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Soil
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any farmer in the European Union has been prosecuted for failing to observe soil quality under the cross compliance regulations. [HL5831]
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): None. Breaching cross-compliance would not result in a
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The collection of data for failing to observe soil quality regulations covers a range of compliance requirements. Across member states of the European Union the collection of data is the responsibility of the European Commission and it is not easily obtainable. For the UK, the data is held at a devolved level. I will place the UK data in the House Library once it has been collated.
Somalia: Refugees
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assistance they will give to the Governments of Kenya and Yemen and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to cope with the needs of refugees arriving from Somalia; whether current assistance is sufficient; and, if not, what they will do to improve the situation. [HL6495]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The UK Government are not planning to provide direct assistance to the Governments of Yemen and Kenya to assist with Somalia refugees. Somali refugees are supported in Yemen by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the European Commission and the Danish Refugee Council, and in Kenya by UNHCR. The UK Government provide core funding of £19 million per year to UNHCR, and in 2007 provided €183 million (£156 million) to the EC's global humanitarian assistance funds. The UK will also provide £250,000 to a conflict mediation programme in Yemen implemented by CARE, to encourage stronger integration between refugee and host communities.
Some 82,000 Somali refugees are currently registered with UNHCR in Yemen. The UNHCR Yemen appeal for 2009 is $32 million (£21 million). In Kenya there are now approximately 224,000 refugees. The 2009 Kenya UN Consolidated Appeal includes an appeal for $54 million (£36 million) for UNHCR. We will work with partners in both countries to ensure that critical needs are covered.
Somalia: Troops
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make representations to the Government of Ethiopia about the presence of its troops in Somalia. [HL6496]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Government support the Djibouti agreement as the first opportunity for many years for Somalis to bring lasting stability to their country. We have stressed to the Ethiopian Government the importance of their troops behaving in accordance with international standards in all their operations. We continue to encourage Ethiopia to work with the Somali leaders and the UN special
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Sudan: Asylum Seekers
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 29 October (WA 177), whether individual case records were examined during the investigation by the Home Office into the interviews of Darfuri asylum seekers in March and April 2007. [HL6202]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): I can confirm that individual case records were examined during the investigation into interviews of Darfuri asylum seekers.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 29 October (WA 177), how that answer relates to a statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, Meg Hillier, in a letter of 19 September 2008 that all Darfuri asylum seekers interviewed had signed a disclaimer agreeing to be interviewed by the Sudanese official. [HL6203]
Lord West of Spithead: The disclaimer referred to in the letter from my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Meg Hillier was a standard bio-data form used for all documentation applications where the applicants confirmed their bio-data for the purposes of redocumentation. These did not apply to the interviews about whether an individual could be redocumented and I apologise that this inaccurate information was provided. I am pleased to be able to make this clear.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Home Department, Mr Phil Woolas, on 28 October (Official Report, House of Commons, 815W), whether the Statement that no Darfuri failed asylum seekers would be returned to Sudan excluded the two people referred to in the Answer who were forced to return. [HL6204]
Lord West of Spithead: The announcement to suspend removals of Darfuri failed asylum seekers was made by Ministers on 9 July 2008. The two individuals referred to in the Question were removed prior to that date.
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Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Home Department, Mr Phil Woolas, on 28 October (Official Report, House of Commons, 815W), what consideration was given to arranging for independent interpreters to be present during interviews between Sudanese officials and asylum seekers before 22 March 2007. [HL6205]
Lord West of Spithead: Before 22 March 2007, it was not usual practice for independent interpreters to be present during interviews between an individual and a representative of their own Government for the purposes of redocumentation. Following issues raised, a decision was reached with agreement from the Sudanese Government officials that an independent interpreter should be present for the remainder of the interviews to be conducted.
Taxation: Channel Islands Accounts
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
What tax advantages accrue to a person residing in the United Kingdom who deposits moneys in a sterling account on the Isle of Man or Guernsey. [HL6453]
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): Tax residents of the United Kingdom are, with certain exceptions, subject to UK tax on their worldwide income. The United Kingdom has recently concluded a tax information exchange agreement with the Isle of Man, which enables HMRC to obtain information from the Isle of Man, on request, for tax assessment purposes. The UK is negotiating a similar agreement with Guernsey.
