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Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what pay gaps there are in respect of gender, race and disability among employees of the Department of Health. [HL3320]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The department conducted an equal pay review examining pay gaps by grade, gender, race and disability and this will be published internally in June 2009. In the mean time, the overall gender pay gap for the department and its agencies is available at:
www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/CivilService_tables_2008.xls
The overall pay gap given in the Civil Service Statistics is not relevant in the context of equal pay legislation as it does not compare like-for-like work.
The gender pay gap reduces significantly when examined by grade.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what pay gaps there are in respect of gender, race and disability among employees of the Department for Children, Schools and Families. [HL3384]
20 May 2009 : Column WA321
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): Information on pay in respect of gender in the department is available from the Civil Service Statistics tables (Table 27) at www.statistics.gov. uk/downloads/theme_labour/CivilService_tables_2008.xls.
Information on pay in respect of race and disability among employees in the department is not available in the form requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information on earnings under race and disability in the Civil Service can be viewed in Table 25 (median earnings by ethnicity) and 26 (median earnings by disability) in Civil Service Statistics.
Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a gender pay gap in the Department of Health; if so, what is the percentage difference; and what are the reasons for the difference. [HL3510]
Lord Darzi of Denham: The department conducted an equal pay review examining pay gaps by grade, gender, race and disability and this will be published internally in June 2009. In the mean time, the overall gender pay gap for the department and its agencies is available at www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_ labour/CivilService_tables_2008.xls.
The overall pay gap given in the Civil Service statistics is not relevant in the context of equal pay legislation as it does not compare like-for-like work.
The gender pay gap reduces significantly when examined by grade.
European Commission: Minutes of Meetings
Questions
Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make available to Members of both Houses of Parliament the minutes of meetings of the European Commission. [HL3586]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not receive minutes of all European Commission meetings. It is for the European Commission to decide what it does with internal records of meetings attended by its officials. The Government recognise the need for officials to have space for original thought, and it is not our policy to seek publication of such documents. Access to such documents can be sought through the regulation 1049/01 on access to documents of the EU institutions.
Asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the European Commission keeps and publishes minutes of all its meetings; and, if not, whether they will seek to persuade it to do so. [HL3587]
20 May 2009 : Column WA322
Lord Malloch-Brown: The European Commission does not publish internal records of meetings attended by its officials. The Government recognise the need for officials to have space for original thought, and it is not our policy to seek publication of such documents. Access to such documents can be sought through the regulation 1049/01 on access to documents of the EU institutions.
Asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they receive minutes of all European Commission meetings; and, if so, whether they will publish them. [HL3588]
Lord Malloch-Brown: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not receive minutes of all European Commission meetings. It is for the European Commission to decide what it does with internal records of meetings attended by its officials. The Government recognise the need for officials to have space for original thought, and it is not our policy to seek publication of such documents. Access to such documents can be sought through the regulation 1049/01 on access to documents of the EU institutions.
Female Genital Mutilation
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 20 April (WA 335), what are the 12 specialist clinics in the National Health Service that treat women and girls who have been mutilated. [HL3652]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): There are over 14 specialist clinics in the National Health Service that have trained and culturally sensitive staff who offer a range of healthcare services for women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation, including reversal surgery (deinfibulation). Services are confidential and clinics are open to women to attend without referral from their own doctor.
Government Departments: Bottled Water
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much Communities and Local Government or its predecessors spent on bottled water in each of the past five years. [HL3460]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The Department for Communities and Local Government and its predecessors incurred the following expenditure on the purchase of bottled water in each of the past five financial years:
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
20 May 2009 : Column WA323
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform or its predecessors spent on bottled water in each of the past five years. [HL3523]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting (Lord Carter of Barnes): The department has not separately recorded expenditure on bottled water. Since 14 November 2007, the department has ceased to use bottled water.
Gulf War Illnesses
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Lord Tunnicliffe on 27 April (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 9), whether and on what dates invitations to the symposium held in the House of Lords on 24 March on the Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory Committee's inquiry into Gulf War Illnesses were received by Baroness Taylor of Bolton and the Under-Secretary of State for Veterans, Kevan Jones; and whether they now have copies of the information proffered by Lord Tyler in his supplementary question. [HL3699]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The Ministry of Defence was not represented at the symposium held in the House of Lords on 24 March. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans received an invitation three days before the event was due to take place but was already committed to another long-standing engagement overseas. My own private office did not receive an invitation.
Fluoridation
Question
Asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they distinguish in public health terms between findings of “no evidence of risk” from cancer and "no clear association" with cancer. [HL3357]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The terms we have used to describe the findings of the reports of the systematic reviews of fluoridation issued by the University of York and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council seem inconsistent.
In a statement available at: www.cochrane.org/docs/ebm.htm the Cochrane Collaboration defines evidence-based healthcare as “the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients or the delivery of health services. Current best evidence is up-to-date information from relevant, valid research about the effects of different forms of healthcare, the potential for harm from exposure to particular agents, the accuracy of diagnostic tests, and the predictive power of prognostic factors.”
20 May 2009 : Column WA324
The reports show the findings of the cancer studies were mixed, with small variations on either side of no effect. In this light, we agree a summative conclusion of “no clear association” is more appropriate.
Health: Drugs
Question
Asked by The Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to ensure that the procurement of antiretroviral drugs through the Global Fund and other mechanisms is streamlined and timely, and that there are no delays in the supply of the drugs. [HL3387]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The Department for International Development (DfID) is aware that some countries supported by the Global Fund are at risk from stock-outs of essential antiretroviral drugs. DfID officials have spoken to the fund's secretariat about this, including recently at the Global Fund's Executive Board (5-6 May 2009). Formally, the UK supported a resolution made at the board meeting which obliges the fund's secretariat to address this issue urgently, to report on whether its existing procedures are adequate, and to propose solutions which would minimise the risks of disruptions to treatment both in the short term and on an ongoing basis. In developing countries such as Zimbabwe, DfID is also assisting, where possible, in the provision of drugs while problems in Global Fund supported programmes are being addressed.
Health: Former UK Residents
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 27 April (WA 17), what payments for healthcare they have made in each of the past five years to the Republic of Ireland; what overpayments they have made and how they were miscalculated; whether the overpayments will be deducted in future years; and why data on payments prior to 2003 are not available. [HL3678]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): Bilateral discussions with officials from the Republic of Ireland are ongoing therefore it is not possible to calculate whether payments the United Kingdom made in each of the past five years represented overpayments. Under the terms of the bilateral agreement, the UK made the following payments which are net of income offsets.
| Year | Payment to date |
20 May 2009 : Column WA325
The payment the UK made in 2007 was made on account and was the amount Irish officials signalled should be paid. The department's officials clearly indicated that this would likely be an overpayment and this message was acknowledged by Irish officials. Departmental analysis of the amounts the UK should pay suggests the payment represented an overpayment of around €180 million. Officials will ensure that any overpayments which are identified will result in the necessary financial adjustments. Data on payments prior to 2003 exist. However, they are currently archived and officials are in the process of accessing them, validating them and reformatting them.
Housing: Insurance
Question
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to insurance companies on the inclusion, within standard policies, of insurance cover for households required by their local authority to accept one or more wheeled refuse bins for use in disposing of household rubbish. [HL3752]
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): No such guidance has been issued by Her Majesty's Government.
Housing: Mortgage Support Scheme
Questions
Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Baroness Andrews on 30 April (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 66), why a scheme designed to assist individual homeowners to avoid repossession of their houses is considered to have the potential to distort competition when it was open to all mortgage lenders to participate in it. [HL3602]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): Under the homeowners mortgage support scheme, the Government give a guarantee to lenders which would allow them to recover some of the interest payments that they would otherwise have to write off. This could be considered to give an economic advantage to lenders entering the scheme and strengthen the position of these lenders compared to that of competitors in other member states. The Government therefore notified the European Commission of the proposed state aid. The Commission approved the aid on 20 April 2009.
Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the delay between the announcement of the mortgage support scheme and its approval by the European Commission. [HL3603]
20 May 2009 : Column WA326
Baroness Andrews: The Government's intention to introduce homeowners mortgage support was announced by the Prime Minister on 3 December 2008. It required a change in legislation which was made in the Banking Acts 2009. This department then worked with the lenders and money advice agencies to agree the detailed scheme design and to put in place training for advice agency staff. At the same time the Government asked the European Commission to look at the proposed scheme's compatibility with the EC treaty on state aid. The Commission's decision was received on 20 April and the scheme was open with the first lenders on 21 April 2009.
Identity Cards
Question
Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current estimated cost of introducing identity cards. [HL3168]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The National Identity Service Cost Report gives a breakdown of the estimated expenditure likely to be incurred on the identity cards scheme over the next 10 years. The latest report, published on 6 May 2009, gives an estimated cost of introducing identity cards and passports for the period from April 2009 to April 2019 of £4,945 million. It is expected that around 70 per cent of these costs will need to be incurred to issue more-secure passports, irrespective of the introduction of the identity cards scheme.
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