| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
1 Mar 2007 : Column WA315
Written Answers
Thursday 1 March 2007
Airports: City of Derry
Lord Dubs asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they expect to complete the plan to lengthen the Derry City Airport runway; and when the Government of the Republic of Ireland first offered to share the cost of this project. [HL1890]
Lord Rooker: Derry City Council is undertaking safety-related improvements at City of Derry Airport, including lengthening of the runway end safety areas, to allow full use to be made of the existing runway pavement. The council no plans to lengthen the existing runway. It expects these works to be completed by the end of 2007.
In March 2005, the Government of the Republic of Ireland agreed in principle to joint funding for this project, subject to the council meeting a number of conditions. Subsequently, on 24 January 2007, the Irish Government confirmed the total amount of their contribution, which includes increased provision to meet property price inflation and additional engineering costs.
Animal Welfare: Wild Birds
Lord Dubs asked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they propose to take to safeguard the north shore of Strangford Lough for migratory birds, especially Brent geese. [HL1891]
Lord Rooker: Strangford Lough was designated as a special protection area in 1997 under the European birds directive in recognition of its international importance for both breeding seabirds and wintering waterbirds (including light-bellied Brent geese). It is also a Ramsar site (wetland of international importance) and an area of special scientific interest. All suitable land and inter-tidal areas have been included within these designations, including the north shore.
A regular programme of site monitoring assesses the effectiveness of these designations. In relation to the migratory birds (breeding seabirds and wintering waterbirds), this takes the form of targeted bird surveys at the relevant time of year.
Site designations also ensure that any proposed changes or developments within the designated site are subject to appropriate assessments to ensure that they do not have an adverse impact on the features of interest, including the internationally significant numbers of Brent geese that over-winter on the lough.
1 Mar 2007 : Column WA316
Armed Forces: Deployment
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ensure that, apart from exceptional circumstances requiring immediate action when it is proposed to commit the United Kingdom to direct participation in any war, international armed conflict or international peacekeeping activity, they will not deploy the Armed Forces without the advice and consent of each House of Parliament. [HL2068]
The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton): As I said to the House on 7 February,
- “the Government addressed this point in the House of Commons on 8 January. The position was also made clear in the Government's response to this House's Constitution Committee's report Waging War: Parliament's Role and Responsibility. The Government continue to listen to views about prerogative powers to deploy the Armed Forces and to keep their policies under review”.—[Official Report, 7/2/07, col. 705.]
“Everyone accepts that it is inconceivable in the current climate that any Government would ever go to war without first having the support of Parliament”.
There is, however, no convention about how or when that should happen and what the circumstances would be.
Autism: Middletown Initiative
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many miles from the nearest three (a) universities, and (b) teacher training colleges the proposed Middletown autism initiative is sited. [HL1753]
Lord Rooker: The Middletown Centre for Autism is located approximately 51 miles from the Queen's University Belfast, 72 miles from the University of Ulster at Coleraine and 57 miles from the University of Ulster at Jordanstown. The distance from St Mary's University College and Stranmillis University College are 49 miles and 50 miles respectively. These distances have been sourced using the AA and RAC route planners, which both gave the same distances.
Census: Religion
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ask the Office for National Statistics to consider a two-stage question on religion for the 2011 census, similar to the one used in Scotland at the 2001 census, asking, first, in what religion the respondent was brought up and, secondly, whether the respondent regards himself or herself as belonging to any particular religion, and, if so, which one. [HL2104]
1 Mar 2007 : Column WA317
Lord Davies of Oldham: The current form of the religion question that is being used for the census test, which is being carried out in five local authority areas in May, is the same as that used in the 2001 census. The wording of the question was decided after a lengthy consultation prior to the 2001 census with a wide range of interested parties and census users, including representatives of all the major faith organisations.
The question collects information on religious affiliation or identification, which is required by many users for monitoring equality. The question does not attempt to collect detailed information about the extent to which people practise their religion or the depth of their belief. This would require the inclusion of additional questions and/or explanations and therefore require the allocation of more space than is currently available on the census questionnaire. Responses to the consultation exercise carried out in 2005 in England and Wales on topics for the 2011 census indicated a strong requirement for information on religious affiliation or identification but not on religious practice or religion brought up in. Indications from the continuing consultation are that the majority of the user community is satisfied with the information collected in the 2001 census.
