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The Government are committed to enabling all pupils, regardless of their background, to achieve
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The Government have developed a national programme which supports local authorities and schools to meet the needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children. This programme, launched in September 2006, works with parents to boost attendance, using e-learning and mobility projects to help pupils whose schooling is interrupted. The programme will be extended to involve more secondary schools, and to increase the number of local authorities. The Government would also support proposals for a Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history month in June 2008 to raise awareness.
Health: Contaminated Blood Products
Lord Jenkin of Roding asked Her Majesty’s Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 23 October, how they reconcile its claim that “no criticism of the Archer inquiry team was intended” with the assertion in the Department of Health’s letter of 14 August, prepared “using information supplied by the department’s blood policy team”, to Mrs Harriet Bullock of Southwold, Suffolk, the widow of a haemophilia patient infected with contaminated National Health Service blood products, that Lord Archer of Sandwell’s inquiry “ignored the department’s offer of a meeting with the inquiry”; on what date the department’s head of blood policy first saw the letter of 14 August; under whose supervision it was written and sent; and in how many other letters the same information was used. [HL36]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): As I said in my earlier reply of 23 October, I am very sorry that the department’s letter of 14 August to Mrs Bullock was open to misinterpretation, and an apology has been sent to Mrs Bullock, copied to the Archer inquiry team. However, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, I can assure the noble Lord that at no time did anyone in the department claim that Lord Archer of Sandwell had “ignored the department’s offer of a meeting with the inquiry”.
The letter of 14 August was prepared by the department’s customer service centre, using information supplied by the blood policy team. The letter of 14 August stated:
“Department of Health officials met with members of the inquiry team on 25 April to discuss how the Department may assist. In the months since April, the Department has suggested further meetings with the inquiry team, but as yet Lord Archer’s team has not arranged to meet again”.
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This was intended to convey that the department remained ready to meet Lord Archer’s team and I am sorry if any other interpretation was possible.
Mrs Bullock replied to the department on 24 August. Mrs Bullock’s letter alerted us to the possibility that our own letter may be capable of different interpretations, as Mrs Bullock’s letter of 24 August stated:
“You have written that for five months the Dep. of Health has, ‘suggested further meetings with the enquiry team’, but that these requests have been ignored or refused by Lord Archer’s team”.
Mrs Bullock requested information about contacts between the department and Lord Archer’s inquiry team and her request was brought to the attention of the blood policy team. A reply to Mrs Bullock, copied to the Archer inquiry team, was sent from a freedom of information officer in the department on 17 September and stated:
“Thank you for your further letter of 22 August requesting information on the dates the Department wrote to Lord Archer’s inquiry team suggesting a meeting. We are treating your letter as a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Your letter has been passed to me for reply.
I am sorry if our reply of 14 August to your letter of 9 July to Alan Johnson was misleading in this respect. For your information, I attach two e-mails between the inquiry team and the Department suggesting a meeting once the inquiry team has had an opportunity to hear all the evidence and review relevant documentation which we are making available. No criticism of the inquiry team was intended and I apologise for the unfortunate wording of the previous letter.
As you know, officials met with the inquiry team on 25 April. We appreciate that the inquiry team is currently occupied in hearing evidence, and will no doubt contact the Department once it has completed this process”.
During the time that this further reply was in preparation, the department’s head of blood policy received a letter from Lord Archer of 4 September, stating that his attention had been called to the department’s first reply to Mrs Bullock of 14 August and that he was concerned that the letter could be taken to imply that requests for a meeting had been ignored by the inquiry team. He asked that the department take steps to avoid repeating any misconception in future correspondence.
The head of blood policy immediately spoke to Lord Archer to apologise for any misunderstanding. When a reply had been sent to Mrs Bullock, the head of blood policy contacted Lord Archer on 18 September to repeat his apology in the following terms:
“The department’s initial response to Mrs Bullock was written by our customer service centre and they have written again to Mrs Bullock apologising for the misleading impression they gave that your inquiry team had ignored our offer of a further meeting. I apologise that the erroneous impression was given, in the original letter, that your team had ignored our offer: this is not the case and I too was concerned when I saw the initial reply to Mrs Bullock”.
The department has now met the inquiry team again, on 19 September. The department has also copied to the inquiry team, in stages from June to October, several thousand official documents identified in the Review of Documentation relating to the Safety of Blood and Blood Products (1970-1985), which was issued in May 2007. I can therefore assure the noble Lord that our officials are co-operating fully with the inquiry team.
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Officials have traced 11 pieces of correspondence in July and August that used the same information. These were received and replied to before we were aware of any possible misunderstanding from the wording used. A follow-up letter has been sent to clarify our position and prevent any further misunderstanding.
Health: Pregnant Women
Baroness Cumberlege asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What plans they have for screening pregnant women who are infected with Group B streptococcus; whether a meeting is planned to discuss this; and, if so, when this will take place and who will be involved. [HL775]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): Current policy, on advice from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, is not to offer routine screening for Group B streptococcus carriage to all pregnant women, because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that this would be beneficial.
The UK NSC is planning to hold a workshop during the spring of 2008 to consider the implications of the most recent research evidence on preventing Group B streptococcal infections in infancy. The widest possible stakeholder representation will be sought.
