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Northern Ireland Tourist Board
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the incidence of absence through sickness of the staff of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board in each year since 2000.[HL6749]
| Sickness Absence Days Lost 2000-06 | |
| Financial Year | Days Lost Due to Sickness Absence |
12 July 2006 : Column WA128
Official Meetings: Prime Minister
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
On which dates since 30 September 2002 the Prime Minister has met Rupert Murdoch or Richard Desmond.[HL6761]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Information Commissioner has recently issued a decision in relation to freedom of information requests for this information. A copy of the Information Commissioner's decision notice and the Cabinet Office's disclosure in response to the decision is available in the Library for the reference of Peers.
Police: Northern Ireland
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the 2009 completion date for a new Police Service of Northern Ireland police college has been postponed; whether all consultants working on the project have had to cease their work; and what will be the cost of compensation for this delay.[HL6657]
Lord Rooker: The PSNI has completed a detailed re-scoping of the new police college project and a revised outline business case has been submitted to the department.
The Government have advised the policing board and PSNI that it will make up to £90 million available for the new college and work is ongoing to explore a number of options to take this project forward. Currently consultancy work and the commencement of the construction of the college are on hold until that work is finalised and it is too early to say when the college will be completed. There will be no compensation for this delay.
Lord Rana asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the public attendance record, they will review the role and functions of the district policing partnership boards in Northern Ireland.[HL6714]
Lord Rooker: District policing partnerships form a vital link between their local community and the PSNI and have increased the understanding of the public in policing issues. The policing Oversight Commissioner has reported that district policing partnerships are functioning as intended and therefore Government have no plans for a review of their role and functions.
Prisoners: Deportation
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether foreign criminals who have been deported on discharge from prison are banned from re-entering the United Kingdom; if so, for how long; and whether they are liable to immediate deportation, without rights of appeal, if they return illegally while under ban from re-entry.[HL5948]
12 July 2006 : Column WA129
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): A person entering or seeking to enter the United Kingdom in breach of a deportation order (DO) is an illegal entrant as defined in Section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 and so is not permitted to seek re-entry to the UK. Information on deportation orders is contained in Part 13 of the Immigration Rules (HC 395). We will seek to remove any person who enters the UK illegally while subject to a DO and the decision to remove an illegal entrant does not in itself attract an in-country right of appeal.
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the courts of the United Kingdom can recommend citizens of other European Union countries who have been convicted of an imprisonable offence for deportation; and what powers they have to deport such persons.[HL6001]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: There is nothing to prevent courts from recommending the deportation of an EEA national. EEA nationals are considered for deportation following a court recommendation or where they have been convicted of an offence and sentenced to 24 months or more imprisonment. We will shortly be setting out proposals on how the system for deporting foreign national prisoners can be improved.
Prisoners: Foreign Nationals
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many foreign nationals who have been sentenced to imprisonment in the United Kingdom are currently serving their sentences in prisons in their own countries; and what rules and arrangements determine their early release; and[HL5998]
Whether deportation of foreign nationals who have been given custodial sentences in the United Kingdom, but who have not completed those sentences, invariably involves an agreement with the Government of the country to which they are deported that they should be kept in prison in that
12 July 2006 : Column WA130
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 enables prisoners to be repatriated to continue serving their sentences in accordance with international arrangements to which the United Kingdom is a party. The United Kingdom is a party to two multi-party agreements: the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and the Commonwealth Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders. In addition, the United Kingdom has concluded bilateral prisoner transfer agreements with 19 countries. In all, the UK has a prisoner transfer arrangement with 96 countries and territories. Under each of these agreements, the release arrangements following transfer are those applicable in the state to which the prisoner has been transferred, not those of the UK. Since 1 January 2002, 392 prisoners have been transferred to other countries to continue serving their sentences. British prisoners may be deported and removed from the United Kingdom early under the early removal scheme. This scheme enables prisoners to be removed up to 135 days prior to the halfway point of their sentence.
Public Bodies: Chairmen
Lord Lee of Trafford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the salary and time requirements for all chairmen of public bodies appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.[HL6558]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The current remuneration and time commitment for the chairs of the Department for Work and Pensions’s non-departmental public bodies are set out in the table.
Questions for Written Answer: Reasonable Expense
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
How a decision is made that the cost of providing an Answer to a Question for Written Answer will be disproportionate; and what level of expenditure would prompt such a decision.[HL6669]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: Where the cost of answering a Question for Written Answer exceeds the disproportionate cost threshold—currently £600, as announced to both Houses of Parliament by Written Ministerial Statement on 22 March 2005—the Minister concerned decides whether it would be appropriate to answer the Question irrespective of its cost.
Schools: Northern Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much funding they estimate is spent in schools in Northern Ireland teaching (a) Irish, and (b) Ulster Scots languages.[HL6828]
Lord Rooker: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given on 4 July (Official Report, col. WA 40), which provides all the information that is available. It is not possible to provide information at school-level on the amount spent on individual subjects.
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