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12 Oct 2009 : Column WA1

Written Answers

Monday 12 October 2009

Afghanistan

Question

Asked by Viscount Waverley

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Afghan Government increasingly have to contend with the insurgency's ability to promote its extremist ideology. In order to help counter the extremist narrative, the UK is committed to increasing the Afghan Government's ability to communicate their credibility and authority, particularly in the Pashtun Belt. The UK supports the Afghan Government in developing their communications capacity and capabilities to support growing Afghan ownership of communications, including through funding of the new Government Media and Information Centre in Kabul and support for communications infrastructure.

UK strategy in Afghanistan incorporates public diplomacy and outreach such as bilateral visits by prominent Muslim opinion-formers, in order to break down Afghan misconceptions about UK life and the myths around UK motivations for intervening in Afghanistan. In June this year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided funding for a group of Helmand MPs to visit the UK to develop their understanding of the role of the UK's Muslim Community. The delegation's engagements included meeting British Muslim scholars and opinion-formers, visiting British mosques and Muslim faith schools. Also at the invitation of the Government, a group of Afghan religious leaders are visiting the UK in July in order to see first-hand demonstrations of Islam's compatibility with democracy. Their engagements include meetings with the Friends of Islam All-Party Parliamentary Group, the Society of Afghan Residents in the UK, and a visit to the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in London.

The UK works hard to explain foreign policy to domestic and international public in order to address inaccurate perceptions. We do this through media and public diplomacy work, including putting Arabic and Urdu-speaking spokespeople forward to media outlets such as Al-Jazeera, and speeches, interviews and articles by Ministers and ambassadors.

Asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UK continues to press others to share more of the burden in Afghanistan, focusing on what others can realistically deliver, including military and non-military.



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Lobbying efforts have resulted in real progress in the form of commitments announced at the NATO summit in Strasbourg on 3 and 4 April 2009. Many European nations, including eastern European NATO members, such as Poland, Romania and Lithuania made announcements of increased troop contributions.

In 2008, a France-UK summit launched the UK-France (now multinational) Helicopter Initiative with the aim of helping finance equipment upgrades and crew training to improve the availability of helicopters to NATO, EU and UN operations. The initial focus was on the ISAF operation in Afghanistan, therefore increasing burden-sharing among the partner nations in Afghanistan.

The fund has so far generated €27 million, and this has helped enable the commitment of an additional 17 helicopters for Afghanistan, starting with an initial deployment of Czech helicopters at the end of this year, plus plans for Bulgarian and Hungarian deployments thereafter. Other Eastern European NATO allies are also considering helicopter deployments. The Prime Minister raised this issue at the last NATO summit in April 2009, and the UK continues to engage with EU and NATO opposite numbers to gain their support for this initiative.

Asked by Lord Hylton

The Minister for Europe (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): We welcome the Stone review and the US focus on prisons and detentions facilities in Afghanistan. The question of prisoners detained by the US is a matter for the US and Afghan Governments.

Businesses: Foreign Ownership

Question

Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon

The First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Lord President of the Council (Lord Mandelson): It is the Government's policy to pursue the benefits of free trade and open markets. Foreign investment is always of potential value to British companies. To maximise this value has always required consideration of investment alongside important questions about transparency, commercial intentions, and the location of production. It is in the interests of investors, shareholders and employees that all these aspects of ownership-domestic or foreign-are properly considered.



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Chagos Islanders

Question

Asked by Lord Luce

The Minister for Europe (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): The Government have been invited by the court to submit written observations on the admissibility and merits of the application by the Chagos Islanders and to inform the Registry of the Government's position concerning a friendly settlement. The deadline for submissions is now 31 July. The Government do not discuss the details of legal pleadings in cases to which we are a party while they are in the process of formulation and do not therefore propose to consult Parliament before submitting their observations.

Asked by Lord Avebury

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: While it is not our normal practice to put our observations on the European Court of Human Rights proceedings in the Library of the House, not least as these documents are publicly available in Strasbourg, I am pleased to respond positively to the noble Lord's request and will make copies of the documents he has requested available in the Library of the House.

Charity Commission

Question

Asked by Lord Morris of Manchester

Baroness Crawley: The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. As a non-ministerial government department it agrees a series of key performance indicators (KPIs) directly with HM Treasury, and reports against these in its annual report. The Charity Commission is accountable to the courts for its legal decisions and is also accountable to Parliament. The Charity Commission appears before the Public Administration Select Committee on an annual basis to give evidence about various aspects of its work.



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There are no plans to propose or support amending legislation in the area of provable electoral fraud committed by a charity's officers, nor is such legislation considered necessary as we believe that existing legislation is sufficient to allow action to be taken by the regulator where it considers it appropriate and proportionate to do so.

Asked by Lord Morris of Manchester

Baroness Crawley: The matters raised in the report by Professor Leon Poller are for the Charity Commission as the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. The report has been passed to the Charity Commission for it to consider and to respond directly to Professor Poller.

