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China: Death Penalty
Lord Jones of Cheltenham asked Her Majesty's Government:
What representations have been made to the Government of China over the continuing implementation of the death penalty. [HL2678]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): We continue to urge the Chinese Government to limit, and ultimately abolish, their use of the death penalty. We did this most recently at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 5 February. My noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor also raised the death penalty with the chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on 24 October 2006.
Coast
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their timetable for consultation on, and consideration of, the proposals from Natural England for the creation of a 4,500 kilometres continuous corridor of clear and well-managed public access along the length of England's coast. [HL2665]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Government received Natural England's report on 28 February in which it recommended that the Government should introduce new legislation to enable Natural England to align a “coastal access corridor” around the whole coast that people could enjoy with confidence and certainty. We are considering Natural England's advice and intend to issue a public consultation document in the spring.
Compensation
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much the Home Office has paid out in compensation for whatever reason to (a) convicted prisoners; (b) individuals on remand; and (c) all other categories of inmate including those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the past five years. [HL1784]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The following table provides the most accurate breakdown available of compensation
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| Compensation Paid to Prisoners 2004-07 | |
| Year | Amount |
| *Up to 31 January 2007 | |
Crime: Life-shortening Medication
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the doctrine of double effect in relation to the law on homicide applies to the use by a doctor of life-shortening medication with the intention of relieving a patient's severe suffering and distress as distinct from pain.[HL2625]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The Government understand that criminal liability is sometimes analysed in terms of an application of the doctine of double effect. But they are not aware of any case law where the doctrine of double effect has been considered in relation to the particular facts described.
Whether or not such actions could amount to homicide would depend on the facts of any particular case and would include considerations of the nature of the medical treatment, the intention of the doctor and the cause of death.
Crime: Rape
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether statistics are available on the incidence during police investigations of accusations of rape being withdrawn in circumstances where admission of false allegations have been made. [HL1895]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): No statistics are collected centrally.
Diplomatic Missions: Congestion Charge
Lord Faulkner of Worcester asked Her Majesty's Government:
What further representations they have made to foreign embassies and missions in London over the non-payment of the congestion charge; and whether they will publish such correspondence.[HL2613]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to take every opportunity to remind diplomatic missions of the need to meet their obligations to comply with UK law. We wrote to the worst debtors in March and August 2006, urging them to pay. In August we also wrote to all missions that owed more than £1,000 in fines, urging them to settle their debts with Transport for London. This is standard practice in preparation for the annual Written Ministerial Statement I made on unpaid parking and minor traffic violation fines on 28 November 2006 (Official Report, cols. WS 74-76). The next Statement will issue by the end of June 2007.
We are placing copies of the text of the letters mentioned above in the Library of the House.
Egypt: Identity Cards
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Triesman on 19 February (WA 177) about Egyptian identity cards, what has been the result of their discussions with the German presidency of the European Union about the best way of making progress on this issue; and what reasons the Egyptian authorities have given for refusing to allow people belonging to religions other than Islam, Judaism and Christianity to identify themselves correctly in the space on the identity card where the holder's religion has to be stated.[HL2618]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): We have raised this issue regularly with the Egyptian Government, both bilaterally and with EU partners, and will continue to do so.
The German presidency of the EU raised concerns about this issue with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on 5 March. The Foreign Ministry told the presidency that discussions are under way with representatives of the Egyptian Bahai community to resolve the problem. The Egyptian Government have explained the current ID policy on the ground that Islam, Judaism and Christianity are the only religions officially recognised in Egypt. We will continue to pursue this.
Energy: Biofuels
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress they have made in the development of environmental and sustainability certification standards for (a) domestically produced, and (b) imported biofuels and feedstocks since the House of Lords European Union Committee issued its report on the EU Strategy on Biofuels on 20 November 2006 (47th Report, HL Paper 267).[HL2606]
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The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The environmental sustainability of production is one of the Government's key priorities for biofuel development. That is why the Government are developing carbon and sustainability reporting as an integral part of the renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO). This will require all fuel suppliers who apply for renewable transport fuel certificates to report on the greenhouse gas balance and wider environmental impacts of the biofuels supplied. Reporting will apply to all fuels whether domestically produced or imported.
The reports will include details of the previous use of the land on which the biofuel feedstocks were grown and the impacts on biodiversity of growing those feedstocks. This will encourage companies to supply biofuels that deliver the maximum greenhouse gas savings with the minimum environmental impact. It will also ensure that we can monitor the impact of both imported and domestically-sourced biofuels.
