| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
The following table details the number of defendants who had an arrest or bench warrant issued against them in 2007.
| Number of defendants who had an arrest or bench warrant issued in 2007 | |
Crime: Prevention
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
To what extent reformed offenders are being used in crime prevention and offender rehabilitation programmes; whether they approve of this approach, particularly for offenders under 25; and in what ways they may be able to use it more widely. [HL1642]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Ex-offenders have an important role to play in the work to rehabilitate offenders. The role of mentoring is seen by the Prime Minister as a key intervention for changing behaviour. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has received Russell Commission funding from the Office of the Third Sector to run four mentoring projects for young adult offenders aged 18 to 25 years. The mentors will be in the same age group, and, where possible, will include ex young adult offenders.
NOMS has an ex-offender on its Offender Management Programme Board and offenders are used in a range of activities in prison and the community such as advisers, counsellors and mentors.
Cyprus
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the United Kingdom, as a guarantor power under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, supports President Talat of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in his offer of 5 September 2007 to resume full negotiations aimed at finding a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus. [HL1666]
6 Feb 2008 : Column WA184
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): We continue to urge all parties to start negotiations, based on the 8 July agreement, as soon as possible. Time is not on the side of a settlement. For this reason, it is crucial that no preconditions are placed on a return to negotiations and that every party to the Cyprus problem is focused on the objective of making decisive progress.
Eggs
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will review their decision to ban conventional cage egg units in England in 2012 if other European Union countries delay introducing a similar ban; and [HL1633]
What plans they have for English cage egg producers if a ban on cage egg units is not introduced in Scotland and Wales. [HL1634]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Government are still committed to the 2012 deadline for an EU-wide ban on the use of conventional cages for laying hens. We welcome the European Commission's recommendation, in the recently published report on the welfare of laying hens in various production systems, to maintain that deadline. The report says there is no need to prepare any proposals to amend the existing directive on the welfare of laying hens, so any speculation on what would happen if there were changes to European Union law is entirely hypothetical.
Embryology
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answers by Lord Triesman on 12 December 2007 (WA 58) and by Lord Darzi of Denham on 10 January (WA 217), what are the realistic outcomes of research involving nuclear transfer; and whether the same objectives might be achieved more readily by other means. [HL1461]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The Government are committed to all avenues of research which have the potential to lead to treatments and cures for serious diseases and medical conditions. Cell nuclear replacement for the creation of embryos (therapeutic cloning) is one avenue of embryo research which it is hoped will lead to stem cell therapies, and to a better understanding of disease.
New research, involving the reprogramming of human somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells also offers hope of cell-based therapies and disease models. This technology, however, is in its infancy and significantly more data would be needed before any conclusions could be drawn about its effectiveness.
6 Feb 2008 : Column WA185
Energy: Bills
Lord Teverson asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make it compulsory for monthly energy bills to be accurate and contain timely information on energy usage, as proposed in the energy White Paper. [HL1660]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): In the energy White Paper, the Government proposed that gas and electricity suppliers should provide information about historical consumption on bills. They consulted on a draft statutory instrument setting out this requirement in August 2007, as part of their wider consultation on metering and billing. It will set out its next steps shortly. The Government have not proposed that customers should receive monthly bills.
Energy: Fuel Poverty
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many households in the United Kingdom are in fuel poverty; what proportion of those are in rural areas; how many of those in rural areas are unable to access pipeline gas; and how the number of households in fuel poverty has changed over the past 10 years. [HL1635]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): The most recent figures for the UK show that there were approximately 2.5 million households living in fuel poverty in 2005.
A detailed breakdown of the fuel poverty figures for England is available in the “Fuel Poverty 2005—Detailed Tables” at www.berr.gov.uk/files/file42705.pdf. This shows that of the 1.5 million fuel poor households in England, approximately 434,000 (29 per cent) live in rural areas. From the data source used to calculate fuel poverty numbers, the English House Condition Survey (EHCS), it is not possible to identify households that have no access to pipeline gas; however it is possible to identify those that are not on the gas network, either out of choice or because it is not available to them. Around 270,000 of the rural fuel poor households were not on the gas network in 2005.