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether agreements between the Manx authorities and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs provide for the disclosure of the names of all persons residing in the United Kingdom who have deposited money in sterling accounts in banks and building societies in the Isle of Man. [HL6454]
Lord Myners: The United Kingdom has recently concluded a tax information exchange agreement with the Isle of Man, which provides for exchange of information on individual cases on request. The UK does not have an agreement with the Isle of Man that requires it to routinely provide information on all UK tax residents with accounts in that jurisdiction.
Trade: UK Exports
Lord Vinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the risk of overstating United Kingdom exports to the European Union by failing to take into account that some are in trans-shipment to other non-EU countries (the Rotterdam effect),
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Lord Patel of Bradford: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell, to Lord Vinson, dated November 2008.
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in view of the risk of overstating United Kingdom exports to the European Union by failing to take into account that some are in trans-shipment to other non-EU countries (the Rotterdam effect), they will take steps to ensure this is made explicit in statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics. (HL6413)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces its trade statistics in accordance with international guidelines. The statistics are based on data collected by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). When the information on trade flows is collected, exporters are explicitly asked to state the final destination of the goods or services which are being exported. However, goods may quite legitimately be moved to another EU Member State and then subsequently re-exported to destinations outside the EU—e.g. subsequent changes in ownership, transport to distribution centres in other Member States where goods may then be consumed or sent on to other EU Member States or non-EU countries. These are occasions where the movement to or through another Member State is not undertaken simply for transport purposes. These movements will be recorded as UK exports to the other Member State. It is not possible to estimate the effect from onwards trans-shipment without increasing the burden on at least some businesses. The ONS and HMRC are in the process of updating the Methodological Bulletin on Trade in Goods statistics (GSS Methodological Series No. 36), describing the basis on which trade in goods statistics are compiled and the methodology employed to dereive volume and price indices, which is available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vink+14943.
This will include a section on coverage issues including the Rotterdam effect.
Waste Management: Reduction Schemes
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the sixth report of the Science and Technology Committee on waste reduction, whether the funding for 2008-09 for Envirowise, the Market Transformation Programme, the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme and the Waste and Resources Action Programme will come from other sources; and, if so, which. [HL6343]
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The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Funding for business resource efficiency and waste activity is continuing in 2008-09 and beyond. Funding previously under the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme has been integrated with the wider range of Defra funding used in support of carbon reduction, waste reduction and recycling and improved resource efficiency.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the sixth report of the Science and Technology Committee on waste reduction, whether the 57.9 per cent cut in the Envirowise budget for 2008-09 reflects an assessment of the work of Envirowise; and, if not, what factors determined the size of the budget reduction. [HL6344]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The decision to reduce budgets in 2008-09 partly reflected the department's wider budgetary pressures but also the decision to be more selective in the activities that we fund. This is because we believe that the business community now increasingly understands the case for taking action to improve environmental performance. Hence we are now focusing on developing the evidence needed to catalyse change among businesses, rather than supporting profit-making business beyond that point. This is something on which Envirowise has a good track record and continues to be well placed to contribute.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the sixth report of the Science and Technology Committee on waste reduction, what is their response to the recommendation to “once again ring-fence a proportion of the landfill tax revenue to fund waste reduction initiatives”. [HL6346]
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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: All ring-fences were re-examined in the Comprehensive Spending Review and most, including the link between landfill tax and business resource efficiency expenditure, were removed. This is in line with the Government's approach to ensuring value for money from their expenditure by providing maximum flexibility and scope to prioritise. We do not plan to reinstate a ring-fence around landfill tax revenue.
Funding for business resource efficiency and waste activity, previously under the BREW programme, is now integrated with the wider range of Defra funding used in support of carbon reduction, waste reduction and recycling and improved resource efficiency.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the sixth report of the Science and Technology Committee on waste reduction, what range of businesses, in terms of turnover, the Carbon Trust deals with; how many businesses it deals with; and what is the average payment made to the trust for their services. [HL6345]
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Carbon Trust deals with businesses of all sizes through its range of services. These include general advice to all businesses through information resources such as a website and advice line; services for small and medium enterprises including interest-free loans for energy efficient investments; and tailored advice including on-site carbon surveys and design advice for new buildings and refurbishments.
The Carbon Trust had direct dealings with over 4,000 businesses in 2007-08, in addition to those businesses which accessed advice through the Carbon Trust website and advice line. For those businesses which paid for the Carbon Trust's services in 2007-08, the average payment was around £6,600.
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