In the long term, the Government will be looking to move to a system that allows only biofuels which meet certain minimum sustainability standards to benefit from the RTFO. However, developing a verifiable and robust system that is compatible with World Trade Organisation requirements on barriers to trade will take time. The Government are currently consulting on how and when they might move to such a system as part of their wider consultation on the RTFO, copies of which are available in the House Libraries or on the Department for Transport website at www.dft.gov.uk/roads/rtfo.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Rooker:: There is currently very little processing capacity for biofuels in the UK, although more is planned. I am not aware of any organically grown crops being used for biofuels at present.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Rooker: Of the 360,000 or so hectares English farmers are obliged to set aside, some 76,000 hectares (21 per cent), have been entered into contracts under the non-food set-aside arrangements for the 2006 single payment scheme. The majority of the hectares concerned would be used for energy purposes, but the precise number could be gathered only at disproportionate cost.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the targets for United Kingdom market share of biofuels include all biofuels, irrespective of their different carbon emission mitigation benefits; and [HL2645]
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Whether they support the expansion of (a) domestic production of biofuels, and (b) importation of biofuels for use in the United Kingdom; and whether this is primarily for reasons of climate change mitigation or for reasons of energy security; and [HL2650]
What assessment they have made of the potential for emissions mitigation from transport from the use of blends of biobutanol in fuel; and [HL2709]
Whether the introduction of the renewable transport fuels obligation will be accompanied by a reduction of fiscal incentives to produce biofuels. [HL2710]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Government support biofuels primarily because of the carbon savings they can offer. Biofuels also offer a number of ancillary benefits, including contributing to the diversity and security of the UK's transport fuel supplies and creating opportunities for the rural economy.
The renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO) will, in its early years, reward all biofuels equally, irrespective of the carbon savings they offer. It will, however, include a requirement on transport fuel suppliers to report on the environmental impacts and lifecycle carbon performance of any biofuels for which they wish to claim certificates. Over time, the Government are proposing to move to a system where the RTFO rewards different biofuels according to their environmental performance. The RTFO consultation document published on 22 February, and available in the House Libraries, seeks views on this issue.
The biofuels that will be needed to meet the RTFO's targets are expected to come from a mixture of imports and domestic production. A number of UK biofuel production plants have come on stream since the announcement of the RTFO and several more are at the planning and development stage.
Fuel duty incentives are a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Chancellor announced in Budget 2006 that, over time, the Government expect that the emphasis will move from the duty incentive towards the buy-out price as the principal support mechanism for biofuels in the future.
Biobutanol has a number of potential advantages over bioethanol, including its ability to be used at up to a 10 per cent blend without any modification to existing vehicle technology. It also has a higher energy content than bioethanol, and has the potential to be more easily incorporated into the existing UK fuel supply infrastructure. The Government have not, however, carried out any detailed assessment of the extent to which biobutanol could reduce total emissions from road transport. Its total emissions benefits would, as with all biofuels, depend on the nature of the feedstock from which it was produced, as well as the energy used to cultivate, process, refine and transport it.
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Energy: Microgeneration
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to ensure that the impact of local government microgeneration targets is not diminished by proposals to improve energy efficiency in revisions to Part L of the building regulations. [HL2481]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The 2006 amendment to Part L introduced new provisions that require microgeneration and other low or zero carbon systems to be considered at the design stage. At the same time this department published a new guide for designers. This is non-prescriptive and complementary to the achievement of local government microgeneration targets. The Government have announced that the building regulations energy performance standards are to be improved over time to encourage zero carbon designs for new buildings. The links with all microgeneration initiatives are therefore set to continue.
Flags
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the remarks by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 1 March (Official Report, cols. 1747-49), by what legal instrument those wishing to fly the European Union flag after 6 April will no longer need prior permission from the local authority to do so; whether such an instrument has been sanctioned by Parliament; and, if so, how it has been sanctioned.[HL2610]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007 No.783) were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2007. They are due to come into force on 6 April 2007. The relevant provision is in Schedule 1, Class H, to the regulations.
Freedom of Information
The Duke of Montrose asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the answer by Lord Evans of Temple Guiting on 7 March (GC 46—7) in the debate on the draft Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2007, whether the voting records of individuals could be disclosed at a future date under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and, if so, at what interval after the event. [HL2587]
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Lord Evans of Temple Guiting: The record of whether an individual has voted is publicly available. The marked register of those who have voted is available for inspection at the relevant sheriff court.
The record of how an individual has voted is not publicly available, as their ballot paper is sealed up after the poll is complete, sent to the sheriff court, and may be unsealed only by order of a court, in the event of an election petition or investigation of an electoral offence.
Sheriff courts are not a Scottish public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and are not required to release information under the provisions of that Act.
The marked register and ballot papers, along with other electoral documents retained by the sheriff clerk after an election, are destroyed after a year, unless otherwise directed by an order of the Court of Session.
Government: Non-ministerial Departments
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there are any non-ministerial government departments which are governed by a board which comprises both executive and non-executive members; and, if so, whether they will list those bodies, their governing statutes and the composition of their boards. [HL2684]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Cabinet Office does not collect the information requested. Information on non-ministerial departments, including their parent departments and responsible Ministers, can be found in the List of Ministerial Responsibilities, copies of which are available in the Library for the reference of noble Lords.
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