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Housing Benefit
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Helen Goodman, on 30 November 2009 (HC Deb, col. 391W), whether they will collate the information necessary to establish how many people in receipt of a local housing allowance do not have a bank account; and what payment arrangements are made for such people. [HL1920]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The department is not able to collect information on the number of people in receipt of housing benefit under the Local Housing Allowance scheme who have a bank account. Housing benefit data is collected from local authorities' administrative systems, and this information is not collected as part of this process.
If a housing benefit customer does not have a bank account, local authorities decide what payment arrangements to put in place.
Human Rights
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have submitted any observations in response to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Taxquet v Belgium (application 926/05); and, if so, what view they have taken on future jury trial arrangements. [HL1974]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The Government were given permission to intervene in the case of Taxquet on 27 July 2009 and made written submissions to the Grand Chamber on 15 September. The Government submitted that the fundamental principle of United Kingdom law that jury deliberations are absolutely privileged and juries are not required to give reasons for their verdicts is in accordance with the requirements of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
When the Grand Chamber gives its judgment on the application we will consider any implications for jury trial arrangements.
Immigration
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bach on 7 December 2009 (WA 88), whether the 3,659 foreign nationals who received a custodial sentence of 12 months in 2008 have now been removed from the United Kingdom. [HL1726]
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bach on 7 December 2009 (WA 88), whether the 3,203 foreign nationals who received a custodial sentence of 12 months in 2007 have now been removed from the United Kingdom. [HL1727]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Of those people identified by the National Offender Management Service as foreign nationals who received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more in 2007-08, approximately 40 per
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The figures are based on internal management information cross-referenced with management information provided by the National Offender Manager Service. As such, it should be considered provisional analysis and will exclude those cases where minor data variations do not allow a matching of records without referral to individual case files.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people (a) took, and (b) passed, the Life in the UK Test in each month of 2009. [HL1855]
Lord West of Spithead: The attached table shows the number of people who took the Life in the UK Test and how many passed throughout 2009.
| 2009 | No. of tests delivered | Passes |
Immigration: Deportation
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many foreign national prisoners were deported in each of the last three years. [HL1871]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Published figures for the UK Border Agency show that in 2007 over 4,200 foreign national prisoners were removed or deported, in 2008 almost 5,400 were removed or deported and in quarters 1-3 of 2009 3,890 were removed or deported. Figures for those removed or deported in the period from October to December 2009 will be published on 25 February 2010.
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Immigration: Yarl's Wood
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cause of the recent hunger strike at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre; how many people were arrested; how many suffered injuries; and how many were locked down within the Centre. [HL2010]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): A passive protest was undertaken by some of the residents of Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre over the weekend of 6 to 7 February which was resolved on Monday 8 February.
No arrests were made although four women were detained by Bedford Police under immigration administrative powers. The incident was resolved without any use of force.
One woman sustained a minor cut to her finger for which medical treatment was given.
In total, 47 women were involved in the disturbance, in three different parts of the centre.
The incident is subject to a management review.
Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009
Questions
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many installations exist of the type covered in description 5 in Schedule 1 to the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2263). [HL1848]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 apply to applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects as defined in the Planning Act 2008. No installations of the type covered in description 5 in Schedule 1 to the regulations fall within the definition of nationally significant infrastructure set out in the Planning Act.
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the minimum size of a chemical installation under description 6 in Schedule 1 to the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2263); and how many exist that would be covered by that description. [HL1849]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 apply to applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects as defined in the Planning Act 2008. No installations of the type
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Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pipelines exist of the type covered in description 16 in Schedule 1 to the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2263) for the transport of (a) gas, (b) oil, and (c) chemicals. [HL1850]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed that there are currently in existence 65 gas pipelines and less than 10 pipelines carrying other substances such as oil and chemicals which meet the specification listed in description 16.
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether application W/09/1258 to Warwick District Council for a new marina qualifies under description 12 of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2263). [HL2075]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 apply to applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects as defined in the Planning Act 2008. The regulations do not apply to applications made to local planning authorities for projects below the thresholds defined in the Planning Act.
International Planned Parenthood Federation
Question
Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of the annual reports of the International Planned Parenthood Federation for each of the last two years, together with any other publications showing its budget, activities and lobbying. [HL1843]
Lord Brett: I will arrange for copies of the annual report of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) for each of the last two years to be placed in the Library of the House. We will also place copies of the Partnership Programme Arrangement that the Department for International Development (DFID) currently has with IPPF in the Library.
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Israel and Palestine
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations from the public they have received in the last 12 months about a one-state solution to the Palestine-Israel situation. [HL1816]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): We have received several letters, in the last 12 months, from the public suggesting a one-state solution. However, we will continue to focus our efforts on a two-state solution, which we, along with the United States and the international community, believe is in the interest of both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Israel: Imports and Exports
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total value of European Union exports to Israel in each of the last three years; and what was the total value of imports from Israel to the European Union in each of the last three years. [HL1940]
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): The responsibility for information about European Union exports to and imports from Israel lies with Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Communities). Such data can be accessed via the following website: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/newxtweb/.
For your information, the above website provides the following data:
| EU27 trade with Israel, 2006 to 2009 | ||
| EUR Billions | ||
| PERIOD | IMPORT | EXPORT |
Source: COMEXT database, Eurostat
Note: For 2009, data is only available for January to October
Justice: Arrest Warrants
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received representations from other states since 13 December 2009 in relation to the United Kingdom's arrest warrant procedure in cases where there is universal jurisdiction for United Kingdom courts; and, if so, which states have made such representations. [HL1878]
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