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26 Jan 2009 : Column WA20
Asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the decision of the Police Service of Northern Ireland not to pursue their investigation of the Omagh bomb murders, the McCartney murder and the Northern Bank theft was affected by the level of confidence between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland. [HL651]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: This is an operational matter for the chief constable. I have asked him to reply to the noble Lord directly, and I will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library of the House.
Railways: International Passenger Trains
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the definition of an international passenger service to which the draft Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 will apply. [HL835]
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): The definition of an international passenger service used in Directive 2007/58/EC will apply to the draft Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2009:
- “international passenger service” shall mean a passenger service where the train crosses at least one border of a member state and where the principal purpose of the service is to carry passengers between stations located in different member states; the train may be joined and/or split, and the different sections may have different origins and destinations, provided that all carriages cross at least one border”.
To ask Her Majesty's Government in respect of the draft Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, under what circumstances international passenger trains will be able to carry passengers within the United Kingdom between Ashford International, Stratford, London St Pancras, stations north of London, on the west coast main line, Midland main line and east coast main line. [HL836]
Lord Adonis: Under draft Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, any railway undertaking may request access to infrastructure to operate an international passenger service from 1 January 2010. This will include the right to pick up and set down passengers at any station located on the international route within Great Britain. However, the Office of Rail Regulation may limit the access rights if the proposed international service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a relevant public service contract.
26 Jan 2009 : Column WA21
To ask Her Majesty's Government in respect of the draft Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, whether they intend to implement the legislation allowing them to levy an additional charge on such trains offering domestic journeys. [HL837]
Lord Adonis: The Government do not propose implementing a provision within Directive 2007/58/EC allowing the authorities responsible for rail passenger transport to impose a levy on railway undertakings providing passenger services, as it would place an unnecessary burden on train operating companies.
To ask Her Majesty's Government in respect of the draft Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, whether they will refuse rights to operate within the United Kingdom to operators from member states which do not permit United Kingdom operators to operate there. [HL838]
Lord Adonis: The objective of Directive 2007/58/EC on the liberalisation of international passenger rail services is to open up the international passenger rail market in Europe. From 1 January 2010, member states will no longer be able to refuse potential operators of international passenger services access to their infrastructure.
To ask Her Majesty's Government in respect of the draft Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, who will fix and approve access charges for international passenger services operating in the United Kingdom on High Speed 1 and on lines regulated by the Office of Rail Regulation; and in what circumstances those charges will vary from those paid by domestic passenger operators. [HL839]
Lord Adonis: Charges for the use of HS1 will be fixed by HS1 Limited in its role as infrastructure manager and will be published in a network statement. Those charges must be in accordance with a charging framework that will be established by the Secretary of State.
It is proposed that the Office of Rail Regulation shall have the statutory responsibility for ensuring that the charges imposed by HS1 Limited are in compliance with the relevant regulations. In addition it is proposed that the Office of Rail Regulation will from time to time review the efficiency of the charges and act as the appeal body in the event of any complaint.
Provided HS1 Limited’s charges are efficient and otherwise compliant with the relevant regulations they need not be the same for both international and domestic passenger services.
Charges imposed on any international passenger operators on the national network will be fixed by Network Rail in accordance with the charging framework established by the Office of Rail Regulation.
26 Jan 2009 : Column WA22
Recycling
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much material collected by local authorities for recycling is being stored owing to the present market conditions. [HL697]
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Defra does not hold the specific information requested. The best available information indicates that markets for recycled materials have stabilised though at lower prices than formerly. Most materials are continuing to flow, but there is additional storage of some types of steel and paper. Recycling continues to be an economically viable and environmentally beneficial part of the UK's waste strategy, and householders should continue to put out waste for recycling in order to help the environment.
Residential Care
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what amount was paid in grants under Section 55 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 (which allows a local authority to take a charge on a person's home rather than a contribution towards the cost of residential accommodation) for each of the years 2001—02 to 2007—08 inclusive. [HL578]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The deferred payments grant, made under Section 55 of the 2001 Act, ran for three years from 2001-02 to 2003-04. It was felt this was long enough to allow the funding from earlier deferred payments agreements to be recycled by councils. The amount allocated to councils was £15 million in 2001-02, £30 million in 2002-03 and £40 million in 2003-04.