The table below shows estimates for the number of households in fuel poverty since 1996.
| Level of fuel poverty—total in millions of households | |||||||
| Year | 1996 | 1998 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
6 Feb 2008 : Column WA186
Energy: Renewables
Lord Vinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answers by Lord Jones of Birmingham on 3 December 2007 (WA 161) and 12 December 2007 (WA 60—1), whether they will amend the original regulatory impact assessments to provide a new assessment of the likely cost to consumers of expanding the grid network to accommodate power flows from renewable generators brought into being under the renewables obligation. [HL1390]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): Work is under way to determine the costs of expanding the grid network to accommodate new renewables generation brought forward by the renewables obligation, as well as to look at the potential costs of new renewables generation to meet the EU 2020 target.
We will include the costs associated with the renewables obligation in the Impact Assessment of the Banding of the Renewables Obligation which will be published alongside the draft Renewables Obligation Order 2009.
Energy: Smart Meters
Lord Teverson asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they intend to make it a requirement for smart meters to be in all homes by 2017, as outlined in the energy White Paper; and how they will go about this. [HL1661]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): In the energy White Paper, the Government set out their expectation that all homes would have smart meters within 10 years. In August 2007, as part of its consultation on metering and billing, it sought detailed views about the range of issues surrounding smart metering. It will set out its views on next steps shortly.
EU: Galileo Project
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the remarks by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 17 January (Official Report, cols. 1416—9), how the estimate of the Galileo project's contribution to the United Kingdom economy of £14 billion by 2025 was made. [HL1600]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The figures were calculated by ESYS Consulting Ltd in an independent study for the Department for Transport and the British National Space Centre, assessing the likely
6 Feb 2008 : Column WA187
The full report is available from the Department for Transport website at www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/science research/technology/downstreamstudy.pdf.
EU: Ioannina Compromise
Baroness Quin asked Her Majesty's Government:
For each year since 1994, how many times the Ioannina compromise has been invoked in decisions of the European Union Council of Ministers; and on how many such occasions the United Kingdom Government was (a) in the majority, and (b) in the minority. [HL1467]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): We have identified two occasions on which the Ioannina compromise has been invoked in the council:
at the Agriculture Council on 24 and 25 October 1995, on the issue of national aids to farmers—on that occasion, the UK, Sweden and Italy were in the minority; andat the Telecommunications Council on 18 December 1996, on the issue of postal liberalisation—on that occasion, the UK, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Denmark were in the minority.The Ioannina compromise has also been used in informal negotiations on other occasions but, since the results of these negotiations are not recorded in the formal council record, it is not possible to provide figures.
Gershon Review: DfT
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
In the case of the Department for Transport, how many (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies have been taken to date as a result of the Gershon review; what is the total departmental bill for each type of redundancy; and what is the natural wastage during the Gershon period to date for the department. [HL991]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Department for Transport and its agencies had no compulsory or voluntary redundancies since April 2004 when Gershon targets were set. It has, however, facilitated headcount reductions by undertaking voluntary early staff exit schemes, including early retirements.
Gershon targets apply only to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Central Department (DfT(C)). Since April 2004, 399 staff have left though voluntary early staff exit schemes in DVLA and DfT(C) at a cost of £38.08 million. These
6 Feb 2008 : Column WA188
Government: Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What appointments the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland had during December 2007 in Northern Ireland. [HL1263]
Lord Rooker: The disclosure of some of the information requested, including details of internal or interdepartmental meetings with ministers or officials, would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs.
The information that can be disclosed is set out in the following table. In addition to those functions listed, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with political parties, local politicians, the Minister of State, internal and external stakeholders and his officials.
| Week Beginning | Engagement |
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |