To ask Her Majesty's Government from whom HM Treasury seeks specialist advice on banking issues when negotiating rescue packages for banks. [HL1834]

To ask Her Majesty's Government from whom HM Treasury seeks specialist advice on pension issues in the banking sector. [HL1835]

As the Memorandum of Understanding between HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the FSA sets out, the tripartite authorities have regular meetings and discussions to work together towards the common objective of financial stability in the UK.

In addition, the Treasury takes advice from a range of sources, including other government departments as relevant, both government and commercial lawyers on legal issues, and external accountancy and investment banking advisers as appropriate.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answer by Lord Myners on 10 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 1009–1011), when he expects the required decisions to be made on the issue of bonuses in the banking sector. [HL1502]

UK Financial Investments (UKFI) manages the Government's shareholdings in the recapitalised banks. UKFI has a role in scrutinising banks' compliance with the recapitalisation conditions and also in scrutinising remuneration policies, to protect the interests of the taxpayer as a major shareholder.

On 17 February 2009 an announcement was made in respect of the pay and rewards settlement for the Royal Bank of Scotland. On 9 March 2009 an announcement was made in respect of Lloyds Banking Group.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (a) Mr Eric Daniels, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group plc, and (b) Sir Victor Blank, chairman, are domiciled in the United Kingdom for tax purposes. [HL2046]

I am unable to disclose information on the tax status of these individuals as HMRC has a statutory obligation not to disclose the affairs of taxpayers.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has been taken up by banks under the loan guarantee scheme to date. [HL1476]

On 8 October 2008, the Government announced, as part of a comprehensive package of measures, the credit guarantee scheme. The scheme took effect on 13 October and assists eligible institutions in refinancing maturing wholesale funding. Banks have drawn down some £100 billion of guarantees.

The enterprise finance guarantee was launched on 14 January 2008 to ensure that viable businesses can continue to access the finance they need through their lenders. As of 20 February 2008 some 400 loans with a value of over £40 million have been offered and are being processed.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 5 March (WA 173) concerning relationships on the island of Ireland, whether the Belfast agreement places the same importance on equality in the Republic of Ireland as in Northern Ireland. [HL2015]

The Belfast agreement relates primarily to Northern Ireland and its relationships with the other constituent parts of the United Kingdom and on the island of Ireland—the so called “East-West” and “North-South” relationships referred to in the chapters of the agreement entitled Strands 3 and 2 respectively.

As made clear in the Declaration of Support at the beginning of the agreement, both the United Kingdom and Irish Governments are committed to equality—as well as partnership and mutual respect—as the basis of relationships within Northern Ireland, between north and south, and between these islands. The agreement also set out, in the chapter entitled “Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity”, a number of steps that would be taken by the Irish Government including the introduction of equal status legislation, the implementation of enhanced employment equality legislation and the continuation of steps to demonstrate respect for the different traditions in the island of Ireland.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 4 March (WA 152–53) concerning the payment of compensation and costs in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation, whether they have made any assessment of (a) the payment of £4,484 in costs to solicitors representing two claimants, each awarded under 50p compensation; (b) the payment of £51,566 in costs to solicitors representing 23 claimants, each awarded between 51p and £1 compensation; (c) the payment of £569,468 in costs to solicitors representing 254 claimants, each awarded under £5 compensation; (d) the payment of £9,290,848 in costs to solicitors representing 4,144 claimants, each awarded under £50 compensation; and (e) the payment of £100,226,368 in costs to solicitors representing 44,704 claimants, each awarded under £500 compensation; and, if so, what were their findings and whether there are any lessons to be learned. [HL2094]

The department has not made any such assessments. However, the department has accepted the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee's conclusions that its initial negotiations with solicitors has led to significant costs. Lessons learnt from this would be applied in the event we find ourselves in a similar position in the future.

