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House of Lords

Summer Recess 2012

Written Answers and Statements

Abortion 

Questions

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many doctors, nurses, and managers have been referred to (1) the police, (2) the General Medical Council, or (3) the Nursing and Midwifery Council following the Care Quality Commission’s recent individual inspection reports into providers offering abortion services.[ HL1901]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The department understands that, as a result of the recent Care Quality Commission’s inspections, a number of health professionals were referred to the police and their professional regulator for investigation because of evidence uncovered.

The health regulators (including the General Medical Council as the regulator for doctors and the Nursing and Midwifery Council as the regulator for nurses and midwives) are statutory bodies and have powers to investigate where complaints are made to them that the fitness to practise of professionals is in question.

As the health regulators are independent bodies, and as investigations are ongoing, the department is unable to comment further at the present time.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the outcomes of investigations by (1) the police, (2) the General Medical Council, and (3) the Nursing and Midwifery Council, following the Care Quality Commission’s recent individual inspection reports into providers offering abortion services.[ HL1902]

Earl Howe: The department is aware that relevant police forces, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the General Medical Council, are pursuing investigations into allegations of pre-signing of abortion HSA1 forms. Investigations are continuing and we still await a decision on whether any prosecutions will be brought.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessments were made of whether abortions took place legally or illegally in the Care Quality Commission’s individual inspection reports into providers offering abortion services; and what plans the Care Quality Commission has to monitor improvements by abortion providers in their compliance with the Abortion Act 1967.[ HL1903]

Earl Howe: It is for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether to prosecute individuals and for the courts to determine whether there has been a breach of the law on abortion. Following its recent inspections, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is working with 14 National Health Service hospitals and has required that all trusts put in place "compliance actions". These require providers to demonstrably improve their practices to ensure compliance with requirements; all 14 providers have now taken steps to ensure compliance. Officials will work with a number of bodies including the CQC and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to address the findings from these inspections.

Armed Forces: Aircraft 

Question

Asked by Lord West of Spithead  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Military Aviation Authority report of the Fleet Air Arm (Military Aviation Authority-Headquarters Chief of Staff (Aviation and Carriers) Assurance Visit Report) will be made publicly available on the Ministry of Defence website; and what grading the Fleet Air Arm received.[ HL1978]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever): There are no plans to make the Military Aviation Authority Assurance visit report on Headquarters Chief of Staff (Aviation and Carriers) publicly available. On the evidence of the report, the Director General of the Military Aviation Authority determined a green grading was appropriate, indicating no significant weaknesses.

Armed Forces: Aircrew 

Question

Asked by Lord Trefgarne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will arrange for medical statistics relating to aircrew serving in the Armed Forces to be made available to the Civil Aviation Authority.[ HL2028]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever): Currently the Ministry of Defence does not routinely release medical statistics to the Civil Aviation Authority. However, in the interest of promoting flight safety, the MoD and Civil Aviation Authority have regular communication on topics of shared interest, including medical matters. If a specific request were received from the Civil Aviation Authority for medical statistics, then, within the requirements of the Data Protection Act, Human Rights Act and Freedom of Information Act, data would be made available in an anonymous and non-identifiable format.

Atos Healthcare 

Question

Asked by The Countess of Mar  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in each of the past five years, how many and what proportion of Employment Support Allowance claimants have been found fit for work after assessment by Atos Healthcare assessors; how many and what proportion of those claimants have appealed; and how many and what proportion of appeals have been allowed.[HL1908]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud): The department regularly publishes official statistics on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The latest publication was released on 24 July 2012 and can be found on the departmental website here: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca.

Table 1a in the publication gives the outcomes (including fit for work decisions) of all new claims to ESA received since its introduction in October 2008. The table gives this information for all claims received across the whole of Great Britain.

Table 3 in the publication gives the number of appeals against fit for work decisions in Great Britain and their outcomes.

Broadband: 4G Mobile 

Question

Asked by Lord Dubs  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what evidence they have concluded that a fee of £50 plus VAT would be sufficient to enable a registered digital installer to install the necessary filter to protect television services against interference from 4G mobile services in homes with signal-boosting amplifiers.[ HL1776]

Lord Newby: The figure of £50+VAT for the installation of a filter to a rooftop antenna with a masthead amplifier was arrived at as a result of discussions with representatives of the aerial installer industry.

Broadcasting: Digital Switchover 

Question

Asked by Lord Dubs  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the proportion of households in the United Kingdom that will have amplifiers to boost digital television signals following the conclusion of digital switchover; and what is their estimate of what this figure is as a proportion of the total number of households receiving digital television on their main set through the digital terrestrial platform.[ HL1777]

Lord Newby: The figure contained in Ofcorn consultation on the number of amplifiers in customer homes was derived from information supplied by the industry. However, the vast majority of this equipment was fitted before digital switchover, when the transmit power of the digital signal was much lower than now. It is not possible to estimate what proportion of this equipment is still in use and what proportion has been removed or disconnected.

Burma 

Questions

Asked by Lord Hollick  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Government of Burma on the formation of a joint domestic and international board with the involvement of the United Kingdom to investigate the number of political prisoners in Burma.[ HL1813]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We continue to press the Burmese Government on a regular basis to release all remaining political prisoners. This issue was raised most recently in a meeting between our ambassador and the Burmese Attorney-General in Naypyidaw on 23 July 2012.

In line with the recommendations of UN Special Representative for Human Rights Quintana, we raised with the Government the possibility of establishing an independent investigative mechanism to look into remaining cases. We have not made specific representations regarding the make-up of such a body. We continue to meet with local and international human rights groups, civil society organisations and released political prisoners in Burma to discuss this matter.

Asked by Lord Hollick  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Government of Burma about allowing recently released political activists to be given passports.[ HL1814]

Lord Howell of Guildford: Officials from our embassy have made representations on several occasions to Burmese Government Ministers, most recently on 27 July, about issuing passports for released political prisoners. We will continue to raise this matter until the situation is addressed. The European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, also raised the matter with President Thein Sein during her recent visit.

Asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether staff of the Department for International Development have been able to visit Maungdaw in Rhakhine State, Burma.[ HL1875]

Baroness Northover: No staff from DfID have been able to visit Maungdaw in Rhakhine State. DfID monitors the situation through its links with the United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and through the regular UN OCHA Situation Reports.

Asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many representations the Department for International Development has received in 2012 to date for increased funding for refugees from and displaced persons in Burma.[ HL1876]

Baroness Northover: To date, in 2012, DfID has received 15 letters regarding increased funding for refugees and displaced persons in Burma. Most of these refer to Early Day Motion (EDM) 2719 which calls on the Government to increase aid to populations displaced by conflict in Burma. EDM 2719, tabled in 2012, has 66 signatures. DfID has received a number of parliamentary Questions in 2012 relating to funding for refugees from and displaced persons in Burma: two of these ask specifically about increases in funding; details are available in the parliamentary archives. DfID Ministers and staff have met a range of people with a specific interest in our work for refugees from and displaced persons in Burma this year. The question of increased funding is sometimes raised in these meetings, although it is not possible to say exactly in how many of them.

Asked by Baroness Cox  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to women's empowerment projects in Burma; and which specific women's organisations in Burma receive British aid.[ HL2038]

Baroness Northover: In Burma, UK aid supports the empowerment of women and girls in all of its programmes and partnerships. Through UK aid in Burma, by 2015, 110,000 women will have more access to financial services, 113,000 more girls will be helped to access and complete primary education, and at least 549,000 women will participate in cash for work activities. DfID's Burma programme provides support to the following women's organisations: the Gender Equality Network, which includes more than 30 women's organisations; the Gender and Development Initiative; and the Shan Women's Action Network.

Children: International Law and Rights 

Question

Asked by Lord Stone of Blackheath  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what work they have undertaken in the past 10 years to conduct evaluative analyses of law and practice as they affect children in countries or regions around the world by reference to the standards of international law and international children’s rights.[HL1730]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We are fully committed to children’s rights and to improving the situation of children worldwide. Our embassies and high commissions continue to monitor and raise human rights, including children’s rights, in their host countries against those countries’ commitments to international standards. The UK also makes specific human rights recommendations, including on children’s issues, to countries through the United Nations universal periodic review process.

We have also given support and funding to the work of international institutions tasked with improving the situation of children, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children in armed conflict, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the UN Secretary-General’s study on violence against children.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s annual Human Rights and Democracy report includes a focus on children’s rights and children in armed conflict globally, and on the situation of children in a number of countries of concern including Afghanistan, Burma, Vietnam and Somalia.

Children: Looked-after Children 

Question

Asked by Lord Lucas  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the latest year for which data are available, what percentage of looked-after children in each local authority in England attended a school graded (1) outstanding, (2) good, or (3) satisfactory, by Ofsted in their most recent inspection report.[ HL1428]

Lord Newby: The percentages of looked after children in each local authority in England that attended a school graded outstanding, good or satisfactory in their most recent inspection report are given below. The figures relate to children who are looked after by local authorities at 31 March 2011, and to Ofsted inspection carried out before that date.

Table LA1: Percentage of looked after children attending schools that have been judged by Ofsted to be outstanding, good, satisfactory or poor1

Year: 2011

Coverage: England

	Number of school aged children looked after at 31 March 20112	Number of looked after children for whom school attended and Ofsted judgment is known 3	Percentage of looked after children with an Ofsted judgement before 31 March 2011 of:4
			Outstanding	Good	Satisfactory	Inadequate
ENGLAND	29640	24900	18	46	33	4
NORTH EAST	1690	1500	18	48	32	2
Darlington	75	65	27	45	27	0
Durham	240	215	13	54	33	x
Gateshead	140	130	27	50	20	x
Hartlepool	80	75	18	51	31	0
Middlesbrough	140	125	22	46	32	0
Newcastle upon Tyne	270	240	20	33	42	4
North Tyneside	115	110	24	54	23	0
Northumberland	140	110	16	50	31	x
Redcar and Cleveland	70	55	X	57	35	0
South Tyneside	130	115	13	41	41	5
Stockton-on-Tees	115	100	23	40	36	x
Sunderland	180	165	11	60	26	x
NORTH WEST	5460	4660	20	50	28	2
Blackburn with Darwen	165	150	10	65	23	x
Blackpool	170	155	16	37	46	x
Bolton	235	205	11	56	34	0
Bury	125	105	9	71	19	x
Cheshire East	215	180	26	46	25	x
Cheshire West and
Chester	175	140	21	53	25	x
Cumbria	250	215	19	42	38	x
Halton	55	50	47	29	22	x
Knowsley	160	135	17	53	28	x
Lancashire	625	560	17	49	31	3
Liverpool	495	425	21	56	23	x
Manchester	675	550	19	43	36	2
Oldham	165	120	16	60	24	0
Rochdale	200	170	18	61	19	x
Salford	255	215	16	54	25	5
Sefton	200	185	42	42	16	0
St. Helens	190	160	24	47	26	x
Stockport	130	115	15	61	21	x
Tameside	170	145	14	52	30	x
Trafford	130	100	41	41	14	x
Warrington	110	100	26	38	36	x
Wigan	220	195	25	44	27	4
Wirral	340	290	28	49	23	0
YORKSHIRE AND THE
HUMBER	3340	2880	12	43	39	6
Barnsley	110	95	6	48	25	21
Bradford	450	370	11	37	47	5
Calderdale	125	110	26	44	26	x
Doncaster	200	155	13	38	41	7
East Riding of Yorkshire	135	115	8	34	51	7
Kingston Upon Hull, City of	265	245	5	40	48	7
Kirklees	265	235	12	44	39	4
Leeds	700	620	10	47	36	7
North East Lincolnshire	55	40	23	38	36	x
North Lincolnshire	75	65	X	66	27	x
North Yorkshire	220	195	13	53	31	3
Rotherham	190	165	22	36	36	5
Sheffield	255	215	15	41	41	4
Wakefield	170	145	16	48	31	5
York	120	110	12	46	39	x
EAST MIDLANDS	1900	1590	16	42	38	4
Derby	225	185	18	43	33	5
Derbyshire	280	240	9	47	41	3
Leicester	220	200	20	42	35	x
Leicestershire	150	135	19	43	36	x
Lincolnshire	245	205	12	48	39	x
Northamptonshire	300	235	22	27	47	5
Nottingham	205	160	19	45	33	x
Nottinghamshire	265	220	13	40	36	10
Rutland	15	10	X	55	x	0
WEST MIDLANDS	3950	3380	14	46	36	4
Birmingham	975	870	14	44	39	3
Coventry	300	255	12	50	35	3
Dudley	335	300	12	50	34	4
Herefordshire	80	55	32	44	23	x
Sandwell	275	230	15	45	36	4
Shropshire	90	70	38	38	25	0
Solihull	175	150	14	39	44	4
Staffordshire	375	320	7	48	42	3
Stoke-on-Trent	185	150	11	54	36	0
Telford and Wrekin	140	110	23	29	48	0
Walsall	245	210	12	43	38	8
Warwickshire	300	250	17	51	30	x
Wolverhampton	195	165	16	51	26	7
Worcestershire	280	240	12	46	32	10
EAST OF ENGLAND	2960	2460	16	46	33	5
Bedford Borough	65	50	13	50	29	x
Central Bedfordshire	70	65	19	56	24	x
Cambridgeshire	230	190	15	38	44	3
Essex	725	605	14	47	35	4
Hertfordshire	485	410	22	39	36	3
Luton	190	160	22	47	28	x
Norfolk	470	375	9	51	31	9
Peterborough	150	120	11	52	34	x
Southend-on-Sea	125	115	10	54	29	6
Suffolk	360	305	19	47	29	6
Thurrock	85	70	28	36	33	x
LONDON	4500	3530	23	44	30	3
INNER LONDON	2070	1620	24	46	27	3
Camden	110	80	24	55	21	0
City of London	x	x	0	0	x	0
Hackney	135	95	30	50	19	x
Hammersmith and Fulham	100	75	30	51	18	x
Haringey	255	195	19	41	36	4
Islington	135	115	22	55	22	x
Kensington and Chelsea	55	50	16	59	22	x
Lambeth	225	175	20	48	29	x
Lewisham	235	200	21	43	29	7
Newham	245	190	21	47	30	x
Southwark	215	150	22	45	28	6
Tower Hamlets	145	125	37	37	25	x
Wandsworth	100	90	25	38	34	x
Westminster	110	80	31	42	23	x
OUTER LONDON	2440	1910	22	43	32	3
Barking and Dagenham	160	120	19	39	40	x
Barnet	155	125	23	48	28	x
Bexley	90	70	X	38	51	x
Brent	160	120	23	50	25	x
Bromley	130	100	23	45	29	x
Croydon	320	230	22	37	35	6
Ealing	165	130	28	45	26	x
Enfield	130	95	17	48	34	x
Greenwich	250	210	12	44	40	4
Harrow	45	30	45	42	x	0
Havering	80	65	14	51	30	x
Hillingdon	175	140	28	33	36	x
Hounslow	160	125	27	40	30	x
Kingston upon Thames	50	45	24	47	24	x
Merton	40	35	20	43	31	x
Redbridge	80	70	33	35	21	11
Richmond upon Thames	40	35	24	42	33	0
Sutton	60	50	14	55	31	0
Waltham Forest	140	115	23	44	32	x
SOUTH EAST	3560	2970	19	43	34	3
Bracknell Forest	35	30	X	54	25	x
Brighton and Hove	180	145	24	38	34	x
Buckinghamshire	155	125	21	32	44	x
East Sussex	255	230	18	48	31	4
Hampshire	540	475	19	40	37	4
Isle of Wight	85	75	20	45	35	0
Kent	650	530	9	46	41	3
Medway	140	100	X	48	41	8
Milton Keynes	115	90	30	34	32	x
Oxfordshire	180	150	23	42	34	x
Portsmouth	135	125	14	45	36	5
Reading	80	70	26	51	22	0
Slough	75	55	33	41	20	x
Southampton	160	145	19	40	36	6
Surrey	310	265	27	43	26	4
West Berkshire	50	45	26	58	16	0
West Sussex	330	255	24	44	32	x
Windsor and Maidenhead	50	35	X	56	25	x
Wokingham	30	30	X	64	x	0
SOUTH WEST	2280	1930	21	48	28	4
Bath and North East
Somerset	75	60	18	60	20	x
Bournemouth	85	65	19	49	30	x
Bristol, City of	335	280	15	40	40	5
Cornwall	215	190	23	50	26	x
Devon	255	215	16	56	23	4
Dorset	130	115	33	50	14	x
Gloucestershire	200	170	22	43	27	8
Isles of Scilly	0	0		.
North Somerset	105	95	14	56	27	x
Plymouth	180	150	31	46	21	x
Poole	70	60	24	39	18	19
Somerset	175	135	15	46	38	x
South Gloucestershire	70	50	33	29	35	x
Swindon	120	110	12	62	27	0
Torbay	100	95	24	49	19	7
Wiltshire	175	150	27	39	31	x

1 Children looked after continuously for at least twelve months as at 31 March excluding those children in respite care.

2 The number of children aged 5 to 15 looked after continuously for at least 12 months at 31 March 2011, including those for whom it was not possible to identify the school attended.

3 The number of children for whom it has been possible to identify the school attended and the outcome of the most recent Ofsted inspection before 31 March 2011. It is not always possible to identify which school a child attends, perhaps because a Unique Pupil Number has not been provided to enable a successful match. Similarly, it has not been possible to match an Ofsted report to 2600 children. The majority of these children (2170) attend schools converting to academy status and it is likely that they had not been inspected in the period before March 2011 because they would not be due for inspection until the new school had reached a steady state.

4 Percentages are based on the number of children for who it has been possible to identify the school attended and the outcome of the most recent Ofsted inspection before 31 March 2011.

National and Regional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Local Authority figures have been rounded to the nearest 5. x = number less than or equal to 5, or percentage where the numerator is less than or equal to 5 or the denominator is less than or equal to 10 which have been suppressed to protect confidentiality.

. = not applicable.

Children: Offences against Children 

Question

Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many offences against children were committed in Lincolnshire in each year from 1996 up until the last year for which records are available.[ HL2064]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): It is not possible to identify the total number of offences committed against children from the police recorded crime data collected by the Home Office.

In general, the age of the victim cannot be identified from the police recorded crime data and whether the victim of a crime was a child can only be determined by the definition of specific individual offence classifications. The available data for those offences are given in the table.

Specific offences against children recorded by the police in Lincolnshire

Year	Infanticide	Cruelty to and neglect of children	Abandoning child under two years	Child abduction	Sexual assault on a male child under 13	Rape of a female child under 16	Rape of a female child under 13	Rape of a male child under 16
1996	..	..	0	3	..	..	..	..
1997 1	..	..	0	2	..	..	..	..
1998/99	..	24	1	6	..	..	..	..
1999/00	..	13	1	2	..	..	..	..
2000/01	..	16	1	1	..	..	..	..
2001/02 2	..	13	0	1	..	..	..	..
2002/03	0	23	0	5	..	..	..	..
2003/04	0	28	0	8	..	..	..	..
2004/053	0	28	0	17	17	57	21	5
2005/06	0	16	1	6	25	43	14	4
2006/07	0	19	1	5	15	41	10	1
2007/08	0	20	1	10	14	43	20	2
2008/09	0	37	1	7	10	39	18	1
2009/10	0	36	1	11	16	37	25	2
2010/11	0	30	0	18	0	28	40	4
2011/12	1	31	1	5	0	28	34	3

Year	Rape of a male child under 13	Sexual assault on a female child under 13	Unlawful sexual intercourse / Sexual activity involving a child under 13	Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16	Sexual activity involving child under 16	Abuse of children through prostitution and pornography	Gross indecency with a child
1996	..	..	3	27	..	..	11
1997 1	..	..	2	26	..	..	11
1998/99	..	..	4	25	..	..	27
1999/00	..	..	2	20	..	..	14
2000/01	..	..	1	8	..	..	19
2001/02 2	..	..	3	21	..	..	23
2002/03	..	..	5	25	..	..	32
2003/04	..	..	0	24	..	..	21
2004/05 3	1	78	11	7	60	1	9
2005/06	7	80	33	0	43	1	6
2006/07	5	72	17	1	34	2	6
2007/08	2	61	27	0	39	7	10
2008/09	9	47	35	0	47	5	5
2009/10	7	41	37	..	55	0	..
2010/11	7	28	50	..	82	1	..
2011/12	10	59	24	..	35	9	..

1 The police recorded crime coverage was extended and the counting rules changed in 1998/99. Data before and after that date are not directly comparable.

2 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced nationally in 2002/03 and police recorded crime figures before and after that date are not directly comparable.

3 The Sexual Offences Act 2002, introduced in May 2004, altered the definition and co\erage of sexual offences. For some offences it took time for these changes to bed in

China 

Questions

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about the Tibetan monk, Lobsang Lozin, who self-immolated at Tsodun Kirti monastery in Tibet; and what representations they have made to the Government of China about the immolation of Tibetan monks.[ HL1758]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We are aware of reports that on 17 July, Lobsang Lozin, an 18 year-old monk from the Gedhen Tashi Choeling Kirti monastery in Barkham, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, self-immolated outside the assembly hall of his monastery. Chinese state media has not confirmed reports that he has died.

We have been robust in raising our concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet with the Chinese Government, in particular the large number of self-immolations that have occurred in Tibetan areas since March last year. We are deeply concerned about the immolations and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) set out our concerns most recently in Parliament on 20 June.

In common with its international partners, the UK has raised our concerns with the Chinese authorities. We urge them to lift restrictions on access to Tibetan areas imposed on foreigners, including diplomats and international media. We call upon all parties to engage in substantive dialogue to address Tibetan concerns and relieve tension. We believe a long-term solution depends on respect for human rights and genuine autonomy for Tibetans within the framework of the Chinese constitution.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn about the right to freedom of religious belief in China from the cases of Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, Bishop Su Zhimin and Bishop Shi Enxiang.[ HL1952]

Lord Howell of Guildford: We have serious concerns about freedom of religion in China, including government restrictions on religious organisations and the treatment of individuals associated with these groups including these cases.

The prohibition of some religious groups, and the legal restrictions and harassment aimed at others, undermines freedom of religious belief in China, a point officials raised with the Chinese delegation at the most recent round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in January 2012. We have repeatedly made clear that such actions are not consistent with Article 18 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, nor indeed with Article 36 of the People's Republic of China's Constitution.

We are concerned by the cases of Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daquin, Bishop Su Zhimin and Bishop Shi Enxiang and will continue to seek opportunities to raise our concerns about individual cases and on issues relating to freedom of religious belief with the Chinese Government.

Cities: Economic Development 

Question

Asked by Lord Beecham  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the recently announced City Deals, how much of the resources allocated will be provided by way of government grant and how much by permitted borrowing by the relevant local authorities.[ HL1971]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): City Deals are bespoke agreements in which the Government agreed to proposals initiated by individual cities. They are not about the allocation of government grant but the devolution of powers to cities.

Commonwealth 

Question

Asked by Lord Judd  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Commonwealth Secretariat plays a significant role in the co-ordination of member countries' policies within the United Nations and other international organisations, including on human rights, global finance, trade, environment and climate change, arms control, the arms trade, non-proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, food security, education, migration and refugees.[ HL2067]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): The UK is committed to ensuring that the Commonwealth realises its potential fully and maximises its impact for the benefit of all member states. We welcomed the series of reforms recommended by the Eminent Persons Group at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth. Amongst these, we supported a recommendation that the Commonwealth Secretariat should strengthen its strategic partnerships with the United Nations and other international organisations, and advocacy on behalf of its members within these organisations on areas of particular relevance to Commonwealth states. It is also positive that the initial discussion paper on the secretariat's new strategic plan for 2013-16 referred to a strengthening of such strategic partnerships. We look forward to engaging with Commonwealth Foreign Ministers in New York in September 2012 to conclude the modernisation agenda which was discussed by heads in Perth.

Crime: Burglary 

Question

Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many burglary offences were committed in Lincolnshire in each year from 1996 up until the last year for which records are available.[ HL2059]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): The available information relates to burglary offences recorded by the police in Lincolnshire and is given in the table.

Burglary offences recorded by the police in Lincolnshire
Year	Number of offences
1996	12,819
1997	10,5511 1
1998/99	10,257
1999/00	10,719
2000/01	9,583
2001/02	9,592 2
2002/03	10,831
2003/04	9,052
2004/05	7,306
2005/06	7,145
2006;07	6,601
2007/08	5,751
2008/09	6,300
2009/10	5,820
2010/11	6,390
2011/12	6,222

1 The police recorded crime coverage was extended and the counting rules changed in 1998/99. Data before and after that date are not directly comparable.

2 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced nationally in 2002/03 and police recorded crime figures before and after that date are not directly comparable.

Crime: Drugs and Alcohol 

Question

Asked by Baroness Uddin  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) arrests, and (2) detentions, for drug and alcohol-related crimes involved Asian girls and young women in each of the last two years.[ HL2076]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): The level of information requested is not collected centrally. Arrests and detentions data supplied to the Home Office by police forces cannot be broken down to show whether offences were alcohol or drug-related.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 

Question

Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much criminal injuries compensation has been awarded to victims in each year from 1996 up until the last year for which records are available in each of the 43 police force areas in England and Wales.[ HL2063]

Lord Newby: I have placed the information in the House of Lords Library. The figures given reflect awards paid under the tariff schemes first introduced in 1996.

Cuba 

Question

Asked by Lord Alderdice  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the statements of the family and supporters of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas that the Government of Cuba were responsible for his recent death, the death of his party colleague Harold Cepero, and the injury of two foreign politicians, Angel Carromero from Spain and Jens Aron Modig from Sweden.[HL2078]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We are aware of the comments made by the family of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and supporters regarding the nature of his death. Our embassy in Havana is monitoring the situation closely in conjunction with European Union partners and will continue to do so. The embassy has also been in contact with Mr Paya's family to offer our condolences and a member of the embassy's staff attended the wake. The Minister of State, my honourable friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), also issued a statement of condolence on 24th July.

Cybercrime 

Question

Asked by Lord Empey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what resources they have allocated to protect the United Kingdom from the effects of cyber attacks on the United Kingdom’s defence capability.[ HL1990]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever): As we set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, we attach a high priority to the cyberdefence of our systems. Our forces depend on computer networks, both in the UK and on operations around the world, but our adversaries present an advanced and rapidly developing threat to these networks.

This is reflected in the establishment of the Global Operations Security Control Centre to co-ordinate cyberdefence of our systems. In addition to this, the Defence Cyber Security Programme (DCSP) aims to mainstream cybersecurity throughout the Ministry of Defence and ensure the coherent integration of cyberactivities across the spectrum of defence operations. The DCSP is funded as part of the Cabinet Office’s National Cyber Security Programme, and will run from 2011-2015 with an allocation of £90 million of new money.

We are also making significant investments into new cybercapabilities from the core defence budget, including a further £30 million of additional funding.

Democratic Republic of Congo 

Questions

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the UK's bilateral aid, and what proportion of the total aid programmes of Western nations to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is being used for security sector reform.[HL1953]

Baroness Northover: For the purposes of this response, security sector reform (SSR) has been defined as police and army and the justice system reform. 10% of the UK's £145 million bilateral aid programme budget for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this year is allocated to police reform. In addition, the UK also supports security sector reform (SSR) in DRC through the conflict pool (CP). Of the £1.6 million spent on SSR activities last year through the CP, only £400,000 was official overseas development assistance (ODA).

Unfortunately, accurate information about the proportion of aid from Western nations dedicated to SSR is not available. The two largest donors operating in the sector are the European Union (EU) and the USA. The EU also has two SSR missions, EUSEC and EUPOL, in DRC estimated €20.6 million this year. About 10% (€59 million) of the EU's budget for programming in DRC from the Development Fund and Stability instruments is directed at SSR. The USA budget for SSR in 2012 is approximately US$26.5 million. (This does not include US Department of Defence funding).

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) troops are based in the Eastern Congo; what discussions they have had with their commanders; and what assistance they are giving them in apprehending Bosco Ntaganda and bringing him before the International Criminal Court.[HL1954]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has 17,041 troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of which we understand 15,300 are currently located in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu and Orientale. Our embassy in Kinshasa has regular contact with MONUSCO commanders. Their overall priority is the protection of civilians, with wider security sector reform a key element. It is the responsibility of Congolese authorities to apprehend alleged war criminals on its territory, including International Criminal Court-indicted Bosco Ntaganda. MONUSCO, in line with its mandate, stands ready to support action by the Congolese authorities.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the African Union’s proposal to send an international force to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to neutralise the M23 Rebels.[ HL2052]

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are pleased to note the engagement shown by members of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region during their meeting in Addis Ababa on 11 July, in the margins of the African Union summit. We look forward to hearing in more detail how they plan to take forward their proposal to deploy a force to the border region in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Diego Garcia 

Question

Asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Howell of Guildford on 13 July (HL Deb, col. 1401), what advice they have received on the legal position on the use by the United States of the British Indian Ocean Territory of Diego Garcia in the case of military action by Israel or the United States against Iran.[ HL1970]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): I do not wish to speculate on hypothetical scenarios. The UK's policy on the use of Diego Garcia by the United States (US) is based on the 1966 exchange of notes (updated in 1976 and with subsequent amendments and additions). The notes allow the US to use the base as a forward operating location for aircraft and ships and require the US to seek prior approval for any operations that they wish to undertake from Diego Garcia.

Drugs 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Uddin  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the role of zero-tolerance and abstinence-based treatment in the United Kingdom's drug policy.[ HL2073]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding is available for zero-tolerance drugs policies and abstinence-based treatment in the National Health Service.[ HL2074]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The Government's drug strategy that we published in 2010 sets out how we will help people recover from dependence on drugs and alcohol. In 2012-13 the department allocated £466.7 million to primary care trusts through the pooled treatment budget. Local areas are responsible for using this money to commission the drug treatment services appropriate to the needs of their population. The 2007 United Kingdom guidelines on clinical management of drug misuse and dependence provide advice on when psychosocial interventions should be delivered without concurrent pharmacological interventions.

Asked by Baroness Uddin  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of how many girls below the age of 21 are dependent on drugs, according to ethnic origin.[ HL2075]

Earl Howe: Information on the number of young people who are dependent on drugs is not collected. Among the small number of young people whose use of drugs is a problem, most have not been using drugs for long enough to become dependent in the way adults can. Further information about substance misuse among young people and its treatment is available at: www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/yp20ll/commentaryfinal.pdf

Education: Special Educational Needs and Disability 

Question

Asked by Baroness Sharp of Guildford  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any meetings have been held between Ministers of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and of the Department for Education to discuss proposed changes to the education of children and young people with learning difficulties or disabilities; and whether a group of officials from both departments has been established to oversee the likely impact of the proposals on young people aged between 16 and 25.[ HL1857]

Lord Newby: The Government are committed to improving arrangements for children and young people with learning difficulties or disabilities, so that they have the best chance to be healthy, succeed in education, and progress towards independence and employment.

The Minister of State for Children and Families is responsible for education policy and delivery with respect to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities up to age 18, and for 19 to 25 year-olds with a statutory Learning Difficulty Assessment in place.

Officials from the Department for Education hold regular discussions with Ministers and officials from other government departments about the proposals in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Green Paper, including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Children's Minister has also spoken to the Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning on several occasions to discuss shared policy interests in this area, including hosting a joint round-table event with college principals and the Association of Colleges to discuss our proposals for young people.

Embryology 

Questions

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 11 December 2008 (WA 8-9), how many human embryos were created in each year since the commencement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990; what is the latest cumulative number; and how many of those have resulted in live births.[HL1899]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 11 December 2008 (WA 8-9), how many animal-human hybrid embryos have been created since the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008.[HL1900]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the Written Answer provided by Lord Darzi of Denham on 11 December 2008 (Official Report, cols. WA 8-9), referred to by the noble Lord, provides the number of embryos created from the commencement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 until 2007. Figures for the number of embryos created during 2008, 2009, 2010 and the first half of 2011 are set out in the following table:

Year	Embryos created
2008	219,183
2009	238,658
2010	254,055
Jan - Jun 2011	132,589

The HFEA has advised that the number of live births following In vitro fertilisation treatment in each year to 2009 is publicly available in the dataset published alongside the HFEA report Latest UK fertility treatment data and figures: 2009-10. The dataset and report can be found on the HFEA website at: www.hfea.gov.uk. Since the report's publication, a further six months' worth of data has been verified, in line with the HFEA verification schedule, and figures for the first half of 2010 are provided in the following table:

Year	Number of Babies Born
Jan - Jun 2010	8,172

The HFEA has also advised that according to information submitted to the authority by licensed research centres, no human admixed embryos have been created under a HFEA-licensed research project since 1 October 2009.

Employment: Youth Contract 

Question

Asked by Lord German  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what engagement they have had with Local Enterprise Partnership leaders in the development and promotion of the Youth Contract.[ HL1756]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud): The department carried out an extensive consultation with a significant number of employers about the design and delivery of the new wage incentive. This included engagement with large and smaller employers, employer representative bodies and Work Programme providers. While we did not specifically consult with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in this instance, the department is keen to work with LEPs to ensure that skills and tackling worklessness are priorities, to support more effective approaches to help people to improve their chances of finding work, making the link between growth, unemployment and social exclusion.

Energy: Electricity 

Question

Asked by Lord Moonie  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the average costs without subsidies used for planning purposes per megawatt hour of electricity generated from (1) existing, and (2) new, (a) nuclear power stations, (b) onshore wind farms, (c) offshore wind farms, (d) gas-fired power stations, (e) coal-fired power stations, and (f) bio-mass fired power stations.[ HL2091]

Lord Newby: DECC has published estimates of the future costs of various generation technologies on the DECC website. The most recent estimates can be found in the reports highlighted below:

Annex D of the ‘Government response to the consultation on proposals for the levels of banded support under the Renewables Obligation for the period 2013-17 and the Renewables Obligation Order 2012’ contains the latest levelised cost estimates for selected renewable technologies: http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/ro¬banding/5936-renewables-obligation-consultation-the-government.pdf;

a report by Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) (2011) contains the latest levelised cost estimates for selected non-renewable technologies: www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/about us/economics-social-research/2127-electricity-generation-cost-model-2011.pdf.

For ease of reference, Table I below replicates levelised cost estimates for projects starting in 2011 and 2017 for selected technologies using a simplified assumption of 10% discount rate across technologies to aid high level comparison between technologies.

Table 1: Indicative Levelised Cost Estimates for Selected Electricity Generation Technologies

2010 prices	Source	Projects starting in 2011, £/MWh	Projects starting in 2017, £/MWh
CCGT	PB Power (2011)	77	88
Coal		95	117
Nuclear		74	65
Onshore Wind>5 MW*	RO Banding Review Government response (2012)	101	98
Offshore R2 Wind		126	115
Offshore R3		146	130
Dedicated Biomass >50MW		118	117
Dedicated Biomass (0-50MW)		113	112

NB: All estimates are for ‘Nth of a Kind’ (NOAK) projects except nuclear where the first estimate for projects starting in 2011 is based on ‘first of a kind’ estimate and the estimate for projects starting in 2017 is based on a ‘nth of a kind’ estimate. *The estimate for onshore wind is for England and Wales only. Cost estimates for RO Banding review (2012) are in £2010/11 .financial year prices.

These levelised costs estimates are highly sensitive to the assumptions used including those on discount rates (for simplicity the table above uses the same discount rate for all technologies as opposed to technology specific discount rates), capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, and load factor. It should be noted that the estimates shown above are indicative estimates of levelised costs and given the uncertainties it is often more appropriate to consider a range of cost estimates.

DECC does not have estimates for the average costs per megawatt hour of electricity generated from existing stations.

Energy: Light Bulbs 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Browning  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has received from organisations representing people with medical conditions that may be adversely affected by low energy light bulbs.[ HL2020]

Lord Newby: Officials from Defra and the Department of Health have met and received correspondence from the Spectrum Alliance, which lists its members as: Lupus UK, Eclipse Support Group, XP Support Group, the Skin Care Campaign, ES-UK, Lupus Europe and Migraine Action. Lord Taylor of Holbeach will be meeting representatives of the Spectrum Alliance on 22 August.

Asked by Baroness Browning  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has held with the Department of Health about possible exemptions on medical grounds for photo-sensitive people when the ban on non-directional lighting is reviewed.[HL2021]

Lord Newby: Defra and the Department of Health work closely together in developing government policy on artificial lighting. We want to ensure that appropriate lighting solutions remain available for people with light-sensitive health conditions as energy efficient lighting becomes more widely used in the UK.

Commission Regulation 244/2009, which sets minimum standards for the environmental performance of non-directional household lamps, must be reviewed by 2014. The two departments will continue to work closely together to ensure that this review takes full account of the best available scientific evidence about the health effects of artificial light and the needs of those with light-sensitive health conditions.

Energy: Nuclear Power 

Question

Asked by Lord Avebury  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated cost of storing plutonium at Sellafield for 2013–17.[ HL2057]

Lord Newby: The estimated costs of storing plutonium at Sellafield have not been disclosed as a single line item in the Sellafield Plan, published on 1 August 2011, as they relate in part to commercial contracts with third parties. The Sellafield Plan (a link to the electronic document is included below) contains a section entitled ‘Safe Storage of Pu’ which provides information on this topic. http://www.sellafieldsites.com/publications/sellafieldplan/Sellafield Plan.pdf

Energy: Wave and Tidal Power 

Question

Asked by Lord Rana  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the support provided for the development and operation of wind farms, whether they have any plans to provide similar support for tidal and wave technology.[ HL2029]

Lord Newby: The renewables obligation (RO) is currently the Government's main mechanism for incentivising the deployment of large-scale renewable electricity deployment including marine technologies. Marine energy has the potential to make a significant contribution to the UK's electricity demand as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 25 July which announced the results of the RO banding review for the period 2013-17: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/wms_ro_1m/wms_ro_lm.aspx

This increases the level of support for wave and tidal technologies to 5 ROCs/MWh to a project cap of 30MW.

EU: External Action Service 

Question

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 13 July (WA 284–5), whether a reporting framework has been established to monitor the three objectives, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has set out for ambassadors and staff in working with European External Action Service delegations.[HL2003]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): The Government are committed to ensuring that their diplomatic missions overseas work constructively with European Union (EU) delegations in pursuit of the three objectives set out in my previous reply (Official Record 13 July, WA 284-5):

preventing competence creep;

delivering value for money; and

ensuring that EU external action promotes UK security and prosperity.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly asks for and receives reports from our embassies and high commissions on their own performance and that of the local EU Delegation against these objectives. The most recent reporting exercises were carried out in May and July of this year. Posts have also been instructed to work closely with EU Delegations to ensure that the UK is helping to lead and shape EU action locally and that EU Delegations advance our objectives and amplify UK influence with host countries.

First-tier Social Security and Child Support Tribunals 

Questions

Asked by The Countess of Mar  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many registered medical practitioners have participated in First Tier Social Security and Child Support Tribunals in each of the last five years.[ HL1904]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many First Tier Social Security and Child Support Tribunals have disclosed their decisions in each of the past five years.[ HL1906]

The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord McNally): (1) Medical practitioners sit as medically qualified panel members on a range of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal, Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), including disability living allowance, industrial injuries disablement benefit, vaccine damage, compensation recovery and some employment and support allowance appeals where the work capability assessment is a factor. They may be either registered or licensed to practise.

The data management system for the SSCS tribunal is a live database that is continuously updated and it is not possible to extract retrospective figures for the numbers of medical members hearing appeals.

The table below shows approximate numbers of medically qualified panel members at specific points between 2008 and 2012 as recorded in locally held management information.

Number of Tribunal medically qualified panel members 2008-2012
Year	Number of medically qualified panel members
2008	621
2009	572
2010	607
2011	681
2012	814

(2) SSCS tribunal decisions are issued to the appellant, their representative (if they have one), and the first-tier agency that made the original decision, either on the day of the appeal hearing or shortly afterwards. The SSCS tribunal does not publish First-tier Social Security and Child Support appeal hearing decisions or disclose them to any other parties.

Flags: Union Flag 

Question

Asked by Lord Lamont of Lerwick  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Ministers, in their next meeting with the chairman of the National Gallery, will inquire why the National Gallery is not flying the Union Flag above its premises during the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games.[ HL1696]

Lord Newby: The matter of whether or not to fly a Union Flag from the National Gallery in the lead up to and during the Olympic Games is a decision for that body. However, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport encourages all bodies to fly the Union Flag all year round.

Food: Security 

Questions

Asked by The Earl of Selborne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is intending to spend in the current financial year on research to promote food security and sustainable production; and which research organisations are undertaking this research.[HL1993]

Lord Newby: Defra will invest around £60 million in 2011/12 on agriculture and food research underpinning sustainable production and food security. This includes £28 million on farming and food research and the remainder on animal health and welfare.

The names of research organisations undertaking research on completed and on-going projects can be found on the Defra Science Search Web Page using the following link: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Location=None&Module=FilterSearchN ewLook&Completed=0

Asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the oral answer by Baroness Northover on 25 July on the Food Security Summit, whether the Prime Minister will announce at the event that as chair of the G8 next year the United Kingdom will press for the development priority to be hunger and nutrition and tackling the structural causes of hunger.[HL2072]

Baroness Northover: The UK will use its G8 Presidency in 2013 to advance the global development agenda and ensure the G8 delivers on its commitments, including the New Alliance on Food and Nutrition Security. We will set out the UK's priorities for 2013 later this year.

Forced Marriage 

Question

Asked by Baroness Uddin  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Forced Marriage Protection Orders have been made to date.[ HL2077]

Lord Newby: Since the introduction of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 on 25 November 2008 and up to the end of March 2012, there have been 437 Forced Marriage Protection Orders made.

G8 

Question

Asked by Lord Judd  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the issues of "land grabbing", the improvement of land rights, especially for women, and the structural relationship of land rights to hunger, are on the agendas of both the next G8 meeting to be chaired by the United Kingdom, and the UK high-level meeting on food, to be held during the period of the Olympic Games.[ HL1766]

Baroness Northover: The coalition Government recognise that competing pressures on land for food and fuel risk impacting adversely on the food security of the poorest, due to a combination of lack of transparency and good governance and a complex mix of land rights issues. Private sector companies can play a critical role in improving livelihoods and providing job opportunities in developing countries, but such opportunities need to be better harnessed. Within the coalition’s emphasis on private sector development, the UK Government also support improved property rights, for example in Rwanda where we are helping at least 6 million landholders obtain formal titles to their land. The UK Government, as part of the G8, welcome the successful negotiation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security and supports the broad-based consultation process and pilot use of the Principles of Responsible Agricultural Investment.

The event on hunger during the Olympics will focus on tackling stunting and under-nutrition generally. Although the consideration of land rights is not a specific section of the event, it may be raised as one factor in restricting poorer people’s access to sufficient food. The UK Government are still considering what development issues to prioritise for their forthcoming G8 presidency.

Government Departments: Cars 

Question

Asked by Lord Hoyle  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 19 July (WA 78), what were the makes and models of cars supplied to each government department by the Government Car and Despatch Agency for use by Ministers in those departments.[HL1995]

Lord Newby: Ministers at the departments that have taken a departmental pool car from the Government Car and Despatch Agency would have access to the following makes and models of cars, with comparative figures provided for ministerial car allocations as at March 2010:

Department	Number of GCDA ministerial car allocations @ 31/03/10:	Number of GCDA cars allocated to departments for use by Ministers @ July 2012:	July 2012 makes and models:
Cabinet Office	4	1	Toyota Prius
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills	7	1	Toyota Prius
Department for Education	6	1	Jaguar XJ
Department for Communities and Local Government	6	2	Land Rover Discovery; Toyota Avensis
Department for Culture, Media and Sport	3	0	n/a
Department for Energy and Climate Change	4	1	Toyota Prius; plug-in hybrid
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	2	2	Land Rover Discovery; Toyota Prius
Department for International Development	3	0	n/a
Department for Transport	3	2	Jaguar XF; Toyota Avensis
Department for Work and Pensions	6	1	Jaguar XJ
Department of Health	6	1	Jaguar XJ
Foreign & Commonwealth Office	4	0	n/a
HM Treasury	6	2	Land Rover Discovery; Toyota Prius
Home Office	6	2	Toyota Avensis; Toyota Prius
Law Officers’ Department	2	1	Jaguar XF
Ministry of Defence	1	0	n/a
Ministry of Justice	4	1	Jaguar XJ
Northern Ireland Office	2	1	Toyota Prius
Scotland Office	1	0	n/a
Wales Office	2	1	Jaguar XJ
	78	20

Government Departments: Overseas Offices 

Question

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 11 July (WA 254-55), whether their Vietnam office will close with the end of their bilateral programme there; whether the base of the UK’s Climate Change Unit will change following the announcement by the Department for International Development (DfID) of the closure of the Indonesia bilateral programme; and what is the rationale for a separate DfID office in China and Kosovo following the closure under DfID’s bilateral review of the bilateral programmes in both countries.[HL2045]

Baroness Northover: The DfID Vietnam office is due to close with the end of the bilateral programme. Although the DfID Indonesia programme has already closed, there are no plans to change the UK Climate Change Unit.

The DfID bilateral programme in China has closed. The rationale for maintaining a DfID presence in China is to help build a relationship with China to identify ways in which we and they can work together as partners on shared global development objectives such as poverty reduction in third countries or regions.

The DfID Kosovo programme is due to close on 30 November 2012, at which time the office will also close.

Government Departments: Parliamentary Units 

Question

Asked by Lord Laird  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and its predecessor departments, spent on running its Parliamentary Unit in each of the past 10 years for which information is available.[ HL1631]

Lord Newby: Parliamentary work is carried out in the Parliamentary and Cabinet Business Team, which is part of the secretariat in core Defra. Costs incurred by the Parliamentary and Cabinet Business Team are not separately identifiable on the department’s finance IT system. This has been the case for a number of years and consequently the amount spent on running the unit cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.

Government Departments: Policy 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Morgan of Drefelin  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many full-time equivalent staff in the Department of Health have been tasked with working on cancer policy for each of the past three years.[ HL1979]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) in the department working on cancer policy for each of the past three years has been presented in the following table.

Year	FTE staff
2009-10	19.7
2010-11	18.3
2011-12	17.1

Asked by Baroness Morgan of Drefelin  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what forecasts have been made of how many full-time equivalent staff in the Department of Health will be tasked with working on cancer policy for each of the next three years.[ HL1980]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what forecasts have been made of the numbers of full-time equivalent staff within (1) the NHS Commissioning Board and (2) Public Health England will be tasked with working on cancer policy for each of the next three years.[ HL1981]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what forecasts have been made of the numbers of full-time equivalent staff who have worked on cancer policy within the Department of Health and who will be transferred or have been transferred to work on cancer policy within (1) the NHS Commissioning Board, and (2) Public Health England.[ HL1982]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The information requested is not available. The process for agreeing the functions transferring from existing to new organisations and the members of staff that transfer with these functions has not been completed. This information will eventually be held by the new organisations that will be responsible for this work.

