| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Written Answers
Monday, 15 March 2004.
Belfast Agreement
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they still accept paragraph 13 of strand two of the Belfast Agreement (Cm 4705) which states that the North/South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are mutually interdependent.[HL1507]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): Yes.
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made on a charter of rights, proposed in paragraph 10 of the rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity section of the Belfast Agreement.[HL1670]
Baroness Amos: The joint committee of the Northern Ireland and Irish Human Rights Commissions issued an initial pre-consultation draft of a proposed charter of rights for the island of Ireland to a limited number of interested parties in May 2003. The pre-consultation period was extended to December 2003. The joint committee has been considering the implications of this pre-consultation for any more formal consultation exercise that may take place at a later stage.
Northern Ireland Electoral Office
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the annual budget of the Northern Ireland Electoral Office for each of the years 1995–96 to 2000–01.[HL1691]
Baroness Amos: The annual EONI budget for the years 1995–96 to 2000–01 was as follows:
| £ million | |
| 1995–96 | 1.2 |
| 1996–97 | 3.4 |
| 1997–98 | 1.2 |
| 1998–99 | 4.9 |
| 1999–2000 | 1.2 |
| 2000–01 | 1.4 |
Expenditure in 1996–97 includes £2.1 million spent in respect of the Northern Ireland elections held in May 1996. Expenditure in 1998–99 includes £3.6 million spent in respect of the Northern Ireland referendum on the Good Friday agreement held in May 1998 and the Northern Ireland Assembly elections held in June 1998. Figures for the 1997 Westminster election and 1999 European elections are not included as they are funded by HM Treasury.
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Amos: The number of full-time EONI staff for the years 1995–96 to 2000–01 was as follows:
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Amos: Investment in new equipment for the EONI and other capital investment in the years 1995–96 to 2000–01 was as follows:
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Amos: The annual EONI budget for the years 2001–02 to 2003–04 was as follows:
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Amos: The number of full-time EONI staff for the year 2001–02 to 2003–04 was as follows:
This increase in posts reflects partly an equivalent reduction in the use of part-time casual staff, plus additional staff to implement the Representation of the People Act 2000 and the Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002.
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Amos: Investment in new equipment for the EONI and other capital investment in the years 2001–02 to 2003–04 was as follows:
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Amos: The new posts created in the EONI since April 2001 are as follows:
Lord Janner of Braunstone asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith): The Metropolitan Police have not consulted the Crown Prosecution Service about the recent statements made by Abu Hamza with a view to his prosecution.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): We are not aware of any response by the Government of Sudan to the recent statement by the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in Darfur, western Sudan. We are pressing the government, and the other parties to the conflict, to declare a ceasefire preferably with international monitoring to permit humanitarian access to all those in need, and to resume talks to find a peaceful solution to Darfur's problems.
Baroness Ludford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Lester of Herne Hill: What are the reasons for the continuing delay in the repatriation of those British detainees at Guantanamo whose repatriation has been agreed by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom.[HL1767]
How many full-time members of staff were employed within the Northern Ireland Electoral Office for each of the years 1995–96 to 2000–01.[HL1692]
Number
1995–96 25
1996–97 23
1997–98 21
1998–99 21
1999–00 21
2000–01 25
How much investment they have made in new equipment and other capital expenditure to improve the efficiency of the electoral process in Northern Ireland in each of the years 1995–96 to 2000–01.[HL1693]
£'000
1995–96 15.7
1996–97 118.0
1997–98 21.8
1998–99 21.0
1999–00 18.9
2000–01 83.4
What was the annual budget of the Northern Ireland Electoral Office for each of the years 2001–02 to 2003–04.[HL1694]
£ million
2001–02 2.5
2002–03 5.5
2003–04 7.6
Expenditure in 2002–03 and 2003–04 includes that spent on the development, production and distribution of the new electoral identity card. Expenditure in 2003–04 includes a projected spend of £3 million in respect of the Northern Ireland Assembly election in November 2003 and adjustments arising from new resource accounting procedures.
How many full-time members of staff were employed within the Northern Ireland Electoral Office for each of the years 2001–02 to 2003–04.[HL1695]
Number
2001–02 29
2002–03 38
2003–04 45
How much investment they have made in new equipment or other capital expenditure to improve the efficiency of the electoral process in Northern Ireland in each of the years 2001–02 to 2003–04.[HL1696]
Year
2001–02 £70,000
2002–03 £1.52 million
2003–04 £154,000
The large capital expenditure in 2002–03 was due to the purchase of a new computer system to implement the Representation of the People Act 2000 and the Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002.
How many new posts have been created in the Northern Ireland Electoral Office since April 2001; at what level and grade; and what specific functions do they fulfil.[HL1759]
One assistant chief electoral officer at grade 7 equivalent. 1
One operations manager at deputy principal equivalent. 1
One head of office services at staff officer equivalent. 1
One human resources officer at executive officer grade equivalent. 1
15 Mar 2004 : Column WA4
One IT support officer at executive officer grade equivalent. 1
One information assistant at administrative officer equivalent. 2
One IT assistant at administrative officer equivalent. 2
Three administrative officers for general clerical duties across the nine area electoral offices. 2
One administrative assistant for general clerical duties in headquarters. 2
Twelve registration assistants across the nine area electoral offices. 3
The increase in posts reflects a broadly equivalent reduction in the use of part-time casual staff, plus the recruitment of three specialists in the IT and HR disciplines.
1 Offset against the surrender of three deputy electoral officer posts at deputy principal equivalent.
2 Temporary posts for 18 months to two years.
3 Nine of the 12 are temporary posts for 18 months.
Whether the Crown Prosecution Service has discussed with the Metropolitan Police the recent statements made by Abu Hamza with a view to his prosecution under the appropriate legislation.[HL1923]
What information they have about the response of the government of Sudan to the request by the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights for it to extend an open invitation to the fact-finding and investigate mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights to visit Sudan.[HL1438]
When the five British detainees in Guantanamo Bay, whose prospective release has been announced, will return to the United Kingdom.[HL1614]
Next Section
Back to Table of Contents
Lords Hansard Home Page