Under the coal health compensation schemes, solicitors are paid for their work according to an agreed tariff. The number of claims each solicitor handles is outside the department's control as each claimant chooses their representative. The department negotiated the tariff for the work required to progress claims based on the anticipated volume of claims at the time and the processes involved in handling the claims. The work undertaken by solicitors is similar regardless of the level of compensation that falls due to the claimant.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 4 March (WA 152–53) concerning the payment of compensation and costs in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation, how many claimants were awarded compensation of under £2,242. [HL2095]

The total number of claims received under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease scheme was 592,000. Of these 287,055 claimants were awarded compensation under £2,242 in full and final settlement as at 8 March 2009.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 4 March (WA 153–54) concerning the payment of compensation and costs in the British Coal vibration white finger litigation, whether they have made any assessment of (a) the payment of £671,558 in costs to solicitors representing 479 claimants, each awarded under £500 compensation; and (b) the payment of £5,201,420 in costs to solicitors representing 3,710 claimants, each awarded under £750 compensation; and, if so, what were their findings and whether there are any lessons to be learned. [HL2096]

The department has not made any such assessments. However, the department has accepted the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee's conclusions that its initial negotiations with solicitors has led to significant costs. Lessons learnt from this would be applied in the event we find ourselves in a similar position in the future.

Under the coal health compensation schemes solicitors are paid for their work according to an agreed tariff. The number of claims each solicitor handles is outside the department's control as each claimant chooses their representative. The department negotiated the tariff for the work required to progress claims based on the anticipated volume of claims at the time and the processes involved in handling the claims. The work undertaken by solicitors is similar regardless of the level of compensation that falls due to the claimant.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 4 March (WA 153–54) concerning the payment of compensation and costs in the British Coal vibration white finger litigation, how many claimants were awarded compensation of under £1,402. [HL2097]

The total number of claims received under vibration white finger scheme was 170,000. Of these 5,069 claimants were awarded compensation under £1,402 in full and final settlement as at 8 March 2009.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many claimants in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation died after registering their claims but before receiving their final award of compensation. [HL2098]

The total number of claims received under chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) scheme was 592,000. Of these 21,658 claimants died before receiving their full and final compensation as at 8 March 2009.

A further 1,752 claims are yet to be settled where the claimant has died since registering their claim. The COPD scheme is due to be substantially completed on 30 November 2009, and the department expects any residual claims to reach settlement during 2010.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many claimants in the British Coal vibration white finger litigation died after registering their claims but before receiving their final award of compensation. [HL2099]

The total number of claims received under the vibration white finger is 170,000. Of these 5,768 claimants died before receiving their full and final compensation as at 8 March 2009.

A further 25 claims are yet to be settled where the claimant has died since registering their claim. However, the VWF scheme is due to be substantially completed by May 2009.

To ask Her Majesty's Government in respect of the decision by the UK Border Agency to fingerprint children from the age of six, what studies and trials they have conducted on the feasibility and effectiveness of fingerprinting children; whether these studies have been conducted over time to monitor the effect of changes in fingerprints as children grow; and whether issues have been identified concerning the cooperation of children with the process. [HL1580]

The requirement for fingerprints to be taken from the age of six comes from EU Regulation 380/2008. The requirement for this age group to give their fingerprints is applied across the whole of the EU.

The UKBA has many years of experience of taking fingerprints from children aged five and upwards, effectively and without difficulty, and the benefits have been wide ranging from helping to abate child trafficking to being able to reduce the number of fraudulent claims made for public funds.

As children grow, although the size of the area of the fingerprint will grow with age, the actual characteristics (and pattern) that make the fingerprint unique to the child and are used as a part of the identification process remain constant throughout life and do not change or alter with age. If superficial damage occurs the skin will grow back in exactly the same arrangement as at birth.

No issues have been identified concerning the co-operation of children with the process of fingerprinting. Many of the children will have already have given their fingerprints and photographs on earlier occasions in connection with a visa application for the UK or other countries. When evaluating the pilot scheme for the identity cards for foreign nationals, children followed the same quick, easy and clean (ink-free) process that they saw their parents follow and there was no evidence to suggest that children were adversely affected by the process.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidelines they have published regarding the use of social networking websites by children under 16 years of age. [HL2019]

The Home Secretary's Taskforce on Child Protection on the Internet produced good practice guidance for the providers of social networking and other user interactive services. This guidance was launched in April 2008.

The guidance was produced to provide good practice recommendations for the providers of social networking and other user interactive sites to enhance safety of children and young people (aged under 18) using their services.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the stable or declining global average temperatures since 2001; and how these will inform their policy on climate change mitigation. [HL2104

The short-term decrease in global average temperature that occurred between 2001 and 2008 resulted from natural, internal processes in the climate system. These cause temperatures to fluctuate from year to year and from decade to decade. Temperatures were lower in 2007 and 2008 than in previous years, for example, due to a La Nina event in the Pacific Ocean, which caused cold water at depth to rise to the surface. Over short periods, this natural variability is larger than the changes expected due to global warming, so it can easily result in the temperature trend being constant or negative over a period of a decade or so, as has happened on occasion during the 20th century.

The effect of greenhouse gases on the climate system is evident in the long-term temperature trend, which is upward (as demonstrated by the fact that the 10 warmest years on record have all occurred in the past 12 years). As long as greenhouse gas emissions continue, global average temperatures will continue to rise in the long-term, with potentially dramatic implications for food and water supplies, human health, national security and the global economy. For this reason, the slight decline in global average temperature since 2001 will not affect the UK Government's policy on climate change mitigation. Rather, this policy will continue to be based on the latest scientific evidence regarding the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate system.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent on entertainment for Co-operation Ireland in each year since 1997. [HL2088]

The Northern Ireland Office (excluding agencies and Executive NDPBs) spent £5,736.35 in November 2008 for an event relating to Co-operation Ireland which has been referred to in previous Answers. There are no records of any other expenditure on hospitality for Co-operation Ireland since 1997.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average payment to (a) solicitors, and (b) barristers, in criminal cases in Northern Ireland in the past three years; and what are the figures for England and Wales. [HL2003]

The average bills paid to solicitors and counsel in Crown Court cases in Northern Ireland for the past three years was as follows:

This means that typically the average defence cost for a Crown Court case in Northern Ireland in 2007-08 would be between £9,015 and £13,887 depending on the number of legal representatives assigned to the defendant.

In England and Wales—the value of the average payment to individual solicitor firms and barristers in Crown Court cases during each of the past three years was as follows^*:

* Individual barristers and solicitor firms can receive more than one payment for work carried out on a case.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Northern Ireland criminal cases involve a higher number of legal representatives than criminal cases in England and Wales; if so, what are the numeric differences; and what are the rules that apply to the number of legal representatives permitted and paid for under legal aid in the two jurisdictions. [HL2002]

A review of cases commenced in the Crown Court in Northern Ireland in 2008 suggests that of those defendants in receipt of legal aid 36 per cent were represented by a solicitor, junior and senior counsel. All other defendants in receipt of legal aid were represented by a solicitor and a junior counsel.

In Northern Ireland the statutory merits test for granting criminal legal aid is whether it is in the interests of justice that the defendant should receive free legal aid. It is the responsibility of the district judge (magistrates' courts) to decide whether to grant a legal aid certificate for one or two counsel in any case.

In the Crown Court in England and Wales defendants are represented by more than one counsel in approximately 2 per cent of cases.

The interest of justice test is also applied in England and Wales. In addition, the Criminal Defence Service (General) (No. 2) Regulations 2001 set out the circumstances in which more than one advocate may be allowed in criminal proceedings in England and Wales.

A representation order for two junior counsel in proceedings in the Crown Court in England and Wales may be made only where:

in the opinion of the court the case for the assisted person involves substantial novel or complex issues of law or fact which could not be adequately presented by a single advocate; and

either:

two or more advocates have been instructed on behalf of the prosecution;

the case for the assisted person is exceptional compared with the generality of cases involving similar offences;

the number of prosecution witnesses exceeds 80; or

the number of pages of prosecution evidence exceeds 1,000.

A representation order for a QC and junior counsel in proceedings in the Crown Court in England and Wales may be made only where:

in the opinion of the court the case for the assisted person involves substantial novel or complex issues of law or fact which could not be adequately presented except by a Queen's Counsel assisted by junior counsel; and

either:

the case for the assisted person is exceptional compared with the generality of cases involving similar offences; or

a Queen's Counsel or senior Treasury counsel has been instructed on behalf of the prosecution; and

two or more advocates have been instructed on behalf of the prosecution; or the number of prosecution witnesses exceeds 80; or the number of pages of prosecution evidence exceeds 1,000.

A representation order may be made for three counsel only where the proceedings arise from a prosecution brought by the Serious Fraud Office and the court considers that three advocates are required.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the forthcoming White Paper on aid and development will address the causes of conflict in some countries. [HL1959]

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the forthcoming White Paper on aid and development will address the interdependence in economic, environmental and security matters of the United Kingdom and many developing countries. [HL1960]

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the forthcoming White Paper on aid and development will cover multilateralism. [HL1961]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they ensure the effectiveness of their aid and development work in fragile and conflict-affected countries; and whether that issue will be covered in the forthcoming White Paper on aid and development. [HL1969]

The public consultation document for the forthcoming White Paper on international development sets out a range of issues that the Government are seeking to consider. These include; the causes of conflict, fragile states, multilateralism, and interdependence in economic, environmental and security matters.

This document is available on the Department for International Development's (DfID) website at http://consultation.dfid.gov.uk/

I refer my noble friend to the Answer given to HL PQ 1971 for information on how DfID ensures the effectiveness of its aid in fragile and conflict-affected countries.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they assess the effectiveness of aid and development work undertaken on issues concerning fragile and conflict-affected countries. [HL1971]

The Department for International Development (DfID) currently assesses programme performance in fragile and conflict-affected countries in the same way as it does in other countries and recent reviews have shown that programme performance levels are roughly the same in these countries as in others.

DfID is, however, also currently working with other international partners at the OECD-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to begin two new processes for monitoring performance in fragile and conflict-affected countries agreed at the Accra conference last year. The first is monitoring of the implementation of the OECD-DAC principles for good engagement in situations of fragility. This will allow us to ensure implementation of aid effectiveness principles in fragile and conflict-affected countries. Country partners taking part this year include Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We are also supporting the international dialogue on peacebuilding and statebuilding to develop peacebuilding and statebuilding objectives that will guide development assistance in fragile and conflict-affected countries and allow better performance assessment. We intend to finalise and publish a thematic evaluation of DfID's work in fragile states later this year.

The forthcoming White Paper on international development is likely to consider what additional measures can be taken to adapt aid to the priorities of fragile and conflict affected countries. The public consultation document, available at http://consultation.dfid.gov.uk/, is seeking views on new and better ways of delivering assistance in these countries.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much public money has been provided in the past year to support HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland per individual voter on the Westminster parliamentary rolls in Scotland. [HL781]

As the noble Lord will be aware from previous Answers, the Treasury does not collect the figures he seeks. The two banks operate throughout the United Kingdom and in many other countries.

Figures on the Scottish population are published by the Office for National Statistics. The latest figures available are for 2006 when the population of Scotland was estimated at 5,100,000.

The Treasury invested £19.97 billion in RBS on 1 December and £11.48 billion in HBOS on 15 January. On 16 January, the Treasury's investment in HBOS was exchanged for shares in the Lloyds Banking Group, in accordance with the arrangements for the merger between HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

Both banks were named among the eight initial eligible institutions for the credit guarantee scheme. The allocations for individual banks under the scheme are confidential.

It has also been announced that the Treasury has reached in principle agreements with Lloyds Banking Group, which now owns HBOS, and the Royal Bank of Scotland about participation in the asset protection scheme.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 9 March (WA 204), whether they will define “operational matter” in relation to non-security matters; and whether the decision to apply this term is at the discretion of the relevant Minister. [HL2082]

In this context the term “operational matter” is used in relation to the day to day running activities of the independent bodies sponsored by the Northern Ireland Office. This includes questions asked about the chief electoral officer.

Ministers will respond substantively on statutory policy or corporate sponsorship matters relating to these bodies.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 9 March (WA 204), whether a matter widely reported in the public domain can be classified as operational; and what are their criteria for classifying a matter as operational. [HL2083]

The term “operational matter” is used in relation to the day to day running activities of the independent bodies sponsored by the Northern Ireland Office. This definition is not affected by whether or not such a matter is in the public domain.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answer by Lord Young of Norwood Green on 26 January (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 3), whether the reference to all forms of renewable energy, including nuclear, means that nuclear energy is now to be regarded as a renewable source, as suggested in the House of Lords by Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 27 October 2005 (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 1373). [HL1089]

Nuclear power is not classed as a renewable because supplies of the fuel source, uranium, are finite. Based on the levels of global nuclear generation in 2004, the known available reserves of uranium that can be mined for less than $130/kg (approximately the uranium price in 2006) would last for the next 85 years.

Nuclear is a low carbon form of electricity generation which can help to minimise damaging climate change.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether deposits made with more than one bank in which the Government have a majority shareholding, or with wholly owned subsidiaries of such banks, are aggregated for the purpose of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. [HL2195]

The Financial Services Authority is responsible for the rules of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Bank deposits are not aggregated for the purposes of the FSCS where the banks concerned are separately authorised entities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Bank deposits are aggregated if the banks concerned are not separately authorised entities but are different trading names of the same authorised entity. The presence or size of any government shareholding in the banks concerned (or in any related companies) is not relevant for determining whether deposits are aggregated. Information on the trading names used by different banks is available on the Financial Services Authority's consumer website at www.fsa.gov.uk.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how much long-term reconstruction aid will be required for Gaza; and what plans they have to help rebuild infrastructure in Gaza. [HL1087]

The Palestinian national early recovery and reconstruction plan for Gaza 2009-10 (formerly known as the GERRP) was presented at the international conference in support of the Palestinian economy for the reconstruction of Gaza (2 March 2009, Sharm el-Sheikh). The plan lays out what needs to be done over the next two years to replace damaged and destroyed public infrastructure, rebuild homes and help the economy recover. The UK Government and other donors support the plan and believe it offers a sound blueprint for recovery in Gaza. It is available on the OCHA website at www.ochaopt.org/cluster/clusters.php?domain=3.

On 1 March 2009, the Department for International Development (DfID) pledged £30 million for recovery in Gaza. This will help rebuild damaged and destroyed homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza, and help ensure delivery of basic services. DfID has also allocated £443,000 to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) to clear unexploded ordnance from sites across Gaza.

Recovery is only the first stage of rebuilding Gaza. For longer term reconstruction, we expect the World Bank, EC and UN to take the lead on a full needs assessment. We will assess support to reconstruction at that stage.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many electronic attacks on Government computer systems and networks have occurred in each year for which figures are available. [HL1931]

It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems and networks. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the Government information technology budget for 2008–09 being spent on; and what Government projects are being undertaken. [HL1415]

HM Treasury sets overall budgets for departments but does not set specific budgets for information technology. It is for departments to allocate resources appropriately within their existing budgets and to ensure that their spending represents value for money. Departments are therefore responsible for recording their portfolio of projects.

The operational efficiency programme is currently reviewing how the Government could get more value from back office and IT. The IT part of this workstrand will be examining the total public sector expenditure on IT, including IT-enabled business change projects. This work will assess the level of efficiency savings that can be achieved in the use of IT and will make recommendations at Budget 2009 for how they should be achieved.

The Chief Informational Officer (CIO) Council acts as a focus for partnership between IT professionals across Government and has a membership drawn from the wider public sector—central government, local government, and agencies in fields such as health and policing. The CIO Council is charged with creating and delivering a government-wide CIO agenda to support the transformation of government and to build capacity and capability in IT-enabled business change.

The CIO Council produces a Transformational Government annual report. This report aims to set out a six-year improvement plan for public services by ensuring IT supports the business transformation of Government themselves, in order to provide better, more efficient, public services. Transformational Government Annual Report 2007 stated that IT expenditure of the CIO Council was £13.2 billion in 2006-07. This report provides a breakdown of this spend by department and by some major projects. A copy of the Transformational Government Annual Report 2007 has been laid in the Library of the House.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what personal training courses at public expense Lord West of Spithead has undertaken since his appointment as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office; what the duration was of the training he received; what the cost was; and which organisations supplied the training. [HL1933]

Since my appointment in June 2007, I have attended three training workshops. One course lasted half a day and was for a large number of new Ministers. The other two lasted for one hour each and were on parliamentary procedure. The cost of the half day course was £200.

The two hour long training sessions incurred only nominal staff costs. All three were provided by the National School of Government.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of the Ethiopian draft anti-terrorism proclamation with internationally protected human rights. [HL2190]

My noble friend Lord West, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Security and Counter-Terrorism at the Home Office, raised this issue during his visit to Ethiopia in December 2008.

We continue to engage with the Government of Ethiopia on the detail of their draft anti-terrorism legislation to encourage that it is compatible with international human rights norms.

To ask Her Majesty's Government for each year since 2005, how many applications there have been to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, from appellants and from the Secretary of State, for review of determinations under Section 103A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and how many orders for reconsideration have been made by the tribunal in favour of appellants and the Secretary of State. [HL2011]

Latest information from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal shows that since April 2005 it received the following applications for review of determinations under Section 103A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002:

The number of orders for reconsideration that were made by the Tribunal in favour of appellants and the Secretary of State are as follows:

* A total of 6,978 applications for a reconsideration hearing were granted during 2005-06. However, a breakdown of orders in favour of appellants and of the Secretary of State is not available for that period due to a problem with recording data. This information cannot be recovered from reports or the database. Case files for 2005 and part of 2006 have been destroyed in line with the normal destruction policy.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how the retail prices index has changed since the slowdown in economic growth. [HL2178]

The table below shows the annual percentage change in the retail prices index in each month from the second quarter of 2008 when UK GDP quarter on quarter growth was zero.

To ask Her Majesty's Government for each year since 2005, how many applications there have been to the Administrative Court, from appellants and from the Secretary of State, for review of determinations under Section 103A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and how many orders for reconsideration were made by that court, in favour of the appellant and the Secretary of State. [HL2091]

The relevant information is shown in the tables below.

(1) 2005 figures are from April to December only.

Please note that in 2006 a high number of the applications received from the Secretary of State for the Home Department were in relation to decisions made in cases involving Zimbabwean nationals. These cases were stayed until earlier this year (2009) pending test cases, and are only now in the process of being considered.

(1) 2005 figures are from April to December only.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was paid to officials of the Northern Ireland Office in allowances in addition to their salaries in each of the past five years. [HL1908]

The Northern Ireland Office (excluding agencies and Executive NDPBs) spent the following on allowances to staff in each of the past five years:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of staff in the Northern Ireland Office received bonuses in each of the past five years. [HL1849]

The Northern Ireland Office operates three non-consolidated performance payment schemes. The special bonus scheme rewards particularly meritorious contributions during the year. Two end of year schemes reward performance and delivery throughout the year for grades D2 to A and the Senior Civil Service. The percentages of staff who received these in each of the past five years are set out in the following table.

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last consulted the appropriate trade unions about the payment of bonuses to staff of the Northern Ireland Office; and what was the outcome of the consultation. [HL1852]

Trade Unions (PCS, FDA and NIPSA) were formally consulted in April 2007 regarding the Northern Ireland Office multi-year pay offer which included non-consolidated performance payments. The pay offer was accepted with a number of “re-opening clauses” (that is clauses permitting further discussions on a variety of matters), one of which reflected the trade unions' wish to discuss non-consolidated performance payment schemes again before the 2009 pay award.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many officials of the Northern Ireland Office have had their mobile phone expenses paid in full or in part by the office in each of the past five years; and what was the cost involved in each case. [HL1715]

The Northern Ireland Office (excluding agencies and Executive NDPBs) provides mobile phones for staff that need them for business purposes. A mobile phone policy is in place specifying criteria for the provision of mobile phones to staff and for the recoupment of personal calls. The total spend by the department on mobile phones over the past five years is given in the following table.