The Office for National Statistics is currently conducting further consultation focusing specifically on the topics of ethnicity, identity, religion and language, which will help to inform the development of questions. Details of this consultation can be found at www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/cn_155.asp.
It is apparent that demands for information from the census are greater than are likely to be able to be accommodated, and difficult trade-offs will need to be made. The current working assumption is that we will be using the same religion question in the 2011 census in England and Wales as in the 2001 census and the 2007 census test.
Final decisions on the content of the 2011 census will not be made until the programme of consultation and question testing is complete and formal approval is given by Parliament in 2010. A White Paper setting out the Government's proposals including the wording of any questions about ethnicity and identity is scheduled to be published in 2008.
Department of Health: Arm's-length Bodies
Lord Lipsey asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which bodies were considered by the Department of Health arm's-length body review; which of these bodies existed in 1997; and which of these bodies are expected to be in existence by the end of 2007. [HL1355]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The arm's-length body (ALB) review identified 38 ALBs in existence in 2003-04 as the baseline. These bodies were:
Commission for Health Improvement (CHI);
Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH);
1 Mar 2007 : Column WA318
Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals (CHRP);
Dental Vocational Training Authority (DVTA);
Family Health Services Appeal Authority (FHSAA);
General Social Care Council (GSCC);
Health Development Agency (HDA);
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA);
Health Protection Agency (HPA);
Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts (Monitor);
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA);
Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC);
National Blood Authority (NBA);
National Biological Standards Board (NBSB);
National Clinical Assessment Authority (NCAA);
National Care Standards Commission (NCSC);
NHS Appointments Commission (NHS AC);
NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (NHS CFSMS);
NHS Information Authority (NHS IA);
NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA);
NHS Modernisation Agency (NHS MA);
NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA);
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE);
National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA);
National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB);
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA);
Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS);
Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB);
Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA);
Retained Organs Commission (ROC);
Of these bodies, nine had existed in the same constituted format in 1997. These were:
Dental Vocational Training Authority (DVTA);
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA);
1 Mar 2007 : Column WA319
Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC);
National Blood Authority (NBA);
National Biological Standards Board (NBSB);
NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA);
Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS);
Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA);
Of the 38 bodies identified in the ALB review, 16 will still be in existence at the end of 2007. They are:
General Social Care Council (GSCC);
Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH);
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA);
Health Protection Agency (HPA);
Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts (Monitor);
Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC);
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA);
NHS Appointments Commission (NHS AC);
National Biological Standards Board (NBSB);
NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA);
NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA);
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE);
National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA);
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA);
Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB).
The ALB change programme is part of a wider programme to improve efficiency and cut bureaucracy in the management of the National Health Service. The objective is to reduce the burden on the front line and to free up more resources for the delivery of front-line services to patients.
The 2004 ALB review report made public commitments to restructure the department’s ALBs and set the following key deliverables:
a reduction in the number of ALBs from 38 to 20 by 2008;a 25 per cent reduction in the number of posts within the ALB sector by 2008;a redistribution to front-line services of at least £0.5 billion a year by the end of 2007-08, to be made up of £250 million savings on ALB operating costs and a further £250 million from procurement savings by the NHS PASA on behalf of NHS organisations; anda contribution of some 1,000 posts to the Lyons agenda of moving public sector jobs outside London and the greater south-east.1 Mar 2007 : Column WA320
Good progress has been make to achieve these targets:
improvements to ALB operating efficiency have helped to deliver a reduction in 2006-07 recurrent grant in aid of over £125 million compared to 2005-06, which comes on top of a reduction in 2005-06 of over £150 million compared to 2003-04;the number of ALBs has been reduced from 38 to 26 and will fall to 19 by 2008;a major work programme is under way to deliver the full range of restructurings and savings set out in the ALB review;a small permanent team, the ALB business support unit, has been established to complete the delivery of the ALB review targets and to ensure that the positive changes generated by the change programme are maintained after the ALB review.| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |