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Question

Asked by Lord Laird

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): No payments have been made by Her Majesty's Government to the Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC). ASIC has currently accredited 210 education providers. ASIC accredits private providers that typically offer further and higher education courses, as well as some specialist providers such as religious colleges.

When the Government introduced our accreditation requirement for institutions wishing to recruit students from outside the EU under tier four of our new points-based system, we were mindful of the fact that there were already a number of accreditation services operating within the private sector that were able to provide an independent check on the quality of education being delivered. Many private providers within the English-language, further and higher education sectors had for years been voluntarily using the services of

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such bodies to quality-assure what they were doing. Rather than ignoring this, it was decided to use the services of those accreditation bodies that sought approval from UKBA, provided that they were found to offer an acceptable inspection service when checked by Ofsted.

Housing: HomeBuy

Question

Asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): I refer the noble Lord to the Statement made by my right honourable friend the Member for Wentworth in the other place on 30 June, Official Report, cols. 7-9WS.

Housing: Migrants

Question

Asked by Lord Ouseley

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Government welcome the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report into social housing allocation and immigrant communities. Despite perceptions that migrants displace British social housing applicants, it found no evidence of bias in favour of migrants in the way that social housing is allocated. We have no plans to disseminate the report.

Human Rights

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: I have nothing further to add to my Answer of 10 June 2009, Official Report, col.WA 151.

Immigration

Questions

Asked by Lord Krebs



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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Lord Young of Norwood Green): Tier 4, the student tier of the points-based system (PBS), was developed in consultation with the education sector and is designed to provide a clear and transparent system for bona fide education providers wishing to bring international students to the UK. Her Majesty's Government continue to welcome genuine international students, who make a valuable cultural and economic contribution to the UK's education system.

Since Tier 4 was introduced at the end of March, there have been a number of representations made by vice-chancellors and others across the education sector, in particular concerning delays in the system and a higher than usual level of refusals. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) continues to work closely with the sector to address these problems, via regular meetings of the Joint Education Taskforce and its sub-groups, as well as through meetings and correspondence with individual education providers. The UKBA has listened to stakeholder views, making changes to policies and clarifying guidance where appropriate.

The latest UKBA figures indicate that application rates for student visas under Tier 4 of the PBS for immigration are now at 2008-09 levels. This follows an initial anticipated dip when the system was first introduced at the end of March. Management information shows that, although refusal rates were initially higher than expected, they have since been falling and this indicates that the new system is bedding down.

There continues to be regular contact between senior officials at the UKBA and this department and with Universities UK about the concerns of the higher education sector.

My right honourable friend the Minister for Higher Education and my honourable friend the Minister for Borders and Immigration are to meet with a group of vice-chancellors on 20 July specifically to ensure that any remaining concerns are heard and to agree any further action to ensure the system can cope with the summer applications peak.

Immigration: Deportation

Question

Asked by Baroness Warsi



21 July 2009 : Column WA344

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Over the past five years one individual has been deported from the United Kingdom on the exclusive grounds of unacceptable behaviour as defined under Section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971 as the Secretary of State deemed his deportation to be conducive to the public good.

Industrial Building Allowance

Questions

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): The phased withdrawal of the industrial building allowance (IBA) is not an isolated measure; it is part of the business tax reform package announced in the 2007 Budget. An impact assessment in respect of the package as a whole was published as part of the December 2007 technical note on the capital allowances changes. The final impact assessment was issued on 19 March 2008.

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Lord Myners: The industrial building allowance is being withdrawn because there was no longer any economic justification for continuing with a selective subsidy for certain buildings but not for others. It is not anticipated that the withdrawal will have any specific effect on public land.

Infrastructure Planning (National Policy Statement Consultation) Regulations 2009

Questions

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The bodies listed in the Question above do not have relevant statutory duties and were therefore not included in the list of statutory consultees at Regulation 3(3) of the Infrastructure Planning (National Policy Statement Consultation) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/1302).



21 July 2009 : Column WA345

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Schools, colleges and universities were not included in Table 1 of the Infrastructure Planning (National Policy Statement Consultation) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/1302), as they do not have relevant statutory duties.