Once the NHS Commissioning Board and Public Health England have taken up their responsibilities in this area, the Department of Health will work with them to deliver the commitments set out in Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer, which was published in 2011. A copy has already been placed in the Library.

Government Departments: Staff 

Question

Asked by Lord Marlesford  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Ursula Brennan, left her post; what was the reason for her departure; what is her new Civil Service post; for how many months she had served as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence; and what has been the average tenure of this post by the previous 10 incumbents.[ HL1702]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever): Ursula Brennan left her post as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence on 29 June 2012 to take up post as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice. Mrs Brennan filled her post in defence for 20 months, having been appointed at the beginning of November 2010. The tenures of the previous 10 incumbents are listed below:

Sir Bill Jeffrey KCB 2005-2010

Sir Kevin Tebbit KCB CMG 1998-2005

Sir Richard Mottram GCB 1995-1998

Sir Christopher France GCB 1992-1995

Sir Michael Quinlan GCB 1988-1992

Sir Clive Whitmore GCB CVO 1983-1988

Rt Hon Sir Frank Cooper GCB CMG 1976-1982

Sir A.L Michael Cary KCB 1974-1976

Sir L James Dunnett GCB 1966-1974

CMG Sir Henry Hardman KCB 1963-1966.

Government: Official Visits 

Question

Asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government to which countries Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint has paid official visits since his appointment as a Minister of State; what were the dates of those visits; who accompanied him; and what are the estimated costs of each visit.[ HL1850]

The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint): During my time as Minister for Trade, I have visited a total of 42 countries, including a number of key partner countries more than once. On some of these visits I have been accompanied by a delegation of British businesses, in others I have linked up with trade delegations in country, and in virtually all I have engaged with the British business community. As with all Ministers, my travel is detailed in full on the Cabinet Office website.

Health and Social Care Act 2012 

Questions

Asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how, following the implementation of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, they will ensure the allied health professions are adequately represented within (1) the Department of Health, (2) Public Health England, (3) Health Education England, and (4) the regional offices of the National Commissioning Board.[HL1890]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what national and regional leadership roles will exist for allied health professionals within the new National Health Service structures created by the Health and Social Care Act 2012.[ HL1957]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The Chief Health Professions Officer (CHPO) is the Government’s most senior allied health professions adviser. Following the implementation of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the role is to be retained in the NHS Commissioning Board in order to provide clinical advice and professional leadership. Other organisations within the new health and social care architecture will be able to access to the CHPO’s advice, including the department, Public Health England and Health Education England.

We understand the NHS Commissioning Board Authority is currently addressing how best to incorporate leadership roles for allied health professionals within the new National Health Service structures.

Health and Social Care: Northern Ireland 

Question

Asked by The Earl of Listowel  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research they have commissioned into the virtues of the model of health and social care integration adopted in Northern Ireland.[ HL1916]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The department has not commissioned research specifically on the model of health and social care integration adopted in Northern Ireland.

We have committed in the care and support White Paper, Caring for our Future: Reforming Care and Support, to work with partners (including the NHS Commissioning Board, Monitor and local government) to co-produce a framework that will support the removal of barriers to making evidence-based integrated support the norm. Development of this work will include looking at integration exemplars, including those from other countries with different care systems, to draw on their examples and lessons to further develop the case for change and to promote more integrated care in England.

Health: Allergies 

Questions

Asked by The Earl of Dundee  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve the diagnosis and cure of allergies.[ HL2092]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are proposing to improve the systems for training and sharing information between health professionals responsible for the diagnosis and cure of allergies.[ HL2093]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The department funded a project in the North West Strategic Health Authority to pilot the concept of an integrated regional service for allergy and immunotherapy services, and the "lessons learned" report has been widely disseminated. This includes recommendations specifically on training and information sharing for health professionals involved in the care of people with allergies. We expect local and national commissioners to take full account of this report in developing allergy services in the light of local needs and priorities.

Health: Defibrillators 

Questions

Asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress the National Defibrillator Programme has made in installing automatic external defibrillators.[ HL2068]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they monitor the National Defibrillator Programme and if so, how.[ HL2069]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The department is not responsible for the provision of automatic external defibrillators.

From February 2007, responsibility for continuing the legacy of the National Defibrillator Programme was devolved to ambulance trusts.

Health: HIV/AIDS 

Question

Asked by Lord Black of Brentwood  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle the issue of stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS in the United Kingdom.[ HL1984]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The department has recently awarded a new contract to the Terrence Higgins Trust for a national programme of HIV prevention for men who have sex with men, and people from black African communities, the groups most at risk from HIV. One of the programme’s objectives is to reduce the stigma linked to HIV.

The African Health Policy Network, through the previous departmental national HIV prevention programme, produced resources for Christian and Muslim faith leaders and African community-based organisations. These faith toolkits are used to increase levels of awareness around HIV and to change perceptions of HIV and Africans in the United Kingdom.

In addition, the department’s planned sexual health policy document will consider how work can be undertaken at all levels to reduce and challenge HIV stigma.

Health: Musculoskeletal Conditions 

Question

Asked by Baroness Brinton  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government who leads on (1) musculoskeletal conditions, and (2) research, at the NHS Commissioning Board.[ HL1930]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): We understand that both musculoskeletal conditions and research are likely to fall within the responsibility of the NHS Commissioning Board’s medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh. Detailed portfolios within the board’s medical directorate have not been finalised but it is likely that issues on musculoskeletal conditions would in the first instance fall to the clinical lead for domain 2 of the NHS outcomes framework, improving the quality of life for people with long-term conditions.

Health: Pre-natal Diagnostic Tests 

Question

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the past 12 months, any concerns have been raised by the United Kingdom National Screening Committee over the accuracy of pre-natal tests, especially biochemical serum tests.[ HL1898]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. Using research evidence, pilot programmes and economic evaluation, the committee assesses the evidence for programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria. Screening can never be 100% accurate and that is why screening programmes are subject to very strict evaluation, and independent expert advice from the UK NSC, before they are introduced, in order to ensure they do more good than harm at a reasonable cost.

The NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme is aware of an issue with some laboratory machines providing extreme biases when analysing biochemical assays. The NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme is working with manufacturers on behalf of the laboratories to identify the reasons for this and improve the accuracy of the biochemical serum test.

Health: Rheumatoid Arthritis 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Brinton  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of people with rheumatoid arthritis in (1) England, and (2) the United Kingdom; and what is their estimate of the number of people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in the last year in (a) England, and (b) the United Kingdom.[HL1927]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence estimated, in its 2009 clinical guideline, that there were about 400,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis in the United Kingdom, with about 12,000 people developing the disease each year. These figures would equate to a prevalence of about 335,000 and an annual incidence of about 10,000 for England. Estimates for individual years are not available.

Asked by Baroness Brinton  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were receiving biologics as part of their treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in the last financial year; and what was the estimated cost to the National Health Service.[ HL1928]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of trusts who prescribe biologics in accordance with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for rheumatoid arthritis.[ HL1929]

Earl Howe: Information is not held centrally on the number of people treated. The following table provides information on the use of biologics for the calendar year 2011, the latest available matching period for primary and secondary care data.

Biologic medicines - use and cost, England 20111- 2
Care setting	Prescription items (000s) 3	Volume by number of packs (000s)	Cost MON 4' 5
Primary care	18.9	n/a	22,190.7
Secondary care	n/a	14,595.7	658,304.6

Sources: Prescription Cost Analysis, IMS HEALTH: Hospital Pharmacy Audit

Notes:

1 Biologics drugs are defined in part of the British National Formulary (BNF) section 10.1.3 under Cytokine modulators. The drugs are abatacept, adalimumab, anakinra, belimumab, certolizumab pegol, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab, rituximab and tocilzumab.

2 Some medicines such as some within the defined biologics group can be delivered directly to the patient by commercial companies under 'homecare' arrangements managed by hospitals. There are no separate 'homecare' figures available for these medicines.

3 Primary care - number of prescription items written in the UK and dispensed, in the community, in England.

4 Primary care - net ingredient cost.

5 Secondary care - cost at National Health Service list price, which is not necessarily the price the hospital paid.

No assessment has been made of the number of NHS trusts that have prescribed biologics in accordance with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for rheumatoid arthritis.

NICE clinical guidelines are based on an assessment of the best available evidence and are developed through wide consultation with stakeholders. They represent best practice and we expect commissioners and clinicians to take them into account in their decision-making.

Healthcare: Costs 

Question

Asked by Lord Laird  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 25 June (WA 25-6), what is the text of the 18-month deadline under new European Union (EU) Regulation 883/2004, which refers to the date the claim is submitted to the United Kingdom; and for each EU country what were the actual pensioner healthcare payments for UK state pensions and the average pensioner healthcare charge in the last two years.[ HL2015]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): Article 66(5) of Regulation 987/2009 states: "the claims shall be paid to the liaison body of the creditor member state referred to in Article 66 of the implementing Regulation by the debtor institution within 18 months of the end of the month during which they were introduced to the liaison body of the debtor member state. This does not apply to the claims which the debtor institution has rejected for a relevant reason within that period".

The most recently published average pensioner healthcare costs for each Member State is shown in the following table:

Country	Currency	Local Currency	Annual costs shown in euros	Year published
Norway	NOK	80,908.00	10,903.32	2010
Netherlands	EURO		9,902.78	2010
Luxembourg	EURO		9,055.18	2009
Liechtenstein	CHF	8,966.77	7,466.09	2010
Ireland	EURO		6,789.44	2004
Switzerland	CHF	7,387.12	6,150.81	2010
Belgium	EURO		5,370.12	2009
France	EURO		5,352.79	2009
Sweden	SEK	46,803.45	5,605.51	2009
Germany	EURO		5,153.21	2010
Finland	EURO		4,805.50	2010
Austria	EURO		4,862.23	2010
Spain	EURO		3,869.77	2010
Italy	EURO		2,898.29	2010
Greece	EURO		2,983.55	2009
Portugal	EURO		2,030.92	2009
Czech Republic	CZK	47,610.70	1,879.10	2010
Slovenia	EURO		1,842.04	2010
Malta	EURO		1,572.64	2007
Slovakia	EURO		1,534.79	2010
Cyprus	EURO		1,118.37	2009
Estonia	EURO		979.46	2009
Poland	PLN	3,589.80	871.14	2009
Hungary	HUF	246,892.00	879.46	2009
Lithuania	LTL	2,652.17	768.12	2009
Latvia	LVL	398.89	572.62	2008
United Kingdom	GBP	3,852.77	4,893.65	2009

Note: For non-EURO countries the exchange rate has been taken as of 27 July 2012

Total payments to Member States for healthcare provided to UK state pensioners are shown in the following table (all figures in local currency):

Figures in local currencies
	2010-11 Total	2011-12 Total
Claim By
Austria	1,494,483	3,619,435
Belgium	245,914	2,215,299
Cyprus	5,676,895	228,279
Czech Republic	967,272	1,648,980
France	48,952,661	138,485,038
Germany	5,201,171	9,482,607
Greece	2,718,024	3,943,650
Ireland	290,147,269	286,991,211
Italy	369,989	4,744,048
Lithuania		22,723
Luxembourg		151,246
Netherlands		1,395,035
Portugal	2,200,227	2,354,469
Slovenia	61,904	2,666
Spain	84,472,286	119,565,896
Sweden	6,754,412	20,307
Switzerland	1,494,739	1,700,918

HMS "Victory" 

Question

Asked by Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 22 May (WA 49), whether they have authorised any further operations by the company Odyssey Marine Exploration on the wreck of HMS "Victory"; whether those operations have been discussed in advance with the advisory group established by the Government to advise Ministers on the treatment of the wreck; and what sanctions are available to deter companies from acting without the prior approval of Ministers following the advice of the advisory group for the actions proposed.[HL1722]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever): I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my right honourable friend the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Andrew Robathan) in the other place on 17 July 2012, (Official Report, col. 760W).

We are currently considering a request from the Maritime Heritage Foundation for further work on the HMS Victory site. This request has been discussed with the advisory group established to advise both Ministers and the Maritime Heritage Foundation on the treatment of the wreck. The deed of gift, which is available at http://www.mod.uklDefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/MaritimePublications/
HmsVictory1744AdvisoryGroup.htm, states: "the Company agrees not to disturb, remove from the seabed, sell, charge, lease, give or otherwise dispose of anything hereby transferred". Any activity undertaken without the approval of the Secretary of State would be a breach of the terms of the deed of gift, for which legal remedies would be available.

Homosexuality 

Question

Asked by Lord Black of Brentwood  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had recently with Governments in Commonwealth countries where homosexuality is illegal about the application of international human rights law on this issue.[ HL1986]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): In recent months, the Minister for Africa raised concerns regarding a Private Members’ Bill to strengthen anti-homosexuality legislation with the President of Uganda. The Minister for Equalities also raised these concerns with the Vice President and Speaker for Parliament during a recent visit to Kampala. In The Gambia, our High Commissioner delivered a démarche to the Gambian Minister of Foreign Affairs protesting against the trial of 20 Gambians arrested for allegedly committing "unnatural offences". Human Rights issues were also discussed at the European Union's (EU) Article 8 political dialogue which was held between EU member states and the Government of Gambia in June.

The Commonwealth is a valuable partner in promoting human rights globally, and in helping to deliver UK human rights policy. We are committed to working with the Commonwealth and its partners to help them uphold values of human rights, rule of law, democracy and development. We regularly raise human rights issues with the Commonwealth Secretariat and with member states. We seek to increase debate on these issues, including on sexual orientation or gender identity, within and among Commonwealth countries.

Horses 

Question

Asked by Lord Higgins  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Transportation Agreement between France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, designed to facilitate the transport of competition and other high-value horses between the three countries, was extended to cover low value horses which may come from Eastern Europe and elsewhere; what assessment they have made of the risk that this may result in the spread of disease among horses in the UK; and whether they have plans to open negotiations immediately with the objective of returning the agreement to its original form.[HL2089]

Lord Newby: The Tripartite Agreement is a long-standing agreement between France, the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Under the original agreement registered equidae, usually for competition and racing, were able to move freely between the signatory countries based on shared health status. The agreement does not remove the need to comply with EU welfare in transport legislation. In 2005, due to its success, it was expanded to include equidae for "breeding and production", covering among others ponies for leisure and has continued to work well. The agreement continues to be tripartite and only between the three signatory countries.

Romania acceded to the EU in 2007 and at present is subject to required EU restrictions on the movement of horses.

There is a balance between facilitating free trade of horses that need to move regularly and recognising the risk of importation of disease. Defra continually monitors and assesses the UK risk from disease outbreaks in the EU and beyond.

House of Lords: Apprentices 

Question

Asked by Lord Adonis  

To ask the Chairman of Committees whether the House of Lords Administration will consider establishing an apprenticeship scheme within the employment of the House, to start no later than spring 2013.[ HL2025]

The Chairman of Committees (Lord Sewel): The House of Lords Administration has no current plans to establish an apprenticeship scheme before the spring of 2013, but I have asked the Clerk of the Parliaments to examine whether it would be possible to introduce such a scheme.

The Administration runs training schemes for certain groups of staff including staff in Catering and Retail Services, the Parliamentary Archives, the Finance Department and the Human Resources Office. These schemes involve sponsored study with day-release or study leave and lead to recognised professional qualifications. The Administration also has a generous scheme of support for further and higher education. The Administration does not run any craft apprenticeships because it does not employ any staff in the building and allied trades. The Parliamentary Estates Directorate, which is a department of the House of Commons, is responsible for the maintenance of the Parliamentary Estate.

House of Lords: Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint 

Question

Asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath  

To ask the Leader of the House, further to his answer on 23 July (HL Deb, col. 481-4), on what basis he considers that Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint could have answered a maximum of three oral questions on behalf of his department.[HL2070]

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde): Lord Green has answered oral questions from Lord Alton of Liverpool (9 March 2011) and Lord Bates (8 March 2012). He did not answer an oral question from Lord Harrison (28 June 2012) which raised matters related to UKTI's remit. Other oral questions answered by BIS Ministers in the House over the period in question did not relate to UKTI's remit. That was the context for my remarks.

House of Lords: Members' Surveys 

Questions

Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon  

To ask the Chairman of Committees what was the cost of the recent Members’ survey on the facilities and services in the House of Lords conducted by BMG Research; why the survey could not have been produced in-house; and what was the purpose of the question on ethnic origin.[ HL1926]

The Chairman of Committees (Lord Sewel): It is expected that the Members’ survey will cost approximately £15,000, but this will depend on the amount of additional analysis which the Administration commission after reviewing the survey results. An external provider has been employed to conduct the survey and process the results in order to ensure that all responses are dealt with anonymously and so that the results can be properly and independently validated.

The House Administration are keen to ensure that all Members receive a good service, and it may be useful to analyse the results in order to identify whether there are particular trends within particular groups of Members. Therefore, at the end of the survey form, Members are asked a number of questions which will enable the results to be sorted by particular categories while preserving Members’ confidentiality.

Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon  

To ask the Chairman of Committees why the options provided for answering question 27 of the Members’ survey on the facilities and services in the House of Lords, asking Members to indicate their ethnic origin, were White, White Other, Mixed background, Black or Black British, Asian or Asian British (including Chinese), Other and Prefer not to say.[HL1958]

The Chairman of Committees (Lord Sewel): In order for the House Administration to assess whether all Members receive a good service, at the end of the Members’ survey there are a number of optional questions which will enable the Administration to analyse whether there are particular trends of answers from particular groups of Members. The options provided were based on advice from the external survey provider. Unfortunately there was an error in question 27 and the first option should have been "White British" rather than "White".

Houses of Parliament: Sitting Days 

Question

Asked by Lord Grocott  

To ask the Leader of the House, further to his answer on 17 July (HL Deb, col. 111) on the sitting arrangements of the two Houses, whether he will identify the comparative costs of (1) both Houses sitting during the same two weeks, and (2) one sitting independently for two weeks, then the other sitting independently for two weeks, including in the analysis the costs incurred by the (a) opening hours of refreshment facilities, (b) opening hours of Library and research facilities, (c) availability of the services of Clerks in the two Houses, and (d) costs of scheduling building and refurbishment works.[HL2058]

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde): I refer the noble Lord to the answer he received from the Chairman of Committees on 16 February (HL Hansard col. WA 179).

I am not, as Leader of the House, responsible for the administration of the House: that falls to the House Committee, whose spokesman is the Chairman of Committees.

Houses of Parliament: Ticket Sales 

Question

Asked by Lord Hoyle  

To ask the Chairman of Committees how much profit Parliament made through sales of tickets to Parliament over the Summer Recesses of 2009, 2010 and 2011.[ HL1818]

The Chairman of Committees (Lord Sewel): The surplus of income recovered by Parliament over attributed costs during the Summer Recesses in question was £114,809 in 2009, £102,125 in 2010 and £188,246 in 2011.

Houses of Parliament: Ticketmaster 

Question

Asked by Lord Hoyle  

To ask the Chairman of Committees what criteria are used to judge the performance of Ticketmaster in its fulfilment of its contract with the Houses of Parliament.[ HL1994]

Lord Sewel: Ticketmaster is contracted by Parliament to provide ticketing for Parliament’s commercial tours. This includes online, phone and group sales and also the provision of software and hardware for the onsite ticket office. Ticketmaster is also contracted to provide technical support, event management and marketing support. The fulfilment of the contract is based upon the delivery of these services, and a service level agreement covers the following criteria:

payment of moneys received;

provision of management information;

the issue of tickets to customers;

quality control (via envelope checks);

customer phone hold times;

phone abandonment rate; and

customer complaints.

Human Trafficking 

Question

Asked by Lord McColl of Dulwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Welsh Government’s anti-human trafficking co-ordinator established in April 2011; and whether they are considering making a similar appointment in England.[HL1962]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): An assessment of the work of the Welsh Government’s anti-human trafficking co-ordinator will be made as part of the first report of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG) on Human Trafficking, due to be published in October 2012. A national anti-human trafficking co-ordinator will not be appointed in England. The IDMG co-ordinates work on trafficking across the UK and performs the national rapporteur function in compliance with the EU directive on trafficking in human beings.

Immigration 

Question

Asked by Lord King of West Bromwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have entered the United Kingdom in each of the last five years from (1) the European Union, (2) the Commonwealth, and (3) the rest of the world.[ HL1752]

Lord Newby: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your parliamentary Question to Her Majesty's Government, asking how many people have entered the United Kingdom in each of the last five years from (1) the European Union, (2) the Commonwealth, and (3) the rest of the world [HL1752].

Estimates are published in two forms: first, the number of overseas travel and tourism visits to the UK of less than 12 months in duration which are completed in the reporting year and are based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS); and, secondly, the number of people migrating to the UK for 12 months or more (long-term international migration) during the reporting year and are based on the IPS plus adjustments. The most recent year for which both sets of estimates are available is 2010.

Table 1: Number of visits to the UK (in `000s) in the last five years

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
European Union	21214	21800	21610	20307	20244
Commonwealth	3557	3403	3415	3027	3174
Rest of the World	7942	7576	6862	6555	6385

Source: International Passenger Survey

Table 2: Number of people migrating to the UK (in `000s) in the last five years

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
European Union	210	220	224	198	208
Commonwealth	219	200	196	204	219
Rest of the World	167	154	171	164	163

Source: Long-Term International Migration (LTIM)

Internet: Domain Names 

Question

Asked by Lord Harris of Haringey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of accuracy being achieved in the recording and storing of the contact details of owners of .uk domain names; what discussions they have had with Nominet about that issue; and whether they will ask Nominet to publish the report that they have commissioned into the accuracy of the data on contact details.[ HL1869]

Lord Newby: No assessment has been made of the level of accuracy being achieved in the recording and storing of the contact details of owners of .uk domain names (known as the WHOIS). Officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have regular informal discussions with Nominet on a range of issues, and accuracy of WHOIS data is something that is discussed from time to time. Nominet is a private company, and as such, it would not be appropriate for the Government to request that it publishes research which was undertaken as part of the work it is doing to improve WHOIS accuracy.

Isle of Sark 

Question

Asked by Lord Prescott  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 23 July (WA 109), what financial assistance has been given to the Isle of Sark in fulfilling its constitutional obligations on behalf of the Crown for each year since 2008.[HL2054]

Lord Newby: The UK Government have given no financial assistance to Sark in fulfilling its constitutional obligations on behalf of the Crown. Costs have, however, been incurred by the UK Government in defending applications for judicial review in the courts of the United Kingdom, challenging specific decisions to recommend that legislation passed by the Chief Pleas of Sark should receive the Royal Assent which is necessary for that legislation to come into force. Information is not available broken down by year, but the costs incurred by the UK Government since 2008 in such cases, including those presently under way, amount to approximately £199,000, of which £44,000 has been recovered by the UK Government under costs orders made by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Israel 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel in relation to the lifting of the blockade of Gaza and their obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.[ HL1925]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): In close co-ordination with our European Union partners and the Office of the Quartet Representative, the UK regularly makes representations at both ministerial and official level to the Government of Israel on the urgent need to ease restrictions on Gaza.

We are clear that Israeli restrictions on movements of goods and people do serious damage to the economy and living standards of ordinary people in Gaza. The current situation fosters radicalisation and empowers Hamas. An improved economy is not only essential for the people of Gaza, but firmly in Israel's security interests.

Most recently our ambassador to Israel and Consulate General in Jerusalem discussed our concerns about the situation in Gaza with the Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Major General Dangot on 16 July.

We regularly raise the treatment of children in the OPTs with the Israeli authorities, including in Gaza. UK financial assistance supports the Palestinian Authority and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to provide primary healthcare and hospital care to Gazans. This includes support to construct fourteen new UNRWA schools in Gaza and supporting 28,000 refugee children to attend school. While we have not discussed the rights of children under the specific auspices of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, we have discussed in detail issues affecting children, including themes relating to the convention. Issues discussed include ensuring development and increasing the standard of living for children in Gaza, ensuring protection for Gazan children from war, conflict and violence and ensuring that Gazan children have access to education.

Asked by The Lord Bishop of Exeter  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implementation by the Government of Israel of the recommendations made by the 2003 Or Commission to tackle discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel.[ HL1938]

Lord Howell of Guildford: There have been key changes in Israel since the Or Commission's report such as:

ending the use of live fire as a means of crowd control;

an increased police presence which has seen the number of police stations in Israeli Arab areas rise from three to 105;

a corresponding increase in non-Jewish recruitment, from 0.1 percent to 8.9 percent; and,

better police liaison with Israeli Arab municipalities and community leaders.

In contrast, few of Or's recommendations on the socio-economic causes of Israeli Arab frustration have been addressed. We continue to urge the Israeli Government to implement the recommendations made by the 2003 Or Commission, specifically to address (i) economic disparities; and (ii) unequal access to land and housing.

In general we condemn all instances of inequality and discrimination against individuals and groups because of their faith, ethnicity or nationality. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv and Consulate-General in Jerusalem, as elsewhere, monitor and raise concerns over human rights with host Governments, including discrimination and freedom of religion or belief when appropriate.

We have also supported projects aimed at tackling discrimination between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel. In 2011 the UK sponsored a £40,000 project for Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders to join a multi-sector leaders’ network that aims to advance peace in the region.

Asked by Lord Judd  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what grounds they supported the recent upgrading of relations between the European Union and Israel.[ HL1969]

Lord Howell of Guildford: The European Union (EU)-Israel Association Council at its regular meeting on 24 July discussed some practical co-operation measures in line with the existing EU-Israel Action Plan. It does not represent an upgrade or any major broadening of EU-Israel relations. The EU has been very clear that no progress can be made on upgrading the wider EU-Israel relationship until there is substantial progress towards a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is a position the UK supports.

Israel and Palestine: West Bank 

Question

Asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking within the European Union to address the alleged destruction by Israeli occupation authorities of an agricultural project funded by the European Union near the village of al-Khedr in the occupied West Bank.[ HL1877]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): The Government are concerned about demolitions of Palestinian houses and infrastructure, including projects funded by the European Union (EU) and other European partners, in the West Bank. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) discussed the issue of such demolitions with EU partners at the 14 May EU Foreign Affairs Council. Along with EU partners, we have raised our concerns about demolitions with the Israeli authorities, although we have not raised this particular project with them.

The UK is focused on preventing demolitions of Palestinian property, whether funded by the international community or not. We are working with other EU member states to make clear to Israel the need for significant streamlining of the procedure for Palestinians to gain planning permission in Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank (specifically Area C) and the need to halt all demolitions until a more effective process is in place.

Legal Aid 

Question

Asked by Lord Greaves  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why social security was not included in the current legal aid tender; and what steps are being taken to ensure that providers contracted to undertake legal work in this area are sufficiently specialist and experienced.[ HL1882]

The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord McNally): It has not been possible to include welfare benefit appeals in the current tender round due to the late decision to include this within the scope of the legal aid scheme. My officials and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) are currently considering the most effective way to deliver this service from April 2013. An announcement on this will be made in due course.

Mali 

Question

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the security situation in Northern Mali; and what plans they have to contribute to restoring peace to the region.[ HL1856]

Baroness Northover: The United Nations currently estimates that the number of people at risk of food shortages across the Sahel region of West Africa in 2012 is 18 million. Of these, 3.5 million are in Mali.

The security situation in Mali remains of particular concern, and over 415,000 men, women and children have been directly affected by the conflict in the northern regions of the country. Over 260,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries, and over 155,000 people have been internally displaced following months of armed conflict. The deterioration in security conditions has severely limited the humanitarian response by reducing access to those acutely affected by this crisis in the north of the country.

The UK Government are supportive of efforts led by the Economic Community Of West African States and the African Union to bring about a resolution to the crisis in Mali. We will continue to work closely with our international partners, including the United Nations and the European Union, to help return the country to full democracy, including the holding of elections.

Migrant Workers: Bulgarians and Romanians 

Question

Asked by Lord Laird  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the United Kingdom is required by the EU Commission to open its labour market to Bulgarian and Romanian workers by bringing forward the transition date for free access to the labour market for such nationals, and, if so, what was their response.[HL2014]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): The European Commission earlier this year wrote to the Home Secretary acknowledging the labour market reasons for the Government's decision to maintain restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals' access to the labour market until the end of 2013, but urging the Government regularly to reassess the labour market position and to consider whether the existing restrictions could be eased before the end of 2013. The Government's response was that they are under no obligation to further review their decision of November 2011 and have no plans to do so.

National Wildlife Crime Unit 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the value of the functions and responsibilities of the National Wildlife Crime Unit.[ HL2086]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): The Home Office and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) works closely with the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) to ensure that its priority work areas support delivery of the Government's wildlife crime priorities. Every six months the NWCU produces a tactical assessment of progress against each of its priority work areas, which is considered by the Home Office, Defra and other members of the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordinating Group.

Asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the success of the National Wildlife Crime Unit.[ HL2087]

Lord Henley: Every six months the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) produces a tactical assessment of progress against each of its priority work areas. The tactical assessment is considered jointly by the Home Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and other members of the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordinating Group.

Asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have concerning the role of the National Wildlife Crime Unit over the next five years, and what the funding arrangements will be.[ HL2088]

Lord Henley: We recognise the important role that the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) plays in tackling wildlife crime, and that role will evolve as the wider policing landscape develops. Decisions on government funding for the NWCU beyond 2012-13 will be taken by Ministers later this year.

NHS: Primary Care Trusts 

Questions

Asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times since May 2010 they have has asked strategic health authorities to investigate the imposition of blanket bans on treatments by primary care trusts.[ HL1885]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times since May 2010 they have asked strategic health authorities to investigate the imposition of blanket bans on treatments by primary care trusts on a cost basis unrelated to medical need.[HL1886]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): Primary care trusts are responsible for the commissioning of treatment and services, taking into account evidence of best practice and the needs of the local population.

While the department does not routinely collect data on the commissioning decisions of individual primary care trusts, where allegations of blanket bans on treatments are brought to our attention they are investigated. To provide details of all contact with strategic health authorities on this matter would incur disproportionate cost.

Asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have taken action against a primary care trust because it has refused laparoscopies or X-rays of the uterus on the grounds that they were not permissible as investigations under the National Health Service; and, if so, what action was taken.[ HL1888]

Earl Howe: We are not aware of any such action. However, I refer the noble Lord to my previous Answer on this subject on 17 July 2012, Official Report, col. 100.

Asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that all decisions to restrict patient treatments made by primary care trusts or clinical commissioning groups will be made in public.[ HL1889]

Earl Howe: Section 2A of the NHS Constitution gives patients the right "to expect local decisions on funding of other drugs and treatments to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence". Guidance to commissioners on the principles to be followed in local decision-making was set out in a handbook published by the National Prescribing Centre and the department in January 2009. This advises commissioners that they should "communicate clearly with stakeholders including the wider National Health Service, patients and the public. Communication should include the processes, decisions and the rationale for decisions, while maintaining appropriate confidentiality".

Nigeria 

Question

Asked by Baroness Cox  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the Government of Nigeria concerning the suspension of the Rifkatu Samson Danna from Bauchi State House of Assembly.[ HL2034]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): Our commission in Abuja is aware of the suspension of Honourable Rifkatu Samson Danna from the Bauchi State House of Assembly. This is an internal matter for the assembly.

North Africa: Landmines 

Question

Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to deal with the remaining landmines laid in North Africa by Allied and Axis forces in World War 2, and what representations have they received from the Governments of the nations concerned.[ HL1531]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever): The UK has assisted with landmine clearance in North Africa in the past and continues to provide technical information to the mine-affected countries when requested.