The decrease in spend in 2007-08 reflects a new contract for mobile phones which has reduced line rental costs considerably.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many travel and subsistence claims for staff in the Northern Ireland Office have been processed in each of the past 10 years; and what was the annual cost. [HL1823]

The Northern Ireland office (excluding agencies and Executive NDPBs) processed the following number of travel and subsistence claims in each of the past 10 years:

All travel and subsistence claims are subject to line manager approval and all expenditure is in line with standard Northern Ireland Office travel and subsistence rates, and is incurred in accordance with the principles of managing public money and the Treasury handbook on regularity and propriety.

To ask Her Majesty's Government on what date the first advertisement will be placed for new staff to join the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate taking advantage of the new pay scales. [HL1995]

To ask Her Majesty's Government when the first offer of employment on the new pay scales will be made to staff joining the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. [HL1996]

The new pay scales are part of the 2008 HSE pay settlement. HSE commenced pay negotiations with the trades unions on the day following clearance of our three-year pay remit by HM Treasury, 16 January 2009. Following negotiations, the final pay offer was released to staff on 27 February 2009 and the TUs are now balloting on the proposals. Results are likely to be known around the end of March 2009 and adverts for the next nuclear inspector recruitment campaign will be released w/c 23 March 2009.

To ask Her Majesty's Government by what date the full complement of staff for the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate will be in post to enable the generic design assessments to be delivered to the timescale that the Health and Safety Executive and other parts of Government have promised the nuclear industry. [HL1997]

The generic design assessment (GDA) resource plan is based on successful recruitment allowing staff with the necessary skills and experience to be in place on GDA activity by December 2009. The recruitment activity is ongoing, and if successful will enable the GDA process to be delivered by June 2011 timescale.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there are other former bank executives, aside from Sir Fred Goodwin, who receive pensions from bank rescue packages. [HL1836]

Payment of pensions for former bank executives is a matter of the banks in question.

The UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) has agreed with the banks in which Government have investments that they will assure themselves that all payouts to former directors were no more than legally necessary.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the standard employer and employee contribution rates of the five biggest public sector pension schemes; how much in employer contributions has been paid to those schemes in each of the past three years; and how much extra has been paid in each of those years to cover differences between income and expenditure. [HL1946]

The Cabinet Office has responsibility for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS). Details of the income and expenditure of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme are contained in Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts. Copies of the resource accounts for the years up to and including 2007-08 can be found in the Library. Information for other public service schemes is the responsibility of the relevant department.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Northern Ireland Office received in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; what steps the office has taken to publicise them; and whether they will place the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House. [HL2006]

To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Northern Ireland Office has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public. [HL2007]

The Northern Ireland Office was petitioned on two issues in 2007 and 2008 as follows:

postcard campaigns, for and against, amendments made to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill relating to access to abortion in Northern Ireland; and

an e-mail campaign against the request made by the Government of Germany for the extradition of Roisin McAliskey.

No special arrangements are in place for dealing with petitions. When received, they are passed to the relevant policy division within the department, in the same way as all other general correspondence from the public. The views expressed in any petitions are noted by the department, and where appropriate, are taken into account during the process of policy formulation.

Publicity is a matter for the organisers of the petitions. Petitions are considered as correspondence and there are no plans to place details of any received by the Northern Ireland Office in the Library.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 5 March (WA 182–83), whether the Ministerial Code or any other document issued to Ministers that relates to the appropriate relationship between them and their civil servants offers any advice or guidance on how to respond to a petition submitted to their department by members of the public that mentions a civil servant of their department and calls for them to be held to account. [HL2032]

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave him on 5 March 2009 (Official Report, House of Lords, col. WA 182).

