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To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to draw up an agreement between the military and civilian authorities in Afghanistan to engender confidence. [HL4664]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): UK forces, along with 41 other contributing nations, participate in the North Atlantic Treat Organisation's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan at the invitation of the democratically elected Afghan Government and at the request of the UN. The objective of the international community's involvement in Afghanistan is to establish the right security environment in which accountable and effective institutions can develop and Afghan-led reconstruction and development can be established. Gaining and securing the confidence of the Afghan population is critical to achieving our objectives. The newly appointed commander of ISAF, General Stanley McChrystal, is currently conducting a review of ISAF operations. We await its recommendations. We welcome General McChrystal's recent statements emphasising ISAF's determination to protect the Afghan population from the insurgents and to seek to minimise the effect of ISAF operations on the population. The UK will continue to support ISAF and the Government of Afghanistan in their efforts to do this. ISAF and the wider international community working in Afghanistan, including the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, will continue to work closely with the Government of Afghanistan and the Afghan National Security Forces in pursuit of their objectives on behalf of the people of Afghanistan.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to allocate the defence budget between military salaries and large defence equipment projects. [HL4829]
The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton):The Defence Plan 2008-12 (Cm 7385), sets out the planned defence budget up to 2010-11 in section IV entitled "The Government Expenditure Plan". This reflects the outcome of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review and includes a high level breakdown of costs. Copies of The Defence Plan 2008-12 are available in the Library of the House and can also be found at the following link at http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/BusinessPlans/DefencePlans/.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that reservists in Her Majesty's armed forces who draw the jobseeker's allowance immediately before being called up for full-time service will have that allowance automatically restored once the period of full-time service is complete. [HL4437]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): Reservists who are returning to jobseeker's allowance, who have had a gap of less than 26 weeks between claims, can make a rapid reclaim to jobseeker's allowance. This means that the claim process is shortened and the return to benefit is simpler and quicker.
However, it is not possible automatically to restore a person's benefit as they may have had changes in their circumstances which may mean they are entitled to a different benefit or an increase in their entitlement.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they propose to prevent United Kingdom retail banks from levying excessive or hidden charges on bank customers. [HL4883]
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to Lord Laird on 7 July 2009 (Official Report, col. WA 123).
"Bank charges are a matter for the regulatory authorities. The treatment of charges is set out in the Banking Code, which is monitored by the Banking Code Standards Board.
The Financial Services Authority will introduce a new conduct of business regime, covering all retail banking services within its remit on 1 November 2009. It will introduce a new principles-based framework and conduct rules. The Financial Services Authority will consult on areas where additional rules or guidance may be needed.
The Office of Fair Trading is pursuing a test case against a group of banks on the fairness of unarranged overdraft charging terms. It is also working with stakeholders to address the concerns identified in its market study into the operation of the market for personal current accounts. This, together with the resolution of the bank charges test case, will open the way to introduce transparent price structures and simpler mechanisms for switching from one provider to another".
Asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the cost to date of the Bloody Sunday inquiry; when it is expected to report; and what further costs are expected. [HL4610]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry to the end of May is £188 million, including legal costs incurred by the Ministry of Defence. The Northern Ireland Office has agreed a package of measures with the inquiry to reduce running costs during the remaining stages by around 20 per cent. These measures include closure of the inquiry's Londonderry office and renegotiation of IT contracts and rents. The total cost of the inquiry is expected to be around £190 million.
Lord Saville wrote to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in January 2009 stating that it is still his intention to submit his report in the autumn of this year. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has had no indication from Lord Saville that there will be any further delays.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Compensation Agency has paid out in compensation in each year since its formation. [HL4672]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The following table sets out the amount of compensation paid out by the Compensation Agency, in each year, since its formation on 1 April 1992.
Compensation Paid | 1000's |
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff were employed in the Compensation Agency in each year since its formation. [HL4673]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The following table sets out the average staff employed by the Compensation Agency, in each year, since its formation on 1 April 1992.
Year | Average staff employed per year |
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer on 28 April by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies (Official Report, House of Commons, col. 1162W), whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs intends to raise income by renting out part of the 85 per cent unused capacity on its Unix servers or the 94 per cent unused on its Wintel servers. [HL4659]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham): Defra outsourced IT service provision (which included transfer of server ownership) to IBM in 2004. Under this contract, the department purchases access to applications services hosted on servers provided and managed by IBM. Therefore we are not in a position to consider raising income by renting out capacity on them.
Asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the institutions and bodies of the European Union which enjoy diplomatic immunities and privileges in the United Kingdom; what those diplomatic immunities and privileges are; and how many people enjoy them. [HL4653]
The Minister for Europe (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): There are 11 organisations of the European Union with facilities in the UK that are entitled to certain privileges and immunities. They are:
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training;
European Maritime Safety Agency;
European Molecular Biology Laboratory;
European Network and Information Security Agency;
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been notified of 2,282 staff and their dependants at the above listed organisations that may be entitled to some form of privileges and immunities. The extent of the privileges and immunities accorded varies between the different organisations, such as immunity from jurisdiction and legal process and exemption or relief from certain taxes.
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