China

Question

Asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick

The Minister for Europe (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): We have stated on a number of occasions that we hope restraint will be exercised on all sides and problems resolved peacefully in Urumqi and other parts of Xinjiang province. We are also stressing to the Chinese authorities the need for the rights of those detained to be fully respected, including the right to due process. We are also continuing to encourage the Chinese authorities to maintain their welcome approach of transparency and openness towards the media and international community.

Commission for Racial Equality

Question

Asked by Lord Dholakia

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): The National Audit Office report of the 2005-06 accounts, which were not qualified, was considered by Government. The audit did not identify any concerns regarding the commission sub-contracting work to its own staff. The audit identified one area of weakness in relation to consultancies-"Our review of consultancy contracts found that not all contracts over £5,000 were supported by a business case, as required by the Commission's procedures. Again we understand that improved procedures from February 2006 will

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prevent this happening in future". The Government are not aware of any internal audit reports reflecting the concerns outlined above.

Criminal Justice Acts

Question

Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): In line with the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, the Government must consult the Information Commissioner, and such media organisations and other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate before making an order under Section 77 of that Act.

The Government are currently considering whether now is the appropriate time to consult on the introduction of custodial sentences for the knowing or reckless misuse of personal data.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Purchase Order Data

Question

Asked by Lord Bates

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 my honourable friend the Member for Portsmouth North's Answer of 15 June 2009, given to the honourable Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Official Report, col. 18W).

Education: Unauthorised Colleges

Question

Asked by Lord King of West Bromwich



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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The UK Border Agency has refused 343 applications for inclusion on the tier four sponsor register, a further 339 have been rejected for incorrect fees and application errors and 86 applications have been withdrawn. Educational institutions registered under tier four of the points-based system which are found to have abused the overseas student visa system will be suspended from the tier four register of sponsors.

All applications from students pending at the time of the suspension will be placed on hold and no decision made on whether to issue an entry clearance. If the college is found to be complicit in the abuse the sponsorship licence will be revoked, and all associated student applications refused.

The UK Border Agency will also take appropriate action on any college that brought overseas students to the UK prior to 31 March 2009 where it is able to establish credible adverse information.

Essential Services: Bills

Question

Asked by Baroness Byford

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Lord Young of Norwood Green): Electricity and Gas suppliers are required by their licences to provide a wide choice of payment methods.

In the communications sector, there is no legislation that specially covers payment methods, though the amounts charged may be regulated.

There are rules within the general conditions of entitlement (GCs) under the Communications Act 2003 that govern the provision of up to date transparent information in this regard (GC9, GC 10)). The GCs can be obtained from the Ofcom website at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/g_a_regime/gce/archive/cvogc290409.pdf. A copy of this document has been deposited in the Library of the House.

In the water sector, Section 143 of the Water Industry Act 1991 allows the Secretary of State to give guidance to the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) on the exercise of powers used when approving companies' charges schemes. Ofwat must have regard to such guidance.

The statutory Social and Environmental Guidance to the WSRA (Ofwat) published in August 2008 refers to the guidance from the Secretary of State on matters to be taken into account when approving companies' charges schemes.

This guidance was issued in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Region's Water Industry Act 1999-Delivering the Government's Objectives (2000) which says in relation to payment schemes that "customers should be able to make frequent payments (such as weekly or fortnightly). Companies should also provide as many options as possible on where and when payment can be made. Customers should be able to take up these options at no extra cost to them".



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Asked by Baroness Byford

Lord Young of Norwood Green: Electricity and Gas suppliers are required by their licences to provide a wide choice of payment methods.

In the communications sector, there is no legislation that specially covers payment methods. However, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCRs) are relevant. Ofcom has considered how the UTCCRs apply to consumer contracts for communications services in relation to certain standard consumer contract terms. It did so during its review of additional charges and has published its guidance (the guidance) on additional charges, which sets out its views. This guidance is available on its website as follows: http://www.ofcom.org.uk /consult/condocs/addcharges/statement/addchargestatement.pdf. A copy of this document has been deposited in the Library of the House.

A charge levied when a consumer chooses a particular payment method is considered to be an additional charge (a charge from their supplier above those that they already pay for the service). Ofcom has considered additional charges in detail in the guidance. Ofcom's view is that communications providers are free to charge customers who pay their bills by certain payment methods, and no legislation prevents them from doing so. But, it thinks that terms which provide for a charge for the payment method may be assessed for fairness under the UTCCRs if these terms are not:

expressed transparently, in plain and intelligible language; andpresented in such a way that the typical consumer would regard the charge as part of the price they are paying for the services they are buying, and not a separate, incidental additional charge.

In the water sector, Section 143 of the Water Industry Act 1991 allows the Secretary of State to give guidance to the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) on the exercise of powers used when approving companies' charges schemes. Ofwat must have regard to such guidance.

The statutory Social and Environmental Guidance to the WSRA (Ofwat) published in August 2008 refers to the guidance from the Secretary of State on matters to be taken into account when approving companies' charges schemes.

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