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In addition, we also announced in December that more support would be available for new parents to help them prepare for the changes parenthood brings. We are also prioritising support to third-sector organisations offering relationship support. Over the next two years, we will be providing grants of over £7 million to a range of third-sector organisations, such as Relate, working directly with parents experiencing relationship conflict. Information and advice to support parents both in their parenting and their couple relationship is available nationally through the innovative Parent Know How programme. We have also funded the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners (NAPP) to train and support the practitioners that parents turn to for advice, training and information around parenting skills.



24 Feb 2009 : Column WA42

Financial Services Authority

Question

Asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon

The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): This is an operational matter for the FSA. I understand that the chairman of the FSA, Lord Turner, will write to my noble friend directly.

Gaza

Questions

Asked by Baroness Tonge

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): While we have made no specific representations on this issue, we, along with our EU partners, continue to press the Israeli Government to reduce their restrictions on Gaza to meet humanitarian and reconstruction needs, and also to allow Gazans the opportunity to rebuild their economy.

Asked by Lord Hylton

Lord Malloch-Brown: The quartet representative has raised and will continue to raise with the Government of Israel the issue of allowing building materials in to Gaza to allow for the urgent reconstruction of homes and infrastructure.

Asked by Lord Hylton

Lord Malloch-Brown: We would welcome an Israeli contribution to the wider reconstruction effort. The most essential Israeli action that we continue to press for is the immediate free and unhindered passage of humanitarian aid, construction materials and the staff of UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations through the Gaza crossings.



24 Feb 2009 : Column WA43

Asked by Baroness Northover

Lord Malloch-Brown: The number of truckloads of aid permitted to enter Gaza daily by the Israeli authorities remains insufficient, and humanitarian organisations continue to face serious restrictions to enter Gaza. The UK along with the international community will continue to call for the full opening of the crossings into and out of Gaza.

Asked by Baroness Northover

Lord Malloch-Brown: The number of truckloads of aid permitted to enter Gaza daily by the Israeli authorities remains insufficient, and humanitarian organisations continue to face serious restrictions to enter Gaza. The UK along with the international community will continue to call for the full opening of the crossings into and out of Gaza.

Asked by Baroness Northover

Lord Brett: The latest UN assessment found that the Gaza power plant still does not receive enough fuel to operate at full capacity and much of the Gaza Strip continues to receive only intermittent electricity.

On 9 February, the UN reported on that 50,000 to 100,000 people were without running water and 15 per cent of the population received running water in their homes only every five or six days. Even before the crisis 80 per cent of drinking water in Gaza did not meet international standards for human consumption. Gaza's water and wastewater system is in need of significant repairs which are estimated to cost approximately $6 million.

The United Nations (UN) reported on 9 February that three UN shelters remained open in Jabalia, Beach Camp and Deir Al Balah, hosting 388 displaced people.

With regard to longer-term needs, the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme and European Community, working closely with the Palestinian Authority, will take the lead in co-ordinating international efforts on reconstruction. They are currently planning a full needs assessment which is expected to last two to three months. This will include a full assessment of needs for electricity, water and sanitation.



24 Feb 2009 : Column WA44

Asked by Lord Dykes

Lord Malloch-Brown: We support Egyptian efforts to work with President Abbas to reunite Palestinian politics and ensure the authority of the Palestinian Authority runs throughout the Palestinian Territories. However, the quartet has made clear that Hamas needs to make significant movement towards rejecting violence, accepting Israel's right to exist, and recognising previous agreements. We discuss these issues frequently with France and other partners.

Asked by Lord Hylton

Lord Malloch-Brown: We have no reason to believe that sea-borne access to Gaza is any more straightforward than access by land. So we will continue to press the Israeli Government to allow full access.

Asked by Lord Dykes

Lord Malloch-Brown: We believe divestment, sanctions and boycotts directed at Israel would be counterproductive. Isolation of Israel would advance neither Britain's influence nor the prospects for peace in the Middle East.

Asked by Lord Dykes

Lord Malloch-Brown: We have no plans to make specific representations on this issue. But we have been very clear that we condemn any attack on innocent civilians. UN Security Council Resolution 1860, which was proposed by the UK, was emphatic in its condemnation of all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism.

Government Departments: Staffing

Question

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): Having already delivered £26.5 billion of savings through the Gershon efficiency programme, over the next three years all departments will go further and achieve additional efficiency savings, including Defra which will deliver more than £379 million of value-for-money savings by 2010-11. Departments are responsible for achieving their savings and there is no central workforce reduction target.

Government: IT

Questions

Asked by Lord Steinberg

The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): The responsibility of managing all contracts rests with the contracting department or organisation. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is working with departments on a number of initiatives to help them improve procurement and project management skills and capability; the negotiation, agreement and subsequent management of contracts; and the improved management of projects defined in those contracts. In particular, the OGC is working closely with colleagues in the Cabinet Office to ensure that a greater number of ICT contracts are fulfilled within time and budget.

Asked by Lord Steinberg

Lord Myners: Fujitsu is a strategically important supplier of goods and services to a number of government organisations, primarily in the area of information and communications technologies (ICT).

Asked by Lord Steinberg

Lord Myners: The responsibility of managing all contracts, including performance assessment and budget projections, rests with the contracting department or organisation. In the area of ICT, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council work with departments to monitor ICT supplier performance; these assessments are commercially confidential.



24 Feb 2009 : Column WA46

Asked by Lord Steinberg

Lord Myners: Of 2007 OGC Gateway reviews completed to date, 964 were categorised as having been carried out on IT enabled projects.

Since the introduction of delivery confidence in June 2008, four projects have received a single red delivery confidence rating, indicating that successful delivery of the project, as currently constituted and defined, appears to be unachievable and that the project may need re-baselining and/or its overall viability reassessed. The Gateway report contains recommendations which, if adopted, should help the project to improve its potential for success.

Prior to June 2008, 41 projects received a consecutive red review, indicating that at the time of the review one or more of the recommendations, contained within a review report, needed to be carried out urgently. The red status was not a reflection of the overall status of the project and did not necessarily mean that the Office of Government Commerce considered the projects to be unachievable.

Government: Legislation

Question

Asked by Earl Attlee

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The number of pages of primary legislation (excluding Money Bills) passed in each of the past 15 years is as follows:

YearNumber of pages

1994

1,612

1995

2,563

1996

2,617

1997

1,648

1998

1,991

1999

1,814

2000

3,173

2001

788

2002

2,264

2003

2,871

2004

2,721

2005

1,686

2006

3,406

2007

1,974

2008

2,388



24 Feb 2009 : Column WA47

Hajj Advisory Group

Questions

Asked by Baroness Warsi

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Hajj Advisory Group (HAG) was established in July 2001 and abolished in 2006.

The Hajj Advisory Group charter contained the criteria for appointment of members to the group. This was based on the particular skills and contributions an individual could bring to the group in terms of professional experience in relative fields (eg fund raising, medical, welfare, administration and communication) and their work within established communities.


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