The respective duties and responsibilities of Ministers and civil servants are set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Code.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether deposits made with the various savings accounts offered by the Post Office are guaranteed by the Government; and, if not, what guarantee applies. [HL1877]

As I told the noble Lord, Lord Lawson of Blaby, on 11 March 2009 (Official Report, House of Lords, col. WA 261), some savings accounts at the Post Office are provided through a joint venture with the Bank of Ireland Group. Those deposits are covered up to a level of €100,000 by the Irish deposit guarantee scheme, under the terms of the deposit guarantee schemes directive. In addition to the protection of the Irish deposit guarantee scheme, the Irish Government announced on 30 September 2008 that they would guarantee certain deposits with Irish banks, including all retail deposits, until 29 September 2010. Other savings accounts are provided by FSA-authorised firms and are guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Depositors have been informed about the guarantee arrangements.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to support clients of the Presbyterian Mutual Society following the collapse of the fund. [HL1911]

The Presbyterian Mutual Society (PMS) is an industrial and provident society registered under Northern Ireland law. As such, it is not subject to regulation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000. Consequently the society and its members do not contribute to, and are not protected by, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Earlier this year, the administrator appointed for PMS balloted members to seek approval for plans to run down the business in an orderly fashion. The vote closed on 30 January 2009 and the administrator's statement of 6 February 2009 shows that members voted unanimously to accept the proposals. A further report from the administrator is due by the end of May 2009.

To ask the Leader of the House whether the Government will answer all Written Questions in full, with up-to-date information, rather than referring to previous Answers. [HL2012]

The referral to previous ministerial responses or Statements is a long-standing and accepted practice. I have no plans to alter this.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Open Europe's calculation that the annual cost of regulation increased from £16.5 billion in 2005 to £28.7 billion in 2008; and how these costs apply to (a) central and local administration, (b) private businesses, (c) public sector services, and (d) voluntary organisations. [HL2237]

The Government understand that Open Europe aggregated cost estimates of recommended options in impact assessments on new regulatory proposals, using a mid-point when a range was given. The report ignores the benefits of regulation which usually outweigh the costs. In cases where regulation exists to correct market failures to ensure open markets and competition, those who initially experience costs will often reap the benefits. Simply aggregating estimated costs can therefore be misleading.

The Government recognise that the cost of regulation is a concern and so have changed the way they think about regulation. For example, the administrative burden reduction programme has delivered around £1.9 billion in net annual savings for business since 2006. The programme is on track to deliver more than £3 billion in net annual savings to businesses by 2010. Moreover, international studies, eg the World Bank's Doing Business report, show that the UK has a highly competitive regulatory environment.

The report does not break down costs by sector and, over the period analysed, government impact assessments do not systematically allocate costs between sectors.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schoolchildren were in receipt of free school meals in (a) England, (b) Wales, and (c) Scotland in (1) 1995, (2) 2000, (3) 2006, and (4) 2008. [HL2020]

The information requested is set out in the following table:

Source: School Census

1. Maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools and all special schools.

.. not available.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many redundancies and repossessions of property there were in Wales in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, and (d) 2009 to date. [HL1985]

The Ministry of Justice publishes England and Wales figures that show the number of mortgage possession orders made. These figures represent court actions for possession and not actual homes repossessed, as not all possession orders are enforced.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that:

for the four quarters of 2008, there were 7,706 mortgage possession orders made in Wales;

for the four quarters of 2007, there were 6,209 mortgage possession orders made in Wales; and

for the four quarters of 2006, there were 5,542 mortgage possession orders made in Wales.

No figures for 2009 on the number of mortgage possession orders in Wales are available yet.

There are no official statistics held on the number of redundancies in Wales.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schoolchildren did not complete their GCSEs, AS-levels or A-levels in Wales in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, and (c) 2008. [HL1989]

Education in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government. I am advised that the Assembly Government do not currently calculate completion rates for learners in Wales.