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It is not the Government's policy to comment on or have input into individual interest-rate decisions taken by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. To do so would compromise the arrangements for independence of the Bank of England that the Government put in place in 1997 and would squander the credibility gains that have resulted from those arrangements.
Israel and Palestine: Gaza Sewage
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate has been made of the amount of sewage flowing into the sea from Gaza. [HL23]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU)—the relevant Palestinian body—reports that at least 70 million litres of raw and partially treated sewage flows into the Mediterranean each day.
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To ask Her Majesty's Government what measurements are being made of the damage to the eco systems in the Mediterranean from sewage discharge from Gaza. [HL24]
Lord Tunnicliffe: Monitoring of the quality of water in the Mediterranean is co-ordinated through the UN MEDPOL programme. MEDPOL assesses the state of the environment in hot spots and coastal areas and monitors the impact of remedial actions. It aims to improve control of pollution through national and international regulations. A baseline survey of pollution from land-based sources in Gaza was published in 2003. The security situation has meant that there is little ongoing monitoring but the situation has likely worsened since 2003.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the World Health Organisation about threats to health from eating fish caught in the waters off Gaza. [HL25]
Lord Tunnicliffe: We are in regular contact with the agencies involved in water and sanitation issues in Gaza. These are the Palestinian Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU); the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which leads the water and sanitation sector; the World Health Organisation (WHO); and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Both WHO and UNRWA monitor sea-water quality in Gaza. WHO took sea-water samples during the summer and issued a recommendation that molluscs and raw fish caught in Gazan waters should not be eaten and has issued guidance against entering the sea close to the sewage outlets. We do not know if this advice is being followed by the Gazan population.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimates have been made of disease from raw sewage in Gaza. [HL26]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The World Health Organization (WHO) informs us that there are no reliable data available on the impact of raw sewage on health in Gaza but does report that sea water in several areas of the Gaza coastline is polluted. It has advised against eating raw fish caught in Gazan waters and against entering the sea near sewage outlets.
Lord Tunnicliffe: The lifting of restrictions on spare parts and other material is needed to repair the sewage system in Gaza. On this, the Government fully support the efforts of the quartet representative, Tony Blair, to
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On 13 May, Tony Blair published a list of confidence-building measures agreed with the Israelis and the Palestinians. This included the facilitation of the first phase of the North Gaza emergency sewage treatment plant, which has now been completed. The entry of spare parts and maintenance equipment for other sewage treatment plants, also raised in the May package, has not moved forward. Tony Blair continues to negotiate access for these items with the Israeli authorities.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel about allowing building materials into the Gaza strip for the repair of sewage systems in Gaza. [HL28]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The Government continue to express their concern about the current border restrictions in Gaza and urge the Israeli Government to improve the access for humanitarian supplies, commercial goods and people. On building materials specifically, we most recently raised our concerns on 13 November with the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
Kenya
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are giving to strengthening the Kenya National Assembly and improving accountability in Kenya; and by what means. [HL307]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The UK Government have been supporting the Kenyan National Assembly for two years, primarily through support from the State University of New York. Work has focused on improved institutional independence and greater oversight of the Executive.
The Department for International Development's (DfID) support to the reform of Parliament has improved accountability by:
ensuring that parliamentary business, including the work of committees, is open to the public;introducing direct public petitions from members of the public;increasing the number of parliamentary committees to ensure that all expenditures in the various sectors of government are subject to closer scrutiny by Parliament;establishing a new implementation committee responsible for scrutinising whether all resolutions by Parliament have been implemented by the Executive;establishing a budget committee and budget office to ensure Parliament is involved much more closely in the national budget-making process;creating a Parliamentary Service Commission with departments for research, budget control, information and management, considerably empowering MPs to do a higher quality job; andpublishing a strategic plan for Parliament 2008-18.17 Dec 2008 : Column WA51
In addition, DfID has recently approved funds for the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, to provide support to the newly created Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit, with the intention of assisting the Speaker in making Parliament more accessible to the public. This includes the live broadcast of Parliament as well as a weekly Prime Minister's question time.
Kenya: HIV/AIDS
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the international campaign against HIV/AIDS in Kenya, in particular its funding and effect on HIV/AIDS prevalence levels; and what steps they have taken in that regard. [HL308]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The international campaign against HIV/AIDS in Kenya has enabled 250,000 people to receive AIDS treatment, up from 5,000 people on anti-retroviral therapy four years ago.
The United States Government provide three-quarters of the money available, much of it on AIDS care and treatment. The UK Government have funded £10 million per year over the past six years and concentrated on prevention and orphan support. Prevention activities have focused on high-risk groups such as fishing communities and young adults, using innovative behaviour change interventions such as community theatre and radio soap operas.
HIV/AIDS prevalence levels have reduced over the last 10 years from over 10 per cent to 7.8 per cent. The Department for International Development's (DfID) condom social marketing project has contributed to this through the distribution of 30 million condoms per year, resulting in an estimated 85,000 AIDS cases averted since 2003.
DfID has taken a number of steps to strengthen the international campaign against HIV and AIDS in Kenya:
DfID approved a £40 million AIDS programme in April 2008. This is focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention and harmonisation of resources, including the expansion of the condom social marketing project; and DfID works with other bilateral and multilateral agencies in Kenya to strengthen management of the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) to increase the predictability of funding through this channel.Light Pollution
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage local authorities (a) to explore options to reduce the hours of operation of street lights; and (b) to measure the consequential impact on carbon dioxide emissions. [HL88]
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The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): It is for each local highway authority to decide what level of service they wish their street lighting network to deliver. Decisions on reducing the hours of operation will need to take into account the reasons for which the lighting is provided. Any reduction in energy use would have to be balanced against potential adverse effects.
Where local authorities are considering reducing operating hours, the Government encourage them to consider the issues in Invest to Save, produced by the government-supported UK Lighting Board and the Institution of Lighting Engineers (available from www.ile.org.uk). The Government also support the Carbon Trust’s local authority carbon management programme, which provides councils with support and guidance to help them realise carbon emissions savings from street lighting.
The level of carbon emissions from a local authority’s street-lighting service will depend on a number of factors such as the source of the electricity, the technology of the street lighting and the design of the local authority street-lighting network. We are not aware of any tools which allow the consequential impact on carbon emissions of local authority street lighting to be effectively measured.
Local Government: Future Unitary Structures
Questions
Asked by Lord Wade of Chorlton
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House the detailed design for the six-year research project on new unitary and pathfinder councils, the contract for which was awarded in June. [HL9]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): I have deposited a paper setting out the form and function evaluation design in the Library of the House.
Asked by Lord Wade of Chorlton
To ask Her Majesty's Government what account is taken of the off-setting costs in stating annual savings for new unitary and pathfinder councils. [HL11]
Baroness Andrews: The stated savings of over £100 million per annum expected from the new unitary councils once they are fully up and running are net of any ongoing restructuring costs.
Mental Health: Ethnic Minorities
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take regarding the trend of the number of African and Caribbean individuals admitted to mental hospitals each year, as detailed in the fourth national
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To ask Her Majesty's Government in the light of the participation rates of African and Caribbean individuals in the mental health system, what assessment they have made of claims that the mental health system is institutionally racist and in need of action to end any such discrimination. [HL122]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): There is consistent evidence of inequality in the mental health of black and minority-ethnic (BME) communities, especially in the incidence of severe mental illness. For example, the 2006 Aetiology and Ethnicity in Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses (AESOP)study indicates that, compared with the white British population, people from African-Caribbean communities are nine times more likely to experience schizophrenia and eight times more likely to experience manic psychosis; people from black African communities are six times more likely to experience either condition; and other BME groups have more modestly increased rates. The AESOP findings apply across the adult age range and for both women and men. The rates of psychosis in Africa and the Caribbean are comparable to those in the United Kingdom overall. The reasons for this are still not fully understood, but this suggests that recognised risk factors for mental illness, including poor housing, unemployment, social exclusion and the experience of racism itself are still burdens borne disproportionately in the UK by BME populations and are contributing to an increased incidence of mental ill health.
In 2005 the department launched Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care (DRE), a five-year action plan designed to improve BME communities' experience of mental health services, and to address the apparent inequalities in the incidence of severe mental illness between ethnic groups in England. There has been significant progress. For example, the DRE programme has helped to develop replicable good practice around tailored pathways of care for BME service users; new training in race equality for mental health staff has been tested successfully and made available nationally; pilot projects of the programme improving access to psychological therapies have demonstrated that BME communities can have equal access to, and equal outcomes from, the new services; and primary care trusts have so far recruited over 400 new community development workers, whose role is to build links between local BME communities and mental health services and to help communities play a part in planning and providing those services. We do, though, believe that the National Health Service still must do more to meet the needs of increasingly diverse local populations, particularly by delivering early and equitable access to effective community-based interventions.
These issues will stay a priority for services for the duration of the DRE programme and beyond. We do not believe that institutional racism is a helpful label to apply—the solutions lie in the hands of individuals,
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Northern Ireland Office: Staff
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the gender balance of those employed in the Northern Ireland Office. [HL206]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): Within the Northern Ireland Office, 2,067 staff were employed in November 2008. The gender breakdown was 1,281 female and 786 male.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the religious balance of staff in the Northern Ireland Office. [HL263]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: In compliance with the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998 monitoring regulations, all Northern Ireland Office staff working in Northern Ireland, both home civil servants and Northern Ireland civil servants, are monitored for community background. The department also has a small number of staff working in London whose community background is not monitored.
As at 1 October 2008, the NIO core department and its agencies comprises 2,091 staff, of whom 49 are based in London. Of the 2,042 staff in Northern Ireland, 1,278 (62.6 per cent) are Protestant and 690 (33.8 per cent) are Roman Catholic, while the community background of 74 (3.6 per cent) is not determined.
Northern Ireland Parades Commission
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was paid to each of the board members of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission in each financial year since its creation; and how much they were contracted for during that period. [HL133]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The annual remuneration paid to each member of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission since its establishment is shown in the following table.
| Date | Chairman | Member |
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