negligible for full-time equivalents). This should be taken into consideration when analysing trends over time.
- Source: The Information Centre for health and social care, Non-Medical Workforce Census, general and personal medical services statistics.
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