House of Lords: Energy Requirements
Lord Hunt of Chesterton asked the Chairman of Committees:
What steps he will take to minimise the peak and average energy requirements of the House of Lords areas within the Parliamentary Estate while continuing to allow the House to work efficiently; and whether, in particular, he will carry out a re-examination of (a) the buildings in those areas; (b) the heating and cooling systems; and (c) the daily customs of the House of Lords, including consideration of a relaxation of its dress code in extreme hot or cold weather conditions. [HL992]
The Chairman of Committees (Lord Brabazon of Tara): There is ongoing work to minimise the peak and average energy requirements of the House of Lords areas within the Parliamentary Estate while continuing to allow the House to work efficiently. Much work is undertaken during routine maintenance, especially to replace older-style lamps with modern low-energy lamps as carried out in the Lords Chamber during 2006. Major items of equipment, when near to the end of their lives, are always replaced with more efficient models, as was the case during replacement of the main heating boilers in the Palace in 2004.
The control of heating and cooling systems in all buildings on the Parliamentary Estate is monitored by
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Further energy and water conservation projects planned for 2008-09 include possible installation of lighting controls, low-energy lighting, window and door draught proofing, voltage optimisation and kitchen ventilation controls.
The Building Management System aims to maintain internal conditions at a level that provides comfortable working conditions for occupants and which does not necessitate variations from the dress code.
Housing: Flood Plains
Lord Christopher asked Her Majesty’s Government:
Whether they have any plans to build more houses on flood plains; what consideration has been given to methods of raising these proposed houses above potential future flood levels; and what has been learnt from experience in the Netherlands. [HL498]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The Government’s policy, set out in planning policy statement 25 (PPS25), Development and Flood Risk, is that development should be located away from flood risk whenever possible. However, it is not always possible to find a location at low flood risk. Where the sequential test shows that there are no available sites at lower risk of flooding and the need for new homes outweighs the flood risk, PPS25 imposes an exception test to ensure that those that have to be built in higher-risk areas are safe and less susceptible to flood damage.
PPS25 imposes new requirements to ensure that those homes that have to be built in higher-risk areas are safe and less susceptible to flood damage. In these circumstances, the raising of new houses above likely future flood levels may be a way of making them safe from and resilient to flooding, as I understand is done in the Netherlands, provided that the occupants have safe access, services such as power, water and sewerage can continue to be provided and the development does not increase flood risk elsewhere.
Lord Rotherwick asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What assessment they have made of the impact of regeneration of inner-city and urban areas on the requirement for construction on areas designated as at high risk of flooding. [HL507]
Baroness Andrews: Planning policy statement 25 (PPS25) on development and flood risk aims to locate development away from flood risk whenever possible
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Housing: Thames Gateway
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty’s Government:
How many of the 160,000 homes being built in the London Thames Gateway development will be funded under the National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP); and under which NAHP bidding round these homes have come. [HL855]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): How many of the planned 160,000 homes will be funded through the NAHP 2008-11 will ultimately depend on bids for grant for schemes that both are deliverable and match regional investment priorities and efficiency targets—there is not a separate NAHP investment target within the Gateway. However, the delivery plan for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11 shows an estimated range of Housing Corporation investment of between £590 million and £850 million in the Thames Gateway, delivering between 11,500 and 14,300 new affordable homes. The programme from 2011-12 will be decided following the next Comprehensive Spending Review. Over the period to 2016, between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of the Gateway’s new homes will be affordable, funded from a combination of Section 106 planning obligations and programmed government investment.
Local Government: Unitary Councils
Baroness Scott of Needham Market asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Department for Communities and Local Government deviated from the original timetable that set out the process for creating new unitary authorities and inserted an extra stage requesting additional financial information. [HL595]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The invitation to councils did not exclude the Secretary of State from seeking further information before taking her statutory decisions under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. In taking her decision on 25 July on which of the unitary proposals she was minded to implement, the Secretary of State recognised on the
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Parliamentary Ombudsman
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty’s Government:
Whether a person who has no Member of Parliament representing him because he is resident outside the United Kingdom can have a complaint about unfair action or poor service by a United Kingdom government department referred to the Parliamentary Ombudsman; and, if so, by what means. [HL649]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Complainants are able to approach any Member of Parliament to request them to submit a complaint to the parliamentary commissioner for administration (Parliamentary Ombudsman), regardless of where they are resident. However, whether the ombudsman is able to consider any complaint is dependent on the provisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967.
Police: National Computer
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What links exist between the computer records of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and the police national computer. [HL522]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has created a new link to provide regular information to the police by electronic transmission. After a period of testing, the present arrangements, involving the transfer of tapes by secure courier, will cease early in the new year.
Prisons: Northern Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty’s Government:
Lord Rooker: The Prison Service currently projects a total prisoner population of around 1,697 by the end of 2010.
Quangos
Lord Steinberg asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the number of quangos in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland has reduced in number in the past 10 years; and, if so, what reduction has taken place in each geographical area; and [HL676]
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How many quangos there are in England; and what are the costs of these quangos individually and in total. [HL677]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The total number of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) sponsored by the UK Government has fallen from 861 in 1997 to 835 in 2006.
Information on the number and expenditure of all NDPBs sponsored by the UK Government is published annually by the Cabinet Office. Information covering the period 1997-06 appears in the Cabinet Office Public Bodies publications and can be downloaded from the Civil Service website at www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/public/bodies.asp. Departments are in the process of collating information for 2007 and a summary will be published by the Cabinet Office in due course.
Information on public bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved Administrations.
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