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Where an island is treated as accessible for either reason, it will be possible for Natural England, in fulfilling its coastal access duty under Clause 286, to propose that the route for the whole coast referred to by Clause 286(2) of the Bill should pass over the island. Land within the island may also form part of the margin for public enjoyment referred to by Clause 286(3) of the Bill subject to any of the land

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falling within the category of excepted land or any restrictions on access that may be in place on that land. The Secretary of State will take the final decision on whether land within accessible islands should be affected by the new access arrangements in either of these ways.

Northern Ireland Office: Staff Sickness

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Northern Ireland office receives a monthly estimate of the total cost of sickness absence. The estimate is not broken down by absence type.

Northern Ireland Office: Taxis

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: During the first two weeks of the 2007-08 financial year, the Northern Ireland Office was invoiced for 37 taxi journeys at a total cost of £323.40.

A breakdown of the 37 journeys made is as follows:

31 journeys were made between Stormont Estate and various other Greater Belfast locations, including Belfast City Airport;Four journeys were made between various Greater Belfast locations outside of Stormont Estate; andTwo journeys were made between Belfast City Airport and locations outside the Greater Belfast area.

In addition to invoiced taxi journeys, other reimbursable taxi costs were reclaimed by staff through travel and subsistence expenses claims for this period. The costs of these journeys are included within incidental expenses and details could only be identified at disproportionate cost.

The department advises that, before any business-related journey is made, each member of staff should take into account the most cost-effective means of transport, for example mileage costs and car parking.



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Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Questions

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: As previously indicated to the noble Lord, under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 the Secretary of State is obliged, when making appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, to secure so far as practicable, that the commissioners as a group are representative of the community in Northern Ireland. The composition of existing commissioners is taken into account when appointments are made, so that this obligation can be met.

Given the small number of individuals concerned, their community backgrounds will not be disclosed.

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Section 68(3) of the Northern Ireland Act requires that in making appointments to the commission the Secretary of State must, as far as practicable, secure that the commission is representative of the community in Northern Ireland. As stated in my Written Answer of 17 December 2008 (Official Report, col. WA55) the Secretary of State has complied with this obligation in every appointment that has been made to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

In exercising his power to appoint commissioners under the Act, the Secretary of State is under his usual public law duties to act reasonably and fairly and any appointment decision he makes would be susceptible to judicial review in the usual way.

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: As set out in my previous Answer the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is independent of government. This is in the context of the provisions set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

A policy framework for the commission is not specified in the Act.

For clarification, my previous Answer referred to a policy framework in relation to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, in respect of which both the Government and the Northern Ireland Policing Board have responsibilities.

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: (a) The Northern Ireland Departmental Report 2008 (Command Paper Cm 7405) lists the NDPBs sponsored by the Northern Ireland Office. These are as follows:

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland;Equality Commission for Northern Ireland;Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission;Northern Ireland Police Fund;Northern Ireland Policing Board;Parades Commission for Northern Ireland;Office of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland;Probation for Northern Ireland;Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation;Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland;Independent Assessor for Police Service Northern Ireland Recruitment Vetting; andNorthern Ireland Law Commission.

(b) The policy of referring noble Lords to the NDPB on operational questions applies to all of the Northern Ireland Office's NDPBs listed above.

(c) No.

(d) The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body sponsored by the Government Equalities Office. The policy in relation to questions for that body is therefore a matter for the Government Equalities Office.



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Passports

Question

Asked by Lord Marlesford

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): British nationality law contains no restriction on British nationals also holding other nationalities and therefore the right to hold other passports. There is no obligation to report the acquisition or renewal of other passports.

Pensions

Questions

Asked by Lord Morris of Manchester

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Government remain committed to supporting the effective provision of private pensions. The legal framework within which they operate has been the subject of a significant level of external scrutiny, from the report of the Pension Law Review Committee in 1993 under the chairmanship of Professor Goode and including the reports of the Pensions Commission under Lord Turner. Building on this, successive Governments have established a comprehensive regulatory framework for occupational pensions and the Government have introduced an effective safety net to help individuals if their scheme fails. The Government are currently working to implement an ambitious pension reform programme, including taking forward its rolling deregulatory review to ensure the right balance between encouraging private pension provision and protecting the rights of pension scheme members. The Government do not, therefore, believe a further review of the issues referred to in the question is called for at this time.

Asked by Lord Harrison

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The law already requires an occupational pension scheme's statement of investment principles to disclose its investment policies. This must

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include a declaration of the extent (if at all) to which social, environmental or ethical considerations are taken into account in the selection, retention, and realisation of investments.

The Government have also undertaken a consultation on the Myners investment principles. One of the outcomes of that consultation, which ended in June 2008, was the establishment of an investment governance group in partnership with key members of the pensions industry. As part of its main objectives, the group will encourage, influence and promote best practice in investment-related governance.

Police: Northern Ireland

Question

Asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: It was the view of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that this was an operational matter on the basis of advice from his security advisers. In coming to this view the Secretary of State took account of all relevant information and he remains of the view that it would not be appropriate to comment.

Prisoners: Tagging

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): Electronic tagging of offenders and defendants has been operating throughout England and Wales since 1999, and is used as a means to monitor curfews which are available as an option in community sentencing, as a bail condition and as a condition of release from prison, with the person remaining in the community. The monitoring service is provided by two private sector companies under contracts with the Ministry of Justice.



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Electronic tagging in Northern Ireland is due to commence in April 2009 and the procedures underpinning its implementation are still under development. In Northern Ireland, it is intended that electronic monitoring will be available to monitor curfews as a condition of bail; as a licence condition or as a requirement of a community sentence. The technology will be the same as that used in England and Wales and the monitoring service will be provided by a private sector organisation under contract with the Northern Ireland Office.

Before a court or prison governor in England and Wales issues an offender with a curfew requirement with electronic tagging it should, as far as is practicable, avoid any conflict with religious beliefs and observances. This is specified in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for those subject to a community sentence, and in Prison Service Order 6700 for those released early on home detention curfew (HDC). This may. for example, take the form of a pre-notified schedule of variations to curfew times to allow attendance at religious services without violating the terms of their court order or licence.

Roads: Dartford Crossing

Question

Asked by Lord Hanningfield

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): The information requested is as follows. The figures for November and December 2008 are provisional and await verification.

2004

September

4,698,608

October

4,755,414

November

4,468,289

December

4,417,102

18,339,413

2005

September

4,703,260

October

4,745,910

November

4,390,728

December

4,305,466

18,145,364

2006

September

4,617,521

October

4,677,210

November

4,358,343

December

4,266,139

17,919,213

2007

September

4,560,867

October

4,584,955

November

4,308,434

December

4,144,689

17,598,945

2008

September

4,437,281

October

4,552,628

November

4,098,677

December

4,053,929

17,142,515


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