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Thursday 1 March 2012
Afghanistan
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many non-military United Kingdom subjects have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001; and, of those, how many were employed by contractors to military operations.[HL15884]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): Consular records show that we have been informed of the deaths of 27 British civilians in Afghanistan since 2008, the earliest date for which we have records.
Officials are looking into each case to determine how many of those 27 were killed rather than died of natural causes, and how many were employed by contractors to military operations at the time of their deaths. I will undertake to write to the noble Lord with this information shortly. I will also place a copy in the Library of the House.
Agriculture: Sheep Carcasses
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the scientific grounds for making it mandatory to dispose of sheep carcasses by incineration rather than by burial.[HL15831]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Taylor of Holbeach): The ban on burial of sheep carcasses and other fallen stock was made under the EU Animal By-Products (ABP) Regulation 1774/2002 (and continued in its successor Regulation 1069/2009) on a precautionary basis influenced by the evidence provided in a number of scientific opinions from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and its predecessor the Scientific Steering Committee. The evidence relating to those opinions identified the following uncertainties:
location of burial sites;potential for transmission of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) from specified risk material buried near the surface was poorly characterised;extent to which infectivity would be reduced by burial;1 Mar 2012 : Column WA364
For these reasons the regulation requires disposal of sheep carcasses and other fallen stock by rendering or incineration.
Airports: Heathrow
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of (1) the number of foreign nationals in the UK Border Agency queue at Terminal 4, Heathrow Airport, at 6.00 pm on Saturday 14 January, (2) the maximum time those queuing at that time had to wait and (3) the number of Border Agency desks at Terminal 4 at that time that were unmanned. [HL14886]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): The UK Border Agency is unable to quantify the number of foreign nationals who were in the queue at Terminal 4 at 6.00 pm on Saturday 14 January 2012. Our records show that between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm that day approximately 1,500 passengers landed at Terminal 4.
The maximum queuing time for those who had to wait was 97 minutes. Records show that 17 desks were unmanned at that time.
Autumn Statement: Costs
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of designing, printing and distributing the Autumn Statement 2011; how much revenue is budgeted to be derived from sales of copies; how many times the document has been accessed online to date; and why the Government did not publish a printed Autumn Statement document in 2010. [HL15882]
The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon): Details of Treasury expenditure are available on the HM Treasury website: http://www.hm-treasury. gov.uk/about_transparency_spend.htm. As set out there, the costs of printing and binding the Autumn Statement 2011 came to £40,431.33.
The Autumn Statement 2011 is available for purchase from the Stationery Office, as are all Command Papers. Net revenue expected to be derived from sales to date is £33,073.80.
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To date the Autumn Statement document has been downloaded more than 26,000 times as a PDF directly from the Treasury website and the easy-to-browse version has been viewed over 4,300 times.
Badgers
Questions
Asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the estimated (1) total, and (2) detailed, costs to public funds of a four-year pilot badger cull over an area of 150 square kilometres using controlled shooting. [HL15553]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the estimated (1) total, and (2) detailed, costs to a group of landowners of a four-year pilot badger cull over 150 square kilometres using controlled shooting.[HL15554]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated (1) total, and (2) detailed, cost of vaccinating badgers, over four years over an area of 150 square kilometres.[HL15555]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Taylor of Holbeach): The estimated costs and benefits for the two pilot badger culling areas are set out in our published impact assessment which is available on the Defra website: http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/tb/documents/bovine-tb-impact-assessment.pdf
Estimates for the costs and benefits of vaccinating badgers over a large area were published in the 2010 consultation stage impact assessment available on the Defra website: http://archive.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/tb-control-measures/100915-tb-control-measures-annexf.pdf.
Copyright
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in their review of copyright laws, they are considering changes to the licensing arrangements for published works in the education sector.[HL15978]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Baroness Wilcox): The Government are considering a range of options in their consultation on copyright, including how copyright laws and licences could better support modern teaching practices and use of technology in the education sector.
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Disabled People: Grants
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the £166 million disabled facilities grant funding to local authorities in 2010-11 was spent on home adaptations.[HL15442]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): We protected funding for the disabled facilities grant in the Spending Review. By the end of the Spending Review period the national allocation to local authorities will increase from £169 million in 2010-11 to £185 million in 2014-15. In addition, we announced a further £20 million for disabled facilities grant in January, bringing the total for 2011-12 to £200 million.
One hundred per cent of the £169 million made available in 2010-11 was spent on home adaptations.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the decision to allocate disabled facilities grant funding to local authorities through the single capital pot has decreased the proportion of funding being spent on home adaptations.[HL15443]
Baroness Hanham: This Government are committed to scaling back ring-fencing as part of our agenda of decentralisation. The removal of ring-fencing has enabled councils to manage their budgets in line with the priorities of their residents to protect key front-line services, protect the local taxpayer, reduce burdens and drive efficiencies.
From 2011-12 the ring-fence has been removed from the disabled facilities grant, which is paid to local authorities as a named capital grant. The decentralisation of spending decisions provides councils with greater freedom and flexibility in providing adaptations and the ability to commission services innovatively, for example by linking up with other related funding streams and programmes to produce better outcomes from the available resources.
DCLG has no plans to fund disabled facilities grant through the single capital pot. Changes to the proportion of funding spent on disabled facilities grant since the removal of the ring-fence are not known at this time. A form will shortly be made available for local authorities to complete their annual 2011-12 disabled facilities grant returns.
Employment Tribunals
Question
Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to promote diversity in the composition of employment appeal tribunals.[HL15838]
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The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord McNally): The Government are committed to increasing the diversity of the judiciary at all levels.
At present, judges from the High Court and Court of Appeal (Court of Session in Scotland) once appointed are eligible to be deployed to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Additionally these permanent judges are supplemented by circuit judges and recorders as temporary judges, who are appointed following an internal expression of interest exercise.
The Judicial Appointments Commission has a statutory duty to promote diversity in applicants for the selection exercises it operates, which includes those for the High Court, Court of Appeal and circuit bench.
The Ministry of Justice recently completed a consultation on judicial appointments and diversity, which detailed proposals to increase diversity including extending salaried part-time working to the High Court and above. We are currently considering responses to our consultation, and will consider the implications for appointments in the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Energy: Wind Farms
Question
Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations have they received to cut subsidies for wind farms beyond the 10 per cent reduction already announced.[HL15906]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Lord Marland): The recent consultation on the Government's proposed support for renewable electricity through the renewables obligation included a 10 per cent reduction in support for onshore wind projects accredited from April 2013.
Around 4,000 responses have been received, including from the energy and renewables sector, other areas of industry, government and local authority groups, parliamentarians, trade associations, NGOs, academia, charities, community groups and individuals.
The Government are still analysing the views and evidence put forward, and a breakdown of consultation contributions, including those who agreed and disagreed with the proposals, will be published as part of the Government's response to the consultation in the spring.
Extradition
Question
Asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States under the terms of the Extradition Act 2003; and how many have been extradited from the United States to the United Kingdom.[HL14903]
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The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): Between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2011, 75 people were extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States under the terms of the Extradition Act 2003.
Between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2011, 40 people were extradited from the United States to the United Kingdom.
Finance: Credit Unions
Question
Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Community Finance for London: Scaling up the credit union and social finance sector.[HL15864]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud): I was encouraged to read the report that identifies the importance of scaling up credit unions in London.
The Government wish to see greater diversity in financial services and credit unions, not only in London but across the country, have an important role to play.
The department has carried out a feasibility study of how the sector can modernise and expand to serve many more customers. The study has reported to Ministers and an announcement on its findings will be made soon.
Government Departments: Bonuses
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each of the past five years for which figures are available and according to civil service band, how many people were eligible for performance and special bonuses in (1) the Home Office, and (2) each of its (a) agencies, and (b) non-departmental public bodies; how many people received each type of bonus; what the average payment was for each type of bonus; and what the maximum payment was for each type of bonus.[HL14854]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): The tables placed in the House Library, set out separately the information requested for the last four years only for Home Office HQ and UK Border Agency (which comprise one pay bargaining unit), the Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau. Information for the Home Office non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) is presented in a combined table; however, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) is unable to provide data at this time. Reliable data for 2006-07 are not available.
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Home Office and United Kingdom Border Agency
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- * All SCS staff on standard contracts are eligible for consideration for performance related pay, in line with Cabinet Office guidelines.
- In addition, all staff may receive a special one-off bonus in recognition of outstanding achievement in particularly demanding tasks or situations.
- SCS staff are centrally managed by the Home Office, therefore above SCS figures also include employees in Home Office Agencies (IPS and CRB).
- * All SCS staff on standard contracts are eligible for consideration for performance related pay, in line with Cabinet Office guidelines
- In addition, all staff may receive a special one-off bonus in recognition of outstanding achievement in particularly demanding tasks or situations.
- SCS staff are centrally managed by the Home Office, therefore above SCS figures also include employees in Home Office Agencies (IPS and CRB).
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- * All SCS staff on standard contracts are eligible for consideration for performance related pay, in line with Cabinet Office guidelines
- In addition, all staff may receive a special one-off bonus in recognition of outstanding achievement in particularly demanding tasks or situations.
- SCS staff are centrally managed by the Home Office, therefore above SCS figures also include employees in Home Office Agencies (IPS and CRB).
- The Government Equalities Office (GEO) joined the Home Office on 1 April 2011, above 2010-11 figures include GEO data.
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) joined the Home Office on 1 April 2010, above 2010-11 figures include HMRC data.
- *All SCS staff on standard contracts are eligible for consideration for performance related pay, in line with Cabinet Office guidelines
- In addition, all staff may receive a special one-off bonus in recognition of outstanding achievement in particularly demanding tasks or situations.
- SCS staff are centrally managed by the Home Office, therefore above SCS figures also include employees in Home Office Agencies (IPS and CRB).
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Home Office Non-Departmental Public Bodies
Government Departments: Staff
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