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30 Oct 2006 : Column WA1
Written Answers
Monday 30 October 2006
Act of Union 1707: 300th Anniversary
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Davies of Oldham: The 300th anniversary of the Act of Union between England and Scotland will be marked by a commemorative £2 coin which will be issued in 2007, as announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Parliament on Thursday 15 June 2006.
At present I am not aware of any other plans to mark the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union between England and Scotland.
Belfast Agreement
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 9 October (WA 15), what is their assessment of the Government of the Republic of Ireland's section of the Belfast agreement entitled “Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity”; and whether this section fulfils all the requirements of the agreement and in the designated timescale.[HL7827]
Lord Rooker: No assessment has been made of the steps taken by the Irish Government in accordance with the “Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity” section of the agreement other than in the paper entitled Achievements in Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement referred to in my Written Answer on 9 October. The Irish Government are accountable to the Oireachtas for the commitments they make.
British Citizenship
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will instruct the Ethnic Minorities Citizenship Unit at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong to acknowledge within two working days, and respond substantively within a time determined by published service targets to telephone calls, letters, e-mails and faxes; and whether they will publish reports on compliance with those service targets at monthly intervals.[HL7643]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): The Ethnic Minorities Citizenship Unit (EMCU) at our Consulate-General in Hong Kong deals instantly with the vast majority of telephone inquiries it receives during working hours. Inquirers who leave a voice message or those who submit an inquiry by
30 Oct 2006 : Column WA2
The table below shows the number and type of inquiries answered by the unit since its inception in February 2006.
| Month | Number of queries (By Telephone) | Number of queries (By e-mail) | Number of queries (By fax and post) |
Discrimination: Sexual Orientation
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they intend to publish the draft regulations to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in (a) the provisions of goods; (b) the provision of facilities and services; (c) in education; and (d) the exercise of public functions.[HL7766]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): We made clear earlier this month our intention to implement the sexual orientation regulations next April. We will lay the regulations before the House in good time for them to be debated and approved so that they can come into effect on this date.
Energy: Deep-mined Coal
Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many deep-mined coal mines are still in production; what are their names and in which regions they are located; and how many people are employed underground and overall in the coal industry.[HL7868]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): At 30 September 2006 there were 5,257 production people employed in the coal industry. Of these, 3,736 were employed at 14 active deep mines, including 2,846 working underground. Details of the names, locations and workforce at these mines are given in the following table.
30 Oct 2006 : Column WA3
Government Departments: Financial Reporting
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Northern Ireland Office has any arrangements to enable staff of that department to raise, in confidence, concerns about matters of financial reporting, disclosure of other information or value for money; and, if so, whether they will give details of the arrangements.[HL7656]
Lord Rooker: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has whistleblowing arrangements in place for staff to report their suspicions of wrongdoing and/or malpractice under public interest disclosure.
The NIO is an Exchequer department and all members of staff in the NIO are required to adhere to the (HCS) Civil Service Code which has procedures in place for reporting concerns to management under the NIO Grievance Procedure (extract from the Civil Service Code follows). Staff can also speak to one of the two appointed NIO independent departmental advisers available to deal with concerns from all members of staff.
Also as part of the annual fraud reporting process the NIO is asked to complete questionnaires on how it managed fraud risk in that particular year.
The Civil Service Code states:
If you believe that you are being required to act in a way which conflicts with this Code, your department or agency must consider your concern, and make sure that you are not penalised for raising it.If you have a concern, you should start by talking to your line manager or someone else in your line management chain. If, for any reason, you would find this difficult, you should raise the matter with your department's nominated officers who have been appointed to advise staff on the Code.| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |