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Diplomatic Recognition
Lord Cotter asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why, following the finding of the House of Lords that Mr Hany Salaam was dishonest in a $50 million fraud, he was subsequently accredited to the United Kingdom as a diplomat with full diplomatic status, whilst continuing to conduct business transactions from an office in London. [HL4605]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): Mr Salaam's appointment to the embassy of Gabon was notified to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in September 2006. Article 7 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 allows a sending state to,
The formal process of agreement applies only to heads of mission, and we do not conduct background checks on members of the mission.
We take a serious view of any foreign diplomat breaching the provisions of Article 42 of the Vienna Convention that,
- “a diplomatic agent shall not in the receiving state practise for personal profit any professional or commercial activity”.
We are seeking further information about Mr Salaam's role at the embassy of Gabon, and I shall write to the noble Lord when we have further information.
Diplomatic Service List
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will reintroduce the Diplomatic Service list; and whether there is an electronic edition of the list available on the internet. [HL4732]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): There are no plans to reintroduce the Diplomatic Service list and there is no electronic edition of the list on the internet, nor any plan to produce one. The process of maintaining and collating details of staff movements and biographical data would be a year-round task and heavily labour intensive, and the cost of producing such a document, whether electronically or in hard copy, cannot be justified given the limited take-up of the product in the past.
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Disabled People: UN Convention
Lord Dubs asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they plan to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [HL5126]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Government are committed to ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It remains our aim to ratify the convention by the end of the year.
Discrimination
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will amend United Kingdom anti-discrimination legislation in light of the decision of the European Court of Justice in Case C-303/06 Coleman v Attridge Law. [HL5099]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Government are giving careful consideration to the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Coleman v Attridge Law and the implications it may have for domestic disability discrimination legislation in particular, before making any decisions on changes to the current legal framework.
E-Privacy and Data Protection
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Through what legislation they have transposed the requirement of the ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC that member states shall ensure the confidentiality of communications and the related traffic data by means of a public communications network and publicly available electronic communications services. [HL5161]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Baroness Vadera): The UK transposed the requirements of the e-privacy directive 2002/58/EC by the introduction of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, which came into force on 11 December 2003. The regulations were laid before Parliament on 18 September 2003 by means of Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 2426.
Food: Pork and Bacon
Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What action the Cabinet Office is taking to implement the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative in respect of its purchasing of pork and bacon; what proportion of pork and bacon purchased is British; what attention is given to farm assurance, animal welfare, and health and nutrition; and how often purchasing policy is reviewed. [HL4891]
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Lord Davies of Oldham: The vast majority of food procured for catering and hospitality purposes across the Cabinet Office’s central London estate is undertaken by our facilities management providers (FMPs). The Cabinet Office actively encourages its FMPs to implement the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative wherever practical and viable.
All bacon purchased is Danish; other pork products purchased are British. The primary reason for using non-UK-sourced bacon is that, at current prices, Danish bacon is three times cheaper than British bacon.
All meat purchased by our FMPs’ meat suppliers are in line with RSPCA Freedom Food standards, Assured Food Standards and the quality pork standard.
Our FMPs’ purchasing policy is reviewed annually. However, in some cases, reviews are conducted quarterly by our FMPs to monitor performance, cost and quality.
Government: IT Contracts
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
What information technology contracts have been entered into by the Department for Communities and Local Government and its predecessors and its agencies in each of the past three years; and what is the total value of those contracts. [HL4928]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): I refer the noble Lord to the Answer to the honourable Member for Fareham in the other House on 15 July 2008 (Official Report, col. 266W), which lists IT contracts awarded by the department and its agencies over the past two years. Details on earlier years could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
A breakdown of the contract values for the contracts let by Communities could be supplied only at disproportionate cost, as this information is not held centrally.
The total values of the contracts awarded by the department's agencies in that reply are:
Government: Mail Delivery
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much the Prime Minister's office spent on non-Royal Mail delivery and courier services in each of the last five years. [HL4976]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Prime Minister’s office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office. Information on how much the Cabinet Office spent on non-Royal Mail delivery and courier services in each of the past five years is not fully available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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Government: Sick Leave
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many working days have been lost to sick leave by employees of the Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies and predecessors in each of the last five years, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of total days worked. [HL5075]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The department is unable to provide information in the format requested. We do not record total days worked because it is impracticable to record all staff absences, including time off for short medical appointments. Working days available is recorded because this is a more accurate measure.
The following information represents the number of working days lost to sickness absence as a proportion of the number of working days available currently recorded on the department's personnel computer system.
| 2007-08 | ||
| Working Days Lost | % of Working Days Available | |
| 2006-07 | ||||
| Working Days Lost | % of Working Days Available | |||
| 2005-06 | ||
| Working Days Lost | % of Working Days Available | |
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