Smoking
Question
Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Action for Smoking on Health Group (ASH) or other anti-smoking organisations have received Government funding in 2006, 2007 and 2008; and, if so, how much in each year. [HL850]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The department's grants to Action on Smoking Health (ASH) are set out in the following table.
26 Jan 2009 : Column WA23
| Financial year | Grants (£) |
The department's grants to the No Smoking Day (NSD) organisation are set out in the following table.
| Financial year | Grants (£) |
The department in 2007-08 contracted the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre to support the implementation of smoke-free legislation in residential mental health units. This contract was valued at £50,000.
The department also provides funding directly to the National Health Service for tobacco control and smoking cessation activities.
Sudan: Darfur
Question
Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the report Abductions, Sexual Slavery and Forced Labour in Darfur, published on 17 December by the Darfur Consortium. [HL450]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): We welcome the report of the Darfur Coalition and join its authors in condemning all instances of abduction and trafficking and other forms of contemporary slavery.
We agree with many of the report's recommendations, including the need for full deployment of the UN/African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), a comprehensive ceasefire and inclusive peace process. The UK works closely with UN, African Union (AU) and international partners to help UNAMID to improve security in Darfur, and supports the AU/UN-led political process led by the chief mediator, Djibril Bassole, as the only way to achieve sustainable peace and security in Darfur.
The UK has contributed £40 million to the Common Humanitarian Fund. This fund has supported women's rights projects in Sudan, including action on sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur and Southern Sudan.
Telecommunications: Security
Question
Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they have in place to prevent the compromise, by covert surveillance by criminal and hostile agents, of critical telecommunications infrastructure provided by private companies and their subcontractors. [HL756]
26 Jan 2009 : Column WA24
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The Government provide advice on protective security measures through the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) for organisations and businesses across the national infrastructure. This includes businesses and organisations in the communications sector that own or operate critical national infrastructure.
CPNI provides and shares information regularly by means of information exchanges, face-to-face consultancy, briefings, seminars, advice publications and through its website. CPNI has also provided input into the development of minimum standards for public communications networks and services, as a means of reducing vulnerability.
Terrorism
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following the judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities of 4 December in Case 284/08, representatives of member states in the Council of Ministers can vote individually on the names of organisations listed in the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 and successor decisions on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism by maintaining or amending the original list. [HL182]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The council is considering the implications of the Court of First Instance's judgment of 4 December in Case T—284/08 OMPI-v-Council including its impact on the procedures for how the names of entities and individuals are placed on the EU Terrorism Sanctions list. The UK is fully engaged in these discussions, and as I said in the House on 13 January (Official Report, col. 1007) the UK believes that EU member states must observe and respect the court's judgement in the current review of the EU list of terrorist organisations.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) children and (b) adults in each police authority in England and Wales have been stopped and searched by police officers in each of the past five years using powers under section 44(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000. [HL752]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The information requested is not available.
Information on the age of persons stopped and searched under Section 44(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000 cannot be separately identified from the data on the total number of stops and searches under the Act reported to the Home Office.
26 Jan 2009 : Column WA25
Data on the total number of searches can be found in table P3 of the publication Arrests for Recorded Crime (Notifiable Offences) and the Operation of Certain Police Powers under PACE. Copies of the publication covering 2000-01 to 2006-07 (latest available) are in the Library of the house.
Turkey: Leyla Zana
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the European Union Enlargement Commissioner about the compatibility of the
26 Jan 2009 : Column WA26
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Government have not yet discussed the conviction of Leyla Zana with the European Commission. We would expect the European Commission, following the appeal procedure and final judgment, to investigate the details of the case as part of its ongoing assessment of Turkey's reforms to meet the specified EU standards on the judiciary and fundamental rights and on compliance with the Copenhagen criteria.
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