| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Copies of this document are placed in the Library of the House. It is also available to view at www.ukba. homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/managingourborders/enforcementbusinessplan08_09/enforcementbusinessplan08_09.pdf?view=Binary.
The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of persons removed and departed voluntarily from the UK on a quarterly and annual basis, and these figures will include illegal immigrants. National statistics on immigration and asylum are placed in the Library of the House and are available from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html.
18 Mar 2009 : Column WA48
Justice: Foreign and International Courts
Question
Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times, and in which cases, they have submitted an amicus curiae brief to a foreign or international court in each of the past three years. [HL1534]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): In the past three years, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on behalf of the Government, have submitted amicus curiae briefs on the following four occasions:
in proceedings involving the British national, Krishna Maharaj, an amicus brief was filed in July 2006 in the US Supreme Court;in proceedings involving the British national, Linda Carty, an amicus brief was filed in May 2006 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division;in proceedings involving the British national, Kenneth Richey, an amicus brief was filed in January 2007 in the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; andin the Alexis Holyweek Sarei et al vs Rio Tinto plc et al case, an amicus brief was filed in May 2007 in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.Macedonia
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support the Republic of Macedonia in its desire to attend the NATO summit at Strasbourg, France, and Kehl, Germany, in April. [HL1977]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The UK remains a firm supporter of the Republic of Macedonia's, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) aspirations. However, all meetings at the NATO summit in Strasbourg/Kehl will be held in an allies-only format.
The UK shares Macedonia's disappointment that an invitation was not extended to join NATO at its summit in April 2008. However, the summit communiqué concluded that an invitation would be offered as soon as a mutually acceptable solution was reached to the name dispute with Greece. The UK continues to urge both sides to engage in efforts to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
My right honourable friend Caroline Flint, Minister for Europe, discussed this issue during her visit to Macedonia on 26 to 28 March 2008, and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials discussed this matter with the ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia in London on 10 March 2009.
18 Mar 2009 : Column WA49
Mongolia
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the opening of a British Council office in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. [HL1771]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The British Council does not currently have an office in Mongolia and has no present plans to open one.
However, British Council programme activity has recently been undertaken in Mongolia. The British Council's Peace Keeping English Project, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development, recently completed its activity in Mongolia. The programme sought to improve the English language abilities of the Mongolian personnel who contribute to its UN peace keeping contingent. In addition, the British Council continues to offer access to its high quality English language materials and administer exams in Mongolia.
NHS Redress Act
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in the application of the NHS Redress Act 2006. [HL2105]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The NHS Redress Act 2006 is a piece of framework legislation that will need to be enacted through secondary legislation. The department has continually believed that putting in place the appropriate secondary legislation for this piece of work will require considerable stakeholder involvement to discuss the detail around the working of any scheme. This would mean that any legislation could not be implemented any earlier than at least 2010.
The department considers it is currently more important to embed the general principles of wider redress across the National Health Service—those of apologies and explanations, a spirit of openness, a culture of learning from mistakes and robust investigation—rather than focusing on financial redress only for those cases:
which are of low monetary value (currently envisaged to be under £20,000);which satisfy set principles in tort law; andwhere financial compensation would be appropriate.The significant and important area of work around complaints reform is currently underway and will be implemented in April 2009. It will lay the general foundations of redress, in its wider sense, across health and social care by:
18 Mar 2009 : Column WA50
Once these principles are embedded across health and social care organisations, applying redress measures more specifically to any particular scheme or initiative (such as in the area of clinical negligence) can be considered further.
Northern Ireland Assembly: Policing and Justice
Question
Asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide further details on the indication given the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Shaun Woodward, that the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein have agreed a “way forward” on the devolution of policing and justice to the Northern Ireland Assembly; and whether the statement was made following the matter being discussed at and agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive. [HL1965]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: On 18 November 2008 the First and Deputy First Minister announced they had agreed a process, the completion of which would see the devolution of policing and justice to the Northern Ireland Assembly. They asked the Assembly and Executive Review Committee to produce a report on the modalities of devolution. This report was debated in the Assembly on 20 January 2009 and approved on a cross-community basis before it was noted by the Northern Ireland Executive.
Northern Ireland Office: Cost-saving
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 9 February (WA 165—66) concerning the details of efficiency gains delivered by the Northern Ireland Office, which of the forecast efficiency gains for 2007—08 in the 2007 report were not met by the delivery groups; by how much; and for what reason. [HL1537]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The 2004 Spending Review committed the Northern Ireland Office to achieving a target of £90 million of efficiency gains by March 2008. Some 170 efficiency initiatives were identified across the department to deliver this target and by the end of 2007-08, £103.6 million of efficiency gains had
18 Mar 2009 : Column WA51
However, details of the efficiency gains delivered by the Northern Ireland Office across the SR04 period (from 2005-06 to 2007-08) are outlined in the Northern Ireland Office's autumn performance report 2008 which is published on the internet at www.nio.gov.uk.
Northern Ireland Office: Staff
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many substitute staff on which £1.4 million was spent, as stated in the Northern Ireland Office's 2007 annual report, were recruited in 2007; why such expenditure was necessary; and whether those staff are still in place. [HL921]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: During the 2007-08 financial year 86 substitute staff were recruited to the Northern Ireland Office. The staff were employed for a range of reasons, the main being:
to provide cover where there were insufficient internal staff to undertake the work; to fill vacancies while permanent staff were being recruited; orto cover for staff on maternity leave or on long-term sick.Of the 86 recruited, 21 are still in place.
Northern Ireland Office: Taxis
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 29 January (WA 76) regarding expenditure on taxis by the Northern Ireland Office in the first two weeks of the 2007—08 financial year, how many journeys were made in total; from where to where did each journey take place; and what was the purpose and cost of each journey. [HL1400]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: As stated in the Written Answer of 29 January (Official Report, col. WA 76), the Northern Ireland Office was invoiced for 37 taxi journeys at a total cost of £323.40 during the first two weeks of the 2007-08 financial year. The previous Answer also noted that 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 be identified only at disproportionate cost.
Full details of all invoiced taxi journeys in 2007-08 have now been placed in the Library.
18 Mar 2009 : Column WA52
Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 26 January (WA 104), what consideration has been given to the effects on public confidence when deciding how much information to release on appointment procedures for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. [HL1909]
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they operate a policy of transparency in the appointment of Commissioners to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission; and, if so, how. [HL1910]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Public appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the procedures for making such appointments comply fully with the commissioner's code of practice which can be found at www. publicappointmentscommissioner.org/Code_of_ Practice.
Paragraph 2.12 of the code of practice states:
2.12 To gain public confidence the workings of the appointments system must be clearly visible. All stages of the process, including relevant conversations, must be documented and the information readily available for audit. Information should be stored for a minimum of two years. However:
- personal information about applicants and panel members must remain confidential, unless the individual concerned gives permission for its release;
Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee was disbanded in October 2008; and whether they intend to replace it with another source of independent advice. [HL1728]
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee is one of several advisory committees that advise the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It reached the end of its latest term of office in October 2008. The HSE Board decided to defer any decisions on reconstituting the committee pending the outcome of various reviews. This included taking account of the recommendations of Dr Tim Stone's review of nuclear regulatory arrangements, which were published in January 2009.
18 Mar 2009 : Column WA53
One of Dr Stone's recommendations accepted by the Government was to restructure the HSE's Nuclear Directorate through legislation. The future make-up of any advisory body needs to follow decisions on these arrangements.
Meanwhile, in addition to its own experts, the HSE is able to call on many external sources of advice on nuclear safety.
Pakistan: Blasphemy Laws
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to the Government of Pakistan about Mr Hector Aleem, who was arrested in January and accused of blasphemy on evidence alleged to have been extracted under torture; and, if so, what was the result. [HL1894]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): We are aware of Mr Aleem's detention but have not made representations to the Government of Pakistan on his behalf. Officials in our high commission in Islamabad have established that Pakistan's Ministry for Human Rights is already engaged in Mr Aleem's case. We will continue to monitor developments but cannot intervene while legal proceedings are in progress.
Petitions
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Department for Culture, Media and Sport received in (a) 2007, and (b) 2008; what steps the department has taken to publicise them; and whether they will place the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House. [HL1741]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public. [HL1742]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting (Lord Carter of Barnes): The department registers receipt of all petitions on our central correspondence system. A full response is subsequently sent to the petition organiser, with the intention that the response should be shared with any signatories to the petition.
The department does not actively publish such material and registers such petitions as general correspondence. As departmental records do not distinguish between representations in the form of petitions and other general correspondence, we do not hold a list of this information in the format requested, and would be unable to locate this information without incurring disproportionate cost.
18 Mar 2009 : Column WA54
Public Bodies
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under “Foreign and Commonwealth Office” in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration. [HL1842]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): My noble friend Lord Kinnock is chair of the British Council.
The noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe of Aberavon, is president of the Executive Committee of the Great Britain—China Centre.
My noble friend Lord Foulkes is governor on the Board of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
My noble friend Lady Quinn is a member of the Advisory Council within the Wilton Park Advisory Council.
None of the Members of the House of Lords receives remuneration for their work.
RAF Brize Norton
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent ground support at RAF Brize Norton is provided by (a) contractors, and (b) Royal Air Force personnel. [HL2023]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The majority of the personnel that support the airfield operations at RAF Brize Norton are in units that contain an integrated mix of RAF, MoD civil servant and contractor personnel. These include passenger and aircrew airside transportation, airfield fire crash rescue, cleaning and snow clearance on aircraft manoeuvring areas, aircraft refuelling and aircraft de-icing.
Air traffic control, airfield emergency medical response, baggage and freight handling, aircraft engineering and aircraft marshalling/dispatch are all provided solely by RAF personnel.
The bird control unit is manned solely by contractor staff.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the availability of de-icing equipment, materials and crews at RAF Brize Norton compares with civilian best practice. [HL2025]
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |