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Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which body or bodies are responsible for enforcing the rules relating to ministerial involvement in referendum campaigns during the 28 days before polling day; and what sanctions or penalties can be applied if the rules are breached. [HL66]
Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Section 125 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 establishes the rules relating to ministerial involvement in referendum campaigns. It is the responsibility of those to whom Section 125 applies to ensure that they comply with the requirements of that provision. A person alleging a breach of Section 125 could seek to bring a judicial review. It would be for the courts to decide the consequences of a breach according to the circumstances of the challenge.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the rules relating to ministerial involvement in campaigning during the 28 days before polling day will apply in any referendum on the European Union Constitution or other future referendums. [HL67]
Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The rules relating to Ministerial involvement in campaigning during the 28 days before polling day apply to any referendum held under the generic legislation, the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). Section 125 of this Act regulates the activities of Ministers in the 28 days before polling day. It is proposed that a referendum on the European Union Constitution would be held under the terms of PPERA, including Section 125. The same rules will apply to other future referendums held under PPERA.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is the case that Ministers are permitted to speak and take part in referendum campaigning so long as they make it clear that they are doing so in a personal capacity; and what measures were taken when Ministers took part in the recent referendum in the north-east to clarify that they were not taking part as a Minister of the Crown. [HL65]
The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker): It is the view of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that where Section 125 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 applies to a referendum, as in the north-east, the restrictions on publications in the final 28 days do not prevent Ministers speaking and taking part in referendum campaigning where they do so in a personal or political capacity. In addition, by virtue of the Bill of Rights, Section 125 does not restrict Ministers as to what they can say during proceedings in Parliament.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister issued guidance to all Ministers. The guidance has been made available in the Library of the House. In accordance with this guidance, Ministers made their role clear when acting or speaking in a personal or political capacity.
Building Regulations: Electrical Installations
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the implications of the Building (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1808) for professional electrical engineers, electricians and private householders undertaking their own work of electrical installation. [HL68]
Lord Rooker: The regulations introduce requirements on electrical safety in dwellings as Part P of the building regulations. They will require that from 1 January 2005 electrical installations should meet the standards in BS7671. Meeting these standards will help reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by defective installations. Almost all those in the electrical engineering contracting industry already work to the standards in BS7671.
The regulations allow private householders to continue to undertake their own work. Where they do so
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they will need to notify the local authority of work they plan to undertake; the local authority will then be responsible for inspecting and testing the work to ensure that it is safe. It will not be necessary for private householders to notify some minor less risky types of work.
NHS Continuing Care
Baroness Greengross asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many older people received National Health Service care in (a) their own homes and (b) in residential or nursing homes during the past two years; and at what cost; and [HL71]
What is their forecast of the number of older people who will be eligible for continuing National Health Service care in 2005; and what is the estimated cost. [HL72]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): In 2002–03, the number of adults receiving fully funded National Health Service continuing care was 17,019. In 2003–04, the latest figure available, the number was 19,723. No further detail is held centrally and no forecasts of future eligibility are made centrally.
Smoking in Public Places
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
What analysis of the costs to businesses they have undertaken regarding the proposed ban on smoking in enclosed public places detailed in the public health White Paper, Choosing Health; and what were the results. [HL110]
Lord Warner: A partial regulatory impact assessment has been published, which gives initial estimates of the possible costs to businesses. A copy is available in the Library.
NHS: Software Contract
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether open source software solutions for public sector information technology projects, as endorsed by the Office of Government Commerce, were considered as an alternative to the recently announced nine-year contract with Microsoft for software for the National Health Service. [HL114]
Lord Warner: The Department of Health fully supports the open source software initiative, and the National Programme for Information Technology has evaluated the suitability of a number of particular solutions for deployment in the National Health Service in England. However, these solutions were not
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considered sufficiently robust for front-line working across the NHS. An additional powerful consideration in favour of the Microsoft deal is that there is already an installed base of around 600,000 Microsoft-based computers in use in the NHS.
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
What will be the licensing costs of the recently announced nine-year contract with Microsoft for software for the National Health Service contract; and how these would compare, had an open source solution been adopted. [HL115]
Lord Warner: Details of the costs involved are subject to commercial confidentiality, but they compare favourably with any commercially-available open source solution, even without taking into account the cost that would be required to develop the open source products to the industrial strength required for front-line National Health Service use.
Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why reponsibility for combating binge drinking has been given to an alcohol industry lobby group. [HL128]
Lord Warner: Responsibility for combating binge drinking has not been given to an alcohol industry lobby group. As tasked by the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England the Government are working with the drinks industry at a national level. The voluntary social responsibility scheme for drinks producers will strongly encourage drinks companies to: pledge not to manufacture products irresponsibly; ensure that advertising does not promote or condone irresponsible or excessive drinking; put the sensible drinking message clearly on bottles alongside information about unit content; move to packaging products in safer materials; and make a financial contribution to an independent fund that pays for new schemes to address alcohol misuse.
At a local level, there will be new voluntary code of good practice scheme for retailers, pubs and clubs and off licences. This will be run in partnership with industry, police, and licensing panels, and led by the local authority. It will ensure that industry works alongside local communities on issues such as under-age drinking and making town centres safer and more welcoming at night.
In addition, the White Paper Choosing Health published on 16 November 2004 highlighted that the Government will build on commitments within the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England.
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