An emergency programme was launched last year in the aftermath of the uprising in Libya to cope with explosive remnants, including newly laid mines, unexploded and abandoned ordnance. The UK is supporting non-governmental organisations engaged in clearance, such as the Libya Mine Action Centre, to undertake capacity-building work in Libya, including the implementation of a national mine action programme.

Northern Ireland Office: Staff 

Question

Asked by Lord Laird  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 13 October 2011 (WA 257), what was the date of departure of Hilary Jackson, the former director-general of the Northern Ireland Office; what are the financial details and costs of her redundancy package and its capitalised value; and at what age her pension would normally become payable.[ HL2017]

Lord Newby: Hilary Jackson left the Northern Ireland Office on 31 December 2011. Hilary was a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) employee on loan to the NIO. The MoJ will hold the personal data about the cost of her departure as she left under an MoJ scheme. There were no costs to the NIO.

Overseas Aid 

Questions

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European Union member states are not on track to meet, or have ceased to be committed to meeting, the target of increasing Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.7% of gross national income or to commit 50% of all increases in ODA to African countries by 2015.[ HL1852]

Baroness Northover: The UK is firmly on track to reach 0.7% ODA/GNI by 2013. However, while 16 member states maintained or increased their aid in 2011, a number of member states are off-track in meeting the 0.7% target. According to the 2010 Annual Report to the European Council on EU Aid Targets, of the countries that were member states before 2004, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Italy and Greece did not meet the interim 2010 target of 0.51% ODA/GNI. Of the countries that joined the EU after 2004 only Malta met the interim 2010 target of 0.17% ODA/GNI. All member states reaffirmed their commitment to meet the 0.7% ODA/GNI target at this year’s June European Council.

The target of spending 50% of all ODA in Africa by 2015 is a collective EU target. According to the One DATA report, from 2004 to 2011, the countries that were member states before 2004 spent 36.2% of global ODA increases in Africa. Between 2004 and 2010, these countries increased ODA to Africa by $5.04 billion. The UK will continue to press other member states to meet their aid commitments, including the necessary increases to Africa.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with European Union Official Development Assistance (ODA) partners on maintaining ODA pledges and managing joint aid programmes in the current economic climate.[HL1853]

Baroness Northover: The UK remains on track to meet its commitments on ODA. However, a number of countries are off track which seriously undermines progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ministers discuss this regularly with European Union colleagues and the Second Annual Report to the European Council on EU Aid Targets was recently adopted at the May Development Foreign Affairs Council. The UK also successfully pressed for language on ODA in the June European Council and will continue to use high-level meetings in the EU to hold other member states to account for meeting their aid commitments.

The UK is a strong supporter of country-led aid effectiveness work, most recently re-affirmed at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. The Secretary of State for International Development is co-chair of global partnership post-Busan. A key outcome of the conference was to improve donor co-ordination to reduce duplication and waste. With regard to improving EU co-ordination, the UK strongly believes that any form of joint programming needs to come out of country led processes. We will continue to support efforts to harmonise development programmes which reduce transaction costs and improve results.

Asked by The Earl of Listowel  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for International Development spent on social protection programmes in Nigeria for (1) children and (2) pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011; and what is their assessment of the impact of those programmes.[ HL1917]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for International Development spent on social protection programmes in Nigeria to improve nutritional outcomes for (1) children and (2) pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011; and what is their assessment of the impact of those programmes.[HL1918]

Baroness Northover: DfID did not fund any social protection programmes in Nigeria between 2008 and 2011. DfID is currently developing a new social protection programme, which is expected to start in early 2013. The programme is expected to include an evaluation component to assess the impact of the programme.

In September 2011, DfID started a nutrition programme in Nigeria aimed at reaching 6.2 million children under five years and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers over a six-year period. The programme is being independently evaluated, although it is too early to assess its impact at this stage.

Asked by The Earl of Listowel  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for International Development spent on social protection programmes in Ethiopia for (1) children, and (2) pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011; and what is their assessment of the impact of these programmes.[ HL1919]

Baroness Northover: The Department for International Development (DfID) supports the Ethiopian Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP), which provides cash and food transfers to around 7.5 million hungry households during the lean season. While this is not targeted at women or children, they are major beneficiaries of improved household food security. DfID spending on PSNP was £35 million in 2008/9; £30.5 million in 2009/10, £61.6 million in 2010/11; and £61.1 million in 2011/12.

Independent evaluations in 2008 and 2010 found that the programme had improved food security for recipients. Children in recipient households ate more meals per day and the food gap-the number of months during which a household was unable to meet its food needs-has been reduced by a third (more than a month). PSNP transfers have also helped recipient households to retain productive assets in the face of shocks (helping them to avoid, for example, selling their draft animals at distress prices in the wake of a bad harvest); and, through PSNP public works, to reverse decades of environmental degradation and declining farm yields. Data on the height and weight of children under five years were collected in 2010 and will be collected again in 2012. These data will be analysed by May 2013, allowing us to assess the impact of PSNP on children’s nutritional outcomes.

Asked by The Earl of Listowel  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for International Development spent on social protection programmes in Ethiopia to improve nutritional outcomes for (1) children, and (2) pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011; and what is their assessment of the impact of those programmes.[HL1920]

Baroness Northover: The Department for International Development (DfID) supports the Ethiopian Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP), which provides cash and food transfers to around 7.5 million hungry households during the lean season. DfID spending on PSNP was £35 million in 2008/9; £30.5 million in 2009/10; £61.6 million in 2010/11; and £61.1 million in 2011/12.

Independent evaluations in 2008 and 2010 found that the programme had improved food security for recipients. Children in recipient households ate more meals per day and the food gap-the number of months during which a household was unable to meet its food needs-has been reduced by a third (more than a month). While it is likely that improved food consumption has led to improved nutritional status we cannot know this for certain without additional analysis, as nutrition is affected by a range of factors. Data on the height and weight of children under five years were collected in 2010 and will be collected again in 2012 and will be analysed by May 2013, allowing us to assess the impact of PSNP on children’s nutritional outcomes.

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding they have provided in each of the last 10 years, and how much they plan to spend in each year to 2015, for promoting (1) human rights, and (2) democracy, overseas; and which departments disburse this funding.[HL1999]

Baroness Northover: The UK Government support human rights and democracy through the work of two departments. DfID is the main funding provider. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) also provides financial assistance to promote human rights and democracy, as well as playing a key diplomatic role in promoting the UK's values on human rights and democracy. DfID has provided a total of nearly £738 million on support to human rights and democracy in the period from 2000-01 to 2010-11, bilaterally and through multilateral organisations, although we believe this figure to be a low estimation of DfID's full expenditure on democracy and human rights. The FCO currently spends a minimum of £10 million per year on human rights and democracy.

Table 1 below shows the break-down of DfID's bilateral and multilateral spend per year. Table 2 shows DfID's bilateral spend per year on (1) human rights and (2) democracy. It would incur disproportionate costs to identify the break-down of DfID's multilateral spend on human rights and democracy over the past 10 years.

DfID does not have sufficient information available to give a fair projection of DfID expenditure on human rights and democracy until 2015. The FCO's expenditure on human rights and democracy is currently assessed on an annual basis and next year's allocation has not yet been announced.

Table 1: DfID's bilateral and multilateral spend per year on human rights and democracy.

Spend (£000s)	2000/01	2001/02	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06
DfID Bilateral	14,920	14,960	16,143	21,707	21,521	23,967
DfID Multilateral	-	-	-	-	-	-

Spend (£000s)	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11
DfID Bilateral	20,196	33,988	42,048	27,622	44,567
DfID Multilateral	99,420	104,571	104,319	74,366	73,502

Table 2. DfID's bilateral spend per year on human rights and democracy (elections).

Spend (£000s)	2000/01	2001/02	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06
Human Rights	9,771	10,470	11,802	8,558	7,884	7,249
Democracy (Elections)	5,150	4,490	4,341	13,149	13,637	16,718

Spend (£000s)	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11
Human Rights	6,405	12,308	11,591	9,084	10,688
Democracy (Elections)	13,791	21,680	30,456	18,539	33,880

This can be found at: www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/Aid-Statistics/Statistics-on-International-Development-201l/SID-2011-Additional-tables/ and www.fco.gov.uk/en/publications-and-documents/publications1/annual-reports/human-rights-report.

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government to how many countries the Department for International Development has provided general and sector budget support in the last 10 years; how much funding it has provided to each of those countries in those 10 years; to which countries it plans to provide general and sector budget support until 2015; how much this planned general and sector budget support will total for each of those countries; and whether the department requires that all bank accounts to which it provides general and sector budget support are publicly audited.[HL2002]

Baroness Northover: The table below presents general and sector budget support (GBS and SBS) expenditure over the past 10 years, disaggregated by country. As shown in the table, over the past 10 years DfID has provided budget support in a total of 20 countries across Africa and Asia.

DfID does not publish forward projections of particular aid types due to the uncertainty surrounding these numbers. In the case of budget support, it is likely that actual disbursements will differ from planned expenditure. For example, DfID may not disburse all approved expenditure if the UK's underlying partnership principles are breached or if there is underperformance in the indicators linked to performance tranches. Moreover, new budget support programmes may be approved over the coming years.

Nevertheless, details of all of approved budget support programmes can be found on the DfID website (http://projects.dfid.gov.uk/default.aspx), where all business cases are published.

When we provide budget support, it is a requirement that all bank accounts into which budget support funds are transferred are audited by the recipient country's public audit institutions. We provide budget support only when we are completely satisfied that funds will be used for their intended purpose. DfID conducts detailed fiduciary risk assessments (FRAs) examining all aspects of recipient country public financial management systems before budget support is provided.

Expenditure (£ mn)
	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06
	GBS	SBS	GBS	SBS	GBS	SBS	GBS	SBS
Bangladesh	0.0	6.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	29.8	0.0	8.0
Bolivia	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cambodia	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cameroon	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Ethiopia (1)	10.0	0.0	20.0	0.0	30.0	15.0	0.0	42.0
Ghana	20.0	0.0	25.0	0.0	35.0	0.0	42.5	0.0
India (2)	30.0	0.0	55.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	14.5
Malawi	0.0	0.0	10.0	0.0	15.0	0.0	24.9	7.9
Moldova	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0
Mozambique	10.0	5.1	15.0	5.7	30.0	5.9	35.0	6.3
Nepal	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.1	0.0	8.7
Nicaragua	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9
Niger	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Pakistan (3)	20.0	0.0	35.0	15.0	0.0	7.5	20.0	22.5
Rwanda	22.0	0.0	18.8	0.0	34.3	0.0	54.3	0.0
Sierra Leone	10.0	0.0	10.0	0.0	12.0	0.0	15.0	0.0
Tanzania	45.0	0.0	60.0	0.0	65.0	0.0	85.0	0.0
Uganda	17.5	12.0	30.0	0.0	35.0	0.0	30.0	0.0
Vietnam	0.0	0.0	10.0	0.0	20.0	0.0	20.0	14.0
Zambia	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	9.0	0.0	20.7	0.0
Total	184.5	23.7	288.8	20.7	286.5	60.5	347.3	125.7

Expenditure (£ mn)
	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10
	GBS	SBS	GBS	SBS	GBS	SBS	GBS	SBS
Bangladesh	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Bolivia	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cambodia	0.0	0.0	1.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cameroon	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Ethiopia (1)	0.0	69.9	0.0	111.6	0.0	105.2	0.0	93.0
Ghana	35.8	10.0	56.5	10.0	59.5	18.0	48.0	24.2
India (2)	0.0	16.0	0.0	54.0	0.0	54.0	0.0	52.0
Malawi	20.0	13.3	22.0	19.3	22.0	20.4	24.0	17.5
Moldova	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.5
Mozambique	36.0	0.8	41.0	0.0	42.0	14.5	44.0	16,9
Nepal	0.0	5.4	0.0	18.0	0.0	9.0	0.0	5.2
Nicaragua	0.0	1.0	1.5	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Niger	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.9
Pakistan (3)	20.0	32.5	10.0	38.0	30.0	25.7	30.0	22.5
Rwanda	0.0	2.6	33.0	5.0	33.0	2.2	33.0	5.7
Sierra Leone	12.5	0.0	13.0	0.0	20.0	0.0	12.2	0.0
Tanzania	90.0	0.0	105.0	0.0	103.5	0.0	103.5	0.0
Uganda	40.0	0.0	35.0	0.0	35.0	0.0	32.5	0.0
Vietnam	20.0	14.5	20.0	11.8	20.0	6.0	20.0	9.6
Zambia	23.3	0.0	28.0	0.0	27.7	0.0	36.0	0.0
Total	297.6	166.1	366.5	268.6	392.7	255.9	383.2	251.0

Expenditure (£ mn)
	2010/11	2011/12
	GBS	SBS	GBS	SBS
Bangladesh	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Bolivia	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cambodia	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cameroon	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Ethiopia (1)	0.0	94.7	0.0	132.8
Ghana	36.0	25.0	25.0	23.0
India (2)	0.0	46.0	0.0	49.0
Malawi	19.0	39.6	0.0	41.0
Moldova	0.0	2.5	0.0	0.0
Mozambique	48.2	28.6	48.0	21.4
Nepal	0.0	7.0	0.0	7.0
Nicaragua	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Niger	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Pakistan (3)	30.0	32.5	0.0	38.0
Rwanda	35.8	10.5	37.0	21.3
Sierra Leone	8.0	0.0	12.5	0.0
Tanzania	103.5	0.0	50.0	30.0
Uganda	27.2	0.0	20.0	5.0
Vietnam	20.0	0.0	20.0	0.0
Zambia	32.8	0.0	12.5	0.0
Total	360.5	286.4	225.0	368.5

(1) Figures (to 2011/12) include the Protection of Basic Services (PBS) programme, which is a multi-sector budget support programme financed through a World Bank multi-donor trust fund started in January 2006 in response to the cancellation of General Budget Support in 2005. This support is only used to provide local level basic services and the programme includes a comprehensive package to strengthen financial management, transparency, monitoring and evaluation, and social accountability.

(2) This provides support for health, nutrition, and water/sanitation programmes in three of India's poorest states-Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh

(3) All support to the Government of Pakistan is earmarked to deliver specific results and outcomes within a sector, from the number of children enrolled in school, to the number of lives saved. Projects are subject to independent evaluation and have safeguards to track and monitor our funds.

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government where UK Export Finance’s spending that counted as overseas development assistance, as reported in the Department for International Development’s annual report, went; and what the spending was on.[ HL2046]

Baroness Northover: In its annual report and accounts 2011-12, DfID reported that the Export Credits Guarantee Department's (ECGD) contribution to UK overseas development assistance was £91 million. This sum was debt relief provided to the Democratic Republic of Congo under the terms of the international Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what types of funding are attributed to the eight sectors that the Department for International Development’s annual report sets out for its bilateral aid spend in 2011-12.[HL2047]

Baroness Northover: DfID uses a range of funding types for its bilateral aid, and works to achieve results in a large number of sectors. The DfID annual report 2011-12 disaggregates our bilateral spending across 12 sectors (figure 2.1 on page 44).

DfID chooses the funding type for its aid that is most appropriate for the specific set of development results being targeted and the local context in which we are operating. As a result, a range of funding types is used in each sector.

The full range of bilateral and multilateral funding types used by DfID, and the sectors in which DfID works, is published in the statistics for international development (http://www.dfid.gov.uk/about-us/how-we-measure-progress/aid-statistics/statistics-on-international-development-2011/key-statistics/).

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Department for International Development (DfID) in Mozambique spent 1.2% of its budget on reproductive, maternal and newborn health there in the light of the statement in DfID’s annual report that maternal mortality is the only Millennium Development Goal indicator severely off track in Mozambique.[ HL2048]

Baroness Northover: Between April 2010 and March 2011, the Department for International Development (DflD) in Mozambique spent 23% of its budget on health, of which 1.2% went directly to reproductive, maternal and newborn health. In addition, spending on policy and administrative management, infectious disease control, health personnel development and sexually transmitted infections helped improve maternal and newborn health.

In 2011, Britain’s interventions in Mozambique resulted in 35,000 births being delivered with medical assistance; 1,700 pregnant women being treated for malaria; and improved access to modern methods of contraceptives for an additional 56,400 women.

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why, according to the annual report of the Department for International Development (DfID), DfID Sierra Leone spent 44.2 per cent of its budget on Global Partnerships in the light of the statement by DfID Sierra Leone’s Operational Plan that there would be no spending on Global Partnerships but that roughly 44.3 per cent would go to governance and security.[ HL2049]

Baroness Northover: There is an incorrect label on the pie-chart which illustrates 2011-12 spend by DfID Sierra Leone by sector in the annual report and accounts. While the underlying data is correct, the label "Global Partnerships" should instead have read "Governance & Security".

The Parliamentary Journal Office was informed and approved an official corrections slip which was placed on record, distributed to recipients, and used to update the electronic version on the DfID website.

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government where the additional funding for the Conflict Pool in 2011–12 was found compared to the Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department Operational Plan published in June 2012 and the Department for International Development’s annual report; whether other budgets were reduced to achieve this increase; and, if so, which budgets and by how much.[HL2050]

Baroness Northover: The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement on conflict resources which is separate from and additional to DfID, FCO and MoD budgets. DfID's budget provides the resources for Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department's Operational Plan published in June 2012. Departmental budgets were not reduced to achieve the increase in the Conflict Pool's budget.

Details of the Conflict Pool's resources for Financial Year 2011-12 were given in a Written Ministerial Statement laid before Parliament on 5 April 2011 (Commons Hansard 57-59WS).

Pakistan 

Question

Asked by Lord Black of Brentwood  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what grounds they have ceased funding the work of the Rural Support Programme Network in Pakistan.[ HL1983]

Baroness Northover: There has been no decision to cease funding of the Rural Support Programme Network's (RSPN) activities. The Department for International Development (DfID) originally helped to set up the RSPN in 2001 and provided core support to help build its institutional capacity. This programme came to an end in December 2010, when it was felt that RSPN was sustainable and well positioned to continue its innovative and successful work in rural poverty reduction. DfID continues to consider all competitive bids submitted by RSPN for programme specific support where it aligns with our priorities. RSPN has received funding to provide support to communities after the 2010 floods and to develop community mobilisation training as part of the UK's education programme in Punjab.

Police: Medals 

Question

Asked by Lord Ashcroft  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to awarding a posthumous bravery medal to PC Ian Dibell.[ HL1713]

Lord Newby: It is not government policy to comment on such cases.

Private Sector: Cash Resources 

Question

Asked by Lord Empey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they estimate that cash resources held by private companies in the United Kingdom are increasing or decreasing.[ HL2023]

Lord Newby: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary Question to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they estimate that cash resources held by private companies in the United Kingdom are increasing or decreasing. [BIS] HL2023.

The Office for National Statistics publishes an annual United Kingdom National Accounts: The Blue Book which presents a full set of economic accounts, or national accounts, for the United Kingdom. Chapters 3 and 4 of the Blue Book comprise the fullest available set of accounts showing transactions by the private non-financial and financial sectors of the economy respectively. The Blue Book 2012 was published on 31 July 2012 and is available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/united-kingdom-national-accounts/the-blue-book--2012-edition/index.html

I have interpreted the term "cash resources" in your question as the most liquid assets held by private companies, which are "currency and deposits".

Blue Book 2012 shows that total currency and deposits held by private non-financial corporations has increased annually since 2009 (shown in table 3.3.9 within the financial balance sheet for private non-financial corporations).

Blue Book 2012 shows that total currency and deposits held by financial corporations has increased annually since 2009 (shown in table 4.1.9 within the financial balance sheet for financial corporations).

The Blue Book also provides information on the net lending/borrowing position of private companies, which is the financial balance between their income and expenditure. If the financial balance of private companies is positive, they are net lenders and if it is negative, net borrowers.

Blue Book 2012 shows, for private non-financial corporations, an annually increasing positive financial balance since 2008 (shown in table 3.3.8 within the financial account for private non-financial corporations).

Blue Book 2012 shows that although since 2008 financial corporations have had a positive financial balance, this has subsequently decreased each year (shown in table 4.1.8 within the financial account for financial corporations).

Railways: Level Crossings 

Question

Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many incidents have been recorded at railway level crossings in Lincolnshire in each year from 1996 up until the last year for which records are available.[ HL2062]

Lord Newby: The information requested is listed in the table below:

Year	Incidents	Notes
1996	0
1997	0
1998	3	Road vehicle collision
1999	0
2000	1	Road vehicle collision
2001	1	Road vehicle collision
2002	0
2003	2	Road vehicle collision
2004	2	Road vehicle collision
2005	0
2006	1	Road vehicle collision
2007	0
2008	0
2009	2	Road vehicle collision
2010	0
2011	0
Total	12

Republic of Ireland: Financial Support 

Question

Asked by Lord Laird  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 28 June (WA 103-4), what tranches of the UK bilateral loan to the Republic of Ireland have been paid and when; when interest on tranches of loan were due and whether any interest has been paid to date; what is the current 7.5 year starting swap rate plus margin of 2.29%; what is the most recent average yield on gilt issuance; and whether interest in the new loan agreement is based on conventional gilts with an average nominal yield of 2% or index-linked gilts with an average real yield of 0.022%.[HL1741]

The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon): As set out by the Financial Secretary in the statutory report on the bilateral loan to Ireland, which was published on 11 June 2012, the Treasury has disbursed three tranches of the bilateral loan. Tranches were disbursed on 14 October 2011, 30 January 2012 and 28 March 2012. Each disbursement was for £403,370,000, bringing the total amount disbursed to £1,210,110,000.

Accumulated interest on the disbursed tranches of the loan is payable by Ireland on 15 December and 15 June each year, until the maturity date of the associated tranche. Under the existing interest rate, the Treasury received interest payments on 15 December 2011 and 15 June 2012.

The Treasury will provide a further report, as required by the Loans to Ireland Act, as soon as is practicable following the next reporting period, which ends on 30 September 2012.

The 7.5 year sterling swap rate on 28 March 2012, as used for the purposes of calculating the rate of interest applicable to the third tranche of the bilateral loan, was 2.098% per annum.

The average yields on gilts issued by the Debt Management Office in the six months up to 19 July 2012, weighted by cash proceeds, were a nominal yield of 2.004% on conventional gilts and a real yield of 0.026% on index-linked gilts.

As the Financial Secretary’s Written Statement of 11 June outlined, agreement has been reached in principle on a new, lower interest rate on the bilateral loan to Ireland. This is subject to the loan agreement being revised to reflect the new interest rate. The Financial Secretary has committed to update Parliament once the revised loan agreement has been finalised and signed.

Roads: Traffic Offences 

Question

Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many traffic offences were committed in Lincolnshire in each year from 1996 up until the last year for which records are available, and of which types.[HL2060]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): The information requested is not collected centrally.

The Home Office collects data on notifiable offences recorded by the police. Data are available only for offences such as causing death by dangerous driving; causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs; dangerous driving; and unlicensed drivers. Traffic offences relating to parking and speeding et cetera are not included in the police recorded crime data.

Transport incidents are also on the national incident category list for the national standard for incident recording. However, as they form part of the "other incidents" category, they cannot be separately identified from data submitted to the Home Office by police forces.

Information on fixed penalty notices issued by police in relation to motoring offences can be found in the Home Office's online statistical release Police Powers and Procedures, the latest of which relates to 2010/11 and can be accessed via: http:/Iwww.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/police-powers-procedures-2010/11.

Data on court proceedings for motoring offences are published by the Ministry of Justice in statistical tables volume 6 of its online 'Criminal Justice Statistics' release, the latest of which can be accessed via: http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justicestatistics.

Rwanda 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Goudie  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take in order to contribute to help prevent officials of Rwanda from providing support to militia groups operating in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.[ HL1921]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We have had, and continue to have, extensive high level contact with the Rwandan Government in Kigali and in the UK during which we have raised the UK's serious concerns about the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. If Rwanda has breached Security Council resolutions by breaking the United Nations’ arms embargo, we will evaluate our position. Like its partners, the UK will continue to monitor the situation closely, on which basis it will consider any further action.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether for the period 2011–15 the United Kingdom has allocated £344 million in bilateral aid to Rwanda; in the light of the Statement by Lord Howell of Guildford on 19 July (HL Deb, col. 333) that the report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo was "credible", whether this aid will be used as leverage in persuading Rwanda to desist from arming militias operating in the eastern Congo; and why this issue was not raised directly in recent talks between the Prime Minister and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.[HL1955]

Baroness Northover: The United Kingdom has allocated £344 million in bilateral aid to Rwanda between 2011 and 2015. Over the last five years, a million Rwandans-one in five of those who were poor-have been lifted out of poverty. UK aid has contributed directly to this achievement and continued support can help to ensure that progress is sustained.

The UK Government are concerned by the findings of the United Nations Group of Experts and we have raised these concerns with the Rwandan Government. All partner governments that receive UK aid must adhere to strict partnership principles. A planned general budget support disbursement of £l6 million has been delayed while the Secretary of State for International Development considers whether these expectations are still being met.

The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for International Development and the Foreign Secretary have urged Rwanda to play a constructive role in bringing peace and stability to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The UK will continue to use its development partnership with Rwanda and all diplomatic channels to ensure this happens.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their decision to suspend long-term development aid to South Sudan, why they continue to provide development aid to Rwanda, in the light of the Statement by Lord Howell of Guildford on 19 July (HL Deb, col. 333) that the United Nations Group of Experts report on the Democratic Republic of Congo is "credible".[ HL1972]

Baroness Northover: The UK Government remain fully committed to supporting the people of South Sudan, and have not made any reduction in our overall aid package for the country. Given the current economic and humanitarian conditions in South Sudan, the UK has refocused development assistance towards sustaining basic services and delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance.

In Rwanda, UK aid has contributed directly to tremendous progress in reducing poverty and delivering much-needed services to poor people. The Government of Rwanda uses public funds and development aid well-both in terms of results achieved and in terms of anti-corruption safeguards and financial accountability. Over the past five years a million Rwandans-one in five of those who were poor-have been lifted out of poverty.

The UK is, however, concerned by the findings of the United Nations Group of Experts and we have raised these concerns with the Rwandan Government. Whether and how much UK aid is disbursed to Rwanda will depend on assurances that Rwanda is abiding by the provisions governing UK aid to partner governments. A general budget support payment to Rwanda, planned for July, has been delayed while the Secretary of State for International Development considers whether these provisions are still being adhered to.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have information that counters the evidence produced by the United Nations Group of Experts that the Government of Rwanda are providing military aid and assistance to the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.[HL1973]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We have seen no such information. We urge the Rwandan Government to engage constructively with the United Nations Group of Experts, and to respond transparently to the evidence presented in the addendum to their report.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any evidence provided by Ministers and others in the Government of Rwanda that convinces them that the allegations made by the United Nations Group of Experts that Rwanda is providing military assistance to the M23 rebels are unfounded; and, if so, what is that evidence.[HL1974]

Lord Howell of Guildford: We have not been provided with any such evidence. We continue to urge the Government of Rwanda to engage constructively and transparently with the United Nations Group of Experts.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with counterparts in the Government of the United States over their continuing provision of humanitarian, development, or military aid to Rwanda, in the light of the announcement by the United States Department of State that $200,000 in military aid is being withdrawn and re-allocated elsewhere.[HL1975]

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are in regular contact with the United States on all aspects of policy on Rwanda and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether in the course of discussions at the United Nations leading to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2053 they sought to include language calling for an arms embargo on Rwanda and an extension of the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to include military operations against the M23 rebels active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo; and, if so, which Security Council members opposed the inclusion of such language.[HL1976]

Lord Howell of Guildford: The primary task of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) is to protect civilians. MONUSCO also provides assistance to government security forces in their efforts to complete military operations in the Kivus and Orientale Province, to reduce to a minimum the threat from all armed groups including M23 (March 23 Movement) and FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and restore stability. Discussions in the United Nations Security Council are closed proceedings, not for disclosure. However, we urge all parties, including Rwanda, to comply fully with the arms embargo on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Statement by Lord Howell of Guildford on 19 July (HL Deb, col. 333) that the report of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo was "credible", what specific actions they have taken to use their influence as the third largest contributor of humanitarian aid to Rwanda to persuade the Government of Rwanda to cease their support for the armed rebellion in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.[ HL1977]

Lord Howell of Guildford: Since 19 July, we have continued to raise our concerns at the highest level with the Rwandan Government. For example, our High Commissioner in Kigali has raised them with the President, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Foreign Minister.

Asked by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider the conclusions about the involvement of the Government of Rwanda in the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo in the recent UN Panel of Experts report indicate a breach of one of the Department for International Development’s four partnership commitments for partner governments receiving budget support from the United Kingdom; and, if so, what action they are planning to take.[ HL2000]

Baroness Northover: The UK is concerned by the findings of the United Nations Group of Experts and we have raised these concerns with the Rwandan Government. When serious concerns emerge which may constitute a breach of the partnership principles then these are closely assessed and discussed with all relevant parties. A 16 million general budget support payment to Rwanda which was planned for July has been delayed while the Secretary of State for International Development considers whether the partnership principles are still being adhered to.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about discussions between the Government of Rwanda and the United Nations Expert Panel concerning allegations of military and political support by Rwanda to the M23 Rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.[ HL2051]

Lord Howell of Guildford: We understand that the Government of Rwanda invited the United Nations Group of Experts to visit Kigali on 28 July for discussions about their recent report. We are aware that discussions took place. The group will submit a further report about their visit to the United Nations Sanctions Committee.

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with counterparts in Rwanda about introducing legal guidance on supply chain due diligence for companies operating in Rwanda’s domestic minerals market, to reduce the risks of Rwanda facilitating the trade in minerals to fund conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo by allowing those minerals to reach international markets.[HL2053]

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Secretary of State for International Development, my right honourable friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell) and our High Commissioner raised this issue with the Rwandan Minister of Finance most recently in July. Our High Commissioner has also raised this issue with the Minister for the Environment Lands and Natural Resources and the Director General of the Natural Resources authority both bilaterally and in the company of other European Union Member States twice in the last three months. All discussions emphasised the potential for economic development offered by the legitimate trade in minerals produced within Rwanda and which may transit Rwanda from other states in the region, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Social Media 

Question

Asked by Baroness Linklater of Butterstone  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards and procedures are in place for the appropriate use of social media by staff in the children’s secure estate in the public and private sectors.[ HL2013]

Lord Newby: The Youth Justice Board commissions three sectors that form the children and young people’s secure estate; secure children’s homes, secure training centres and under 18 young offender institutions.

For secure children’s homes, the Children’s Homes Regulations 2001 set out the principal provision that members of staff should be of integrity and good character. The Youth Justice Board’s contractual specification further requires that staff will maintain safe, consistent and understandable boundaries for the children in relation to acceptable behaviour. This would extend to the appropriate use of social media. It is the relevant local authority that is responsible for setting staff conduct and ensuring that the use of information technology is appropriate.

In secure training centres, staff are required to undertake appropriate recruitment and vetting in order to be certified as fit and proper to work with young people. The contractor must notify the Youth Justice Board immediately of any behaviour of, or action by, a custody officer which comes to its attention and casts doubt upon his or her fitness for certification as a custody officer. A staff handbook must be given to all staff that summarises employment terms and conditions. Such handbooks refer to appropriate use of information technology, e-mail and internet including social networking sites.

Staff working in under 18 young offender institutions are required to comply with Section 91 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 that describes the wrongful disclosure of information about particular prisoners acquired by persons who are, or have been, employed at an institute, and the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 1989. Under 18 young offender institutions must take all reasonable steps to ensure that all staff and sub-contractors are aware of these provisions and that they continue to apply after leaving employment.

Contracts with private under 18 young offender institutions require staff not to disclose any information acquired during the course of that employment otherwise than in the proper discharge of their duties or as authorised. If, in the opinion of the National Offender Management Service, any allegation requires investigation then it can require the suspension of this person.

A series of Prison Service instruments are also in place to guide and support the policing of behaviour in all young offender institutions to maintain high standards of personal and professional conduct.

South Sudan 

Questions

Asked by The Earl of Sandwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest estimates of South Sudanese returnees in 2011 and 2012; how many of those have arrived by river and how many over land; and what percentage of those are (1) resettled or (2) in camps.[HL1804]

Baroness Northover: According to figures from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) there have been 115,748 returnees in 2012, of an estimated total of 400,000 since October 2010. Of these, approximately 19,146 are currently stranded at four transit sites in Renk in Upper Nile State, the main entry point into South Sudan. A further 3,500 individuals are waiting at Kosti Railway station in White Nile State in Sudan. The final destinations for the returnees are Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State and Wau in Western Bahr el-Ghazal State. In 2012, 23,920 have been moved by road (buses and trucks), 19,000 were moved by air and some 5,500 by barge. Currently options are being explored to move the remainder by train. However, there are a number of logistical and security challenges. We have allocated £10 million to WFP for the pre-positioning of food in South Sudan, some of which will assist the returnees. We have also pre-approved another £5 million in case of a sudden inflow of further returnees. In 2011 the UK also contributed £2.36 million ($3.8 million) through the Common Humanitarian Fund and Central Emergency Response Fund to assist returnees.

Asked by The Earl of Sandwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received reports regarding the number of South Sudanese returnees arriving each week by river at Bentiu in Unity State; which aid agencies are assisting them, there or at nearby way stations, with food, drinking water and shelter; and what contribution the UK is making.[HL1805]

Baroness Northover: The recent influx to Yida camp has gone down to approximately 250 people per day from about 1,000 per day. The response is co-ordinated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. World Food Programme (WFP) is in charge of provision of food supplies. Agencies operating in the area include numerous international health NG0s, focused on health and nutrition, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Goal. The two greatest challenges are access due to recent heavy rains and lack of roads and the health of the population. DfID has allocated over £45 million to the humanitarian response in South Sudan through our support to the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the WFP. We are also providing support through our contributions to the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Asked by The Earl of Sandwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support is being provided to address the needs of South Sudanese returnees in Km18, Jamam and Batil camps in Upper Nile state; and through which aid agencies.[ HL1806]

Baroness Northover: A range of support is being provided across the Km 18, Jamam and Batil camps, including water and sanitation, health, food, and nutrition services. Responding agencies include Oxfam, International Medical Corps, Médecins Sans Frontières, Goal, World Food Programme and United Nations Office for Project Services. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for the overall refugee response. The UK remains one of the leading donors to the humanitarian response in South Sudan’s refugee camps. My honourable. friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Stephen O’Brien, visited the Jamam camp in April to assess conditions. DfID has allocated over £45 million to the humanitarian response in South Sudan, which includes support for refugees, through our support to the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), ICRC and the World Food Programme. DfID is also providing support through our contributions to the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Most recently we have worked with our partners in the CHF to open a $10 million emergency response window to ensure rapid support is available to address the crisis. DfID is in close contact with UNHCR, their NGO partners and the Government of South Sudan on the situation, and HMA Juba again raised the issue with Vice-President Machar on 13 July.

Asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they have provided to the Audit Chamber of South Sudan in compiling the annual reports required by its constitutional mandate.[ HL1997]

Baroness Northover: The UK has provided support for the Audit Chamber of South Sudan through the World Bank managed Multi-donor Trust Fund (MDTF) and through the Joint Donor Office in Juba. This assistance has enabled the Audit Chamber to fulfill its functions more effectively, including the production of annual reports. The UK is also initiating a bilateral programme of accountability support to the South Sudan Anti-Corruption Commission (SSACC).

Asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the Government of South Sudan about taking action on the findings of the annual reports recently presented by its Audit Chamber.[HL1998]

Baroness Northover: The UK, together with its Troika partners, US and Norway, and the EU, hold a regular high level dialogue with a group of senior Ministers of the Government of South Sudan, with a strong focus on tackling corruption. UK officials regularly raise corruption concerns, such as those highlighted in the recent Audit Chamber reports, in other meetings with government Ministers and officials, including most recently with the Vice President, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and the President's Economic Adviser.

Sudan 

Questions

Asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the likelihood that the Government of Sudan will honour the commitments made on 27 June on access for humanitarian aid to South Kordofan and the Blue Nile states.[HL1671]

Baroness Northover: We remain deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in the two states and the condition of refugees on arrival in South Sudan. We have been lobbying the Government of Sudan to accept the United Nations, Arab League and African Union tripartite proposal for the delivery of humanitarian assistance since it was proposed in November 2011. This approach is also reiterated in the African Union road map and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2046. The latter also calls for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North to accept the proposal. We welcome the Government of Sudan’s statement of 27 June. The important issue is to see full access according to humanitarian principles, meaning full access to competent neutral humanitarian agencies. thereby ensuring that the necessary support reaches all areas of these regions. including rebel-held areas. The UK is working closely with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs to ensure every opportunity for delivering assistance to those who need it is explored. We will continue to urge the Government to accept and implement the agreement in full.

Asked by The Earl of Sandwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there have been any improvements in the political environment for humanitarian agencies working in Darfur; and which UK-assisted aid agencies are still able to work there.[ HL1807]

Baroness Northover: We remain deeply concerned over the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur. Continued restrictions of access across Darfur have resulted in the withdrawal of some non-governmental organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières from North Darfur. We continue to press the Government of Sudan to allow full, unfettered access. The UK provides direct funding to United Nations Environment Programme/United Nations Office for Project Services, RedR, and United Nations Development Programme to deliver programmes in Darfur. We also provide funding to Darfur through the Sudan Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) which funds international and Sudanese organisations to deliver programmes across Darfur. Last year DfID provided £50 million to the CHF and a significant proportion of this funding was spent in Darfur.

Asked by The Earl of Sandwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the prospects for sustainable agricultural development in Darfur.[ HL1808]

Baroness Northover: DfID remains committed to sustainable development in Darfur and believes that sustainable agricultural development in Darfur would both have positive lasting impacts for the people of Darfur and support the Sudanese economy. However until the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur is fully implemented and the region is stable it will be difficult to achieve sustainable agricultural development in Darfur. DfID currently funds the United Nations Environment Programme and the Feinstein International Center to provide advisory support to a national non-governmental organisation in Sudan, to set up and manage a community-based market monitoring network in the Darfur Region. The goal of this initiative is to understand trade and markets in Darfur for key agricultural and livestock commodities; identify how livelihoods and the economy can be supported through trade; and identify peace-building opportunities through trade.

Asked by The Earl of Sandwich  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reports they have received on the progress of the development initiatives outlined in the East Sudan Development Conference in Kuwait in December 2010; and what assessment they have made of the prospects for development in the eastern region.[ HL1809]

Baroness Northover: DfID has consistently urged the Government of Sudan to honour the commitments made at the Kuwait conference in 2010 to allow unhindered access for non-governmental organisations and humanitarian and development workers in Eastern Sudan. It is therefore concerning that the Sudanese Government chose to close down seven international non government organisations’ programmes in East Sudan. This decision has consequences for the humanitarian and development programmes in the East, and may impact on the prospects for development in the region. Development in eastern Sudan would have a positive impact on development across Sudan and would also help further stabilise the region. A number of bilateral donors, the UK included, are in the process of evaluating whether it is possible to set up new programmes. There are also a number of projects already under way funded by Arab donors in the wake of the Kuwait conference.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations about the arrest of Nahid Gabralla on 3 July by the Sudanese National Intelligence Security Service; whether they consider this to be related to her role in leading a protest against the trial of Lubna Hussein, who is on trial for illegally wearing trousers; what assessment they have made of the alleged use of torture at Omdurman Prison where she is held; and whether, when they participate in meetings to promote trade and business deals in Sudan, they intend to alert participants to the treatment of Nahid Gabralla and other human rights campaigners detained in Sudanese prisons.[HL1956]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We are very concerned about the case of Nahid Gabralla who was detained in Khartoum on 3 July. The cause of her detention has not been confirmed, but it seems to be part of the Government of Sudan's wider crackdown on protestors and human rights activists in recent weeks. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my honourable friend the Member for North West Norfolk (Mr Bellingham) specifically expressed his deep concern over Nahid's case during his meeting with Sudanese Foreign Minister, Ali Karti, in the margins of the AU Summit on 14 July. Officials at our embassy in Khartoum have also raised their concerns over the case with Presidential Assistant Abdrahman Sadiq al-Mandi and have been liaising with Amnesty International on advocacy efforts. As Mr Bellingham made clear in his statement of 26 June, we urge the Government of Sudan to release those recently detained while engaged in peaceful protest, and for the security forces to act with restraint and avoid the use of force in responding to peaceful demonstrations. (The full text of Mr Bellingham's statement can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website: www.fco.,gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=780225182.)

Our embassy in Khartoum has a trade section that consists of one commercial officer who is locally employed. This section does not proactively promote British trade with Sudan but is, however, ready to respond to enquiries and requests for assistance from British companies interested in the Republic of Sudan. When we speak to British companies considering doing business in Sudan, we give a full picture of the political situation in the country. Human rights issues are regularly raised when embassy officials meet with the Government of Sudan.

Sudan and South Sudan 

Questions

Asked by Lord Chidgey  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to the humanitarian and refugee situation in Sudan and South Sudan.[ HL1854]

Baroness Northover: DfID is greatly concerned at the humanitarian situation in both Sudan and South Sudan, and the effect the ongoing conflict in the border areas is having on the high number of refugees crossing the border into South Sudan. The UK remains one of the leading donors to the humanitarian response in South Sudan’s refugee camps. We have now allocated over £45 million to the humanitarian response in South Sudan, which includes support for refugees, through our support to the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP). We are also providing support through our contributions to the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Most recently we have worked with our partners in the CHF to open a $10 million emergency response window to ensure rapid support is available to address the crisis.

DfID has allocated over £22 million to the humanitarian response in Sudan this year. Much of this is delivered through the CHF, but we also directly fund ICRC, and international non-governmental organisation partners. We have the option to provide more to the WFP in the border areas, and the CHF, as needs are identified.

DfID has been lobbying the Government of Sudan to accept the United Nations, Arab League and African Union tripartite proposal for the unconstrained delivery of humanitarian assistance in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile State since it was proposed in November 2011. This approach is also reiterated in the African Union Roadmap and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2046; the latter also calls for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North to accept the proposal.

DfID welcomes the Government of Sudan’s statement of 27 June. The important issue is to see full access according to humanitarian principles, meaning full access to competent neutral humanitarian agencies, thereby ensuring that the necessary support reaches all areas of these regions, including rebel-held areas. The UK is working closely with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, to ensure every opportunity for delivering assistance to those who need it is explored. DfID will continue to urge the Government to accept and implement the agreement in full.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 23 July (WA 122–3), whether (1) the Government of South Sudan, and (2) the Government of Sudan, are preventing "full humanitarian access" to those affected by the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile; if so, in what ways in each case; what steps they are taking to ensure that such access is permitted; and whether those steps include withholding a portion of Department for International Development aid from the Government of Sudan until access is permitted.[HL1951]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): The best chance of achieving full humanitarian access to those in need in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states will be through a cessation of hostilities in both areas, and the lifting of all restrictions on humanitarian agencies, so that they are able to operate freely and impartially across those areas. The Governments of Sudan and South Sudan both have roles to play in allowing this to happen. As set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2046, we are pressing the Government of South Sudan to halt all support to opposition movements in Sudan, which only fuels conflict in the border areas, and pushing the Government of Sudan to immediately implement the United Nations-African Union-Arab League Proposal for delivering and monitoring aid, so that assistance is given to those who need it without delay. We are working closely with our international partners to apply pressure on both governments, and supporting the African Union High Level Implementation Panel as they facilitate discussions of these issues.

The UK does not channel any development funding or assistance through the Government of Sudan, but rather delivers its programmes and projects through international partners in order to tackle the underlying causes of conflict and assist Sudan's poorest and most needy. To withhold such assistance based on the actions of the Government would be at odds with these objectives, and cause greater suffering for the people of Sudan.

Asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan to ensure that any new oil deal reached following ongoing negotiations is transparent and independently verified.[HL1996]

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK remains fully committed to supporting the implementation of the African Union Roadmap and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2046 between Sudan and South Sudan, which includes the need for an agreement on arrangements concerning oil and associated payments. We have consistently argued for transparency in any deal and have supported proposals for independent international verification. We welcome the recent progress on petroleum legislation in South Sudan, which contains provisions on tendering, contracting and reporting, including of revenue flows, that form a basis for significantly improved transparency and accountability in the sector.

Asked by Baroness Cox  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any contingency plans to assist with the provision of humanitarian aid to displaced peoples in South Kordofan and Blue Nile State, if a political settlement is not reached as a result of the forthcoming talks between the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan.[ HL2033]

Baroness Northover: The UK has already funded £5 million for the World Food Programme to preposition and distribute food stocks to 315,000 people in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. In addition, we have contributed £1.8 million for humanitarian assistance through national NGOs in these two states. The majority of our humanitarian funding goes through the UN Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) in Sudan and we will support a co-ordinated CHF response if access were to open up. We have also allocated over £45 million to the humanitarian response in South Sudan, which includes support for refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. It remains imperative that there should be an immediate cessation of hostilities, unrestricted humanitarian access, and a political process to address the causes of the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2046.

Taxation: Income Tax 

Question

Asked by Lord Hollick  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they plan to introduce to give effect to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s commitment in the Budget Statement to deal with the unlimited use by the rich of income tax reliefs to avoid or to reduce their liability to taxation.[ HL1859]

The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon): The Government announced at Budget 2012 a proposal to introduce a limit on all previously uncapped income tax reliefs from April 2013.

A consultation document on the delivery of the relief cap has now been published and is available on the HM Treasury website at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consult_income tax_relief_cap.htm

The consultation invites comments on the implementation and delivery of the cap including, in particular, responses to: how an individual’s income will be defined and calculated for the purposes of the cap; when the cap will apply; how reliefs will be ordered; and the operation of the cap through income tax self-assessment.

Following the consultation, draft legislation will be published in the autumn.

Trees: Ivy 

Question

Asked by Lord Laird  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the threat to the growth and survival of trees in the United Kingdom by the spread of ivy of the family Araliaceae; whether they will encourage its removal; and whether they are funding any research on the impact of the spread of that ivy and of possible measures to address that spread.[ HL1931]

Lord Newby: We do not consider ivy to be a threat to our trees. Though we are aware there is a view that ivy kills trees, there is no strong scientific evidence to substantiate this. Cases where ivy has been blamed for the death of a tree have been investigated and other problems have been found to account for the tree’s decline.

Ivy is very valuable in providing roost sites and sometimes hibernation sites for birds, bats and invertebrates. It also provides valuable late nectar and berry sources and is a specialised dead wood resource in its own right. We have no plans to encourage its removal: this is a decision for individual land owners and managers. We are not currently carrying out any research into the impact and spread of ivy.

UK Border Agency 

Question

Asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass  

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what grounds they agreed the recent payment to Brodie Clark, formerly of the UK Border Agency, in a pre-tribunal settlement.[ HL1642]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): This information was provided in both the UK Border Agency and the Home Office accounts, which were laid before Parliament on 12 July 2012.

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