However, they may still be consulted in accordance with regulation 3(6) "as, in any particular case, the Secretary of State may think fit."

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Question

Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The Government remain to be convinced of the added practical value to people in the United Kingdom of rights of individual petition to the United Nations. The experiment with the CEDAW Optional Protocol did not provide sufficient empirical evidence to decide either way on the value of other individual complaint mechanisms. We will need further evidence, over a longer period, to establish whether there are practical benefits. We hope that ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will assist in providing us with the evidence we seek.

International Development

Question

Asked by The Earl of Sandwich



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Lord Brett: The UK Government are supporting two work programmes that are aimed at assessing the costs of low carbon growth. The first seeks to estimate costs at a regional level (Africa, Asia and Latin America). The second is more detailed and looks at specific countries (India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil). The global assessments will allow us to look at how much finance might flow from international carbon markets and therefore how much other finance (i.e. domestic finance or international public finance) might be needed.

Finance is a key issue in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations that are due to conclude, in December, in Copenhagen. The UK Government are seeking a deal that helps to deliver new and additional sources of funding for both low carbon development and adaptation. We are calling for all developed countries to provide additional public finance, over and above existing aid commitments, to help pay for developing country action on climate change. We are also proposing that all donor countries should ensure that they climate-proof existing commitments on official development assistance (ODA), and make available a small, limited proportion of ODA-in the case of the UK, up to 10 per cent- specifically for climate change objectives that also contribute to poverty reduction.

Israel

Question

Asked by Lord Janner of Braunstone

The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): The UK Government fully support academic freedom and are firmly against any academic boycotts of Israel or Israeli academics. It is important to note that there are no proposals for a United Kingdom academic boycott against Israel and no such policy exists currently.

Jobcentre Plus: Staff

Question

Asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): Since the start of April 2009 Jobcentre Plus has recruited over 6,000 full-time equivalent new staff into customer service operational posts. Further recruitment is currently ongoing and we are continually reviewing the staffing levels required to meet customer demand.



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Legal Aid

Questions

Asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): Parents in care proceedings receive assistance funded by legal aid without reference to their financial resources. All law firms providing legally aided assistance are subject to quality controls.

The Legal Services Commission is committed to ensuring that it contracts with providers that deliver high-quality services for clients. All legal aid providers must meet the Specialist Quality Mark (SQM)-a quality management system-which includes requirements for supervision and file review by appropriately qualified staff. This means that even routine tasks which may be carried out by unqualified staff are undertaken under appropriate supervision.

In addition, the proposals in the consultation, Family Legal Aid Funding from 2010, have elements that reward experience and expertise, including higher fees for High Court work and an enhanced fee for care and supervision cases that resolve prior to the final hearing.

Asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick

Lord Bach: I refer the noble Lord to my Written Ministerial Statement of 20 July in which I announced the publication of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) response to consultation on best value tendering of criminal defence services.

The LSC will proceed to pilot BVT as planned in Manchester and Avon & Somerset. However, the LSC has listened carefully to concerns raised by those responding to the consultation and has been persuaded that there is a strong case for delaying the wider implementation of BVT until at least 2013 to enable a full evaluation of the impact in the two pilot areas.

A copy of the consultation response and accompanying impact assessment has been placed in the House Library. The documents are also available on the consultation section of the LSC website at www.legalservices.gov.uk.

Asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick

Lord Bach: I refer the noble Lord to my Written Ministerial Statement of 20 July in which I announced the publication of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) response to consultation on best value tendering of criminal defence services.



21 July 2009 : Column WA348

The response confirms that the LSC intends to pilot BVT in Greater Manchester and Avon & Somerset, and describes features of the chosen BVT model, which will mitigate any risks associated with a reverse auction. However, in response to strong concerns expressed by respondents to the consultation, the LSC has decided to slow down the timetable for implementation of BVT beyond the two pilot areas. This will enable the LSC to conduct a full evaluation of the pilot, including the effects of running a reverse auction.

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