Written Answers
Thursday, 20th March 2003.
Ulster Scots Language
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any plans to bring the Ulster Scots language to stage three status of the Council of Europe's Charter for Minority Languages; and, if so, what is the timetable. [HL2075]
The Government have no specific plans in place at this time. However, achievement of Part III status was identified as a major project at the Ulster Scots Future Search Conference on 28–30 November 2002. Officials from the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure are engaged in discussions with representatives from the Ulster Scots community to agree how this should be progressed.The achievement of Part III status of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages requires that a minimum of 35 out of 65 paragraphs or subparagraphs can be applied to a language. Developing the Ulster Scots language to that level will require a coordinated effort across a wide range of statutory and non-governmental organisations.
Parliamentary Assembly Of The Council Of Europe And The Weu Assembly: Uk Delegation
asked Her Majesty's Government:What changes have been made in the composition of the United Kingdom Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of the Western European Union. [HL2243]
Baroness Knight of Collingtree has been appointed a full member of the United Kingdom Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of Western European Union; the honourable Member for North Dorset (Mr Walter) has been appointed a substitute member.
China: Human Rights
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the United Nations will (a) appoint a special rapporteur to assess the human rights situation in Tibet; and (b) publish reports on conditions in labour camps in China. [HL1927]
As far as we are aware, the UN has no plans to appoint a special rapporteur on Tibet; nor are we aware of any plans by the UN to publish reports on labour camps in China.We continue to urge the Chinese to extend invitations to a range of special rapporteurs and would welcome it if Tibet could be included in their China itinerary. We raise our concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet with the Chinese at our biannual UK-China human rights dialogue.
Medical Research Council Facilities In The Gambia
asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the implications for United Kingdom relations with the Gambia of decisions to be taken by the Medical Research Council about its major unit in that country. [HL2101]
The MRC facilities in the Gambia provide valuable scientific research into many areas of tropical medicine and disease control. The Department for International Development contributes substantially to funding for the research facilities and the High Commission in Banjul keeps in close touch with the MRC director for the Gambia and his staff. The Government of the Gambia take a keen interest in the work of the facility which is an indication of the high esteem in which its scientific research is held.During its recent review the MRC recognised the importance of MRC Gambia in providing high quality research aimed at reducing the mortality and morbidity in developing countries. Discussions are now underway to strengthen the relationship with the Government of the Gambia and other countries in West Africa, to build regional capacity, and to develop a research agenda relevant to local and international priorities. A partnership agreement between MRC and the Government of the Gambia is being developed.
Zimbabwe: President Mugabe's Honorary Knighthood
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will advise Her Majesty the Queen to withdraw the honorary knighthood conferred on President Mugabe. [HL2123]
This honour was conferred in 1994, by the previous government. Withdrawing it is not our immediate priority, although we may revisit the question in the future.We are concentrating instead on feeding Zimbabwe's hungry and, with our EU, Commonwealth and US partners, are doing all we can to encourage the return of good governance, including respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Iraq: Legality Of Armed Force
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the principles of international humanitarian law set forth in the Statute of the International Criminal Court would be binding upon the United Kingdom and its allies in the event of military action against Iraq; and, if not, which principles of international humanitarian law set forth in the statute would be inapplicable. [HL2054]
The Statute of the International Criminal Court sets out offences, including breaches of international humanitarian law, over which the court has jurisdiction under certain conditions. UK forces comply with the provisions of international humanitarian law in the conduct of any military operation. The USA and Iraq are not state parties to the ICC Statute.
asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the principles of public international law that govern and prescribe the circumstances in which it would be lawful for the United Kingdom and its allies to launch military action against Iraq, and the manner in which such action should be taken. [HL2053]
Our view of the legal position on military action against Iraq was laid out in detail to the Foreign Affairs Committee and can be found in its 20 June 2002 report on the foreign policy aspects of the war against terrorism (http://www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/fachome.htm).
Southern Lebanon
asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the nature and extent of the build-up of arms, including short and medium range rockets, in southern Lebanon.[HL2102]
We are aware of media reports, but are not in a position to verify the nature or extent of any arms build-up in South Lebanon. The UN Secretary-General reported to the Security Council on 14 January that "There were some improvements in, and new construction of, field fortifications by Hizbollah". Given tension in the region, we continue to urge all parties, including Hizbollah, to respect the UN Blue Line and refrain from actions which might inflame the situation.
Terrorism Threat: Information
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will be issuing information to the public about the threat of terrorism. [HL.2241]
When the Home Secretary spoke to the House of Commons about terrorism on 3 March 2003, he made clear that this country continues to face a significant threat from international terrorism.In agreeing to renew Part Four of the Antiterrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, Parliament accepted that we need to continue to protect ourselves from those who recognise no legal procedures, no boundaries and no parameters in terms of the action they are prepared to take.The terrorist threat remains real, and is serious. In the context of the present situation and concern that terrorists may seek to exploit the commencement of hostilities with Iraq by attempting attacks, I should assure the House and the public that we have taken and are taking every feasible precautionary measure to protect British citizens both here and abroad.I must re-emphasise that if a warning is necessary to protect safety, we issue it—and will issue it—without hesitation; and we will give any further information that helps people respond effectively.As the Home Secretary promised the House of Commons on 3 March, we have set up a dedicated website,
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/terrorism, which went live on 18 March. That website provides a central point to publish advice and information from the security and intelligence services, on civil resiliance, and other material that departments publish. It gives advice to the public on what measures they can take to protect themselves and their families at home, at work and when preparing to go abroad. It provides information on the measures the Government are taking to protect British citizens and British interests, including information on departments and agencies, legislation, protecting our infrastructure, and resilience and contingency planning.
The Home Secretary further made it clear in a written statement on civil contingencies (available on the "reports and publications" section of the new website) laid before the House on the same day that we have taken important steps to improve our resilience and contingency planning to deal with terrorist attacks should they occur.
The emergency services now have more equipment and trained officers to enable them to respond to a release of CBRN material and this has been accompanied by the publication of specific protocols for dealing with this kind of attack. For example, under a £5 million programme, the Department of Health has provided 360 mobile decontamination units; the CBRN Police Training Centre has been established at Winterbourne Gunner and the police now have 2,350 officers trained and equipped in CBRN response. Since 11 September 2001 £96 million has been spent on CBRN medical countermeasures, including spending on extra vaccines and antibiotics.
We have also looked hard at local resilience and London resilience and taken steps at both these levels to review and improve capability through funding and personnel training. But we must continue to strengthen and improve our resilience as part of a long-term strategy to work with our partners and allies to remove the terrorist threat and the threat of fear from the United Kingdom and the international arena.
Many people will be aware that action taken in 1991 to detain large numbers of Iraqi citizens proved to be ineffective. We do not consider the action taken in 1991 to have been the most appropriate means to deal with the situation then and I do not intend to repeat it now. Now in 2003, we are aware of only a very small number of people in this country who may be sympathetic to the Iraqi regime. These individuals are being interviewed and we will continue to keep under close review any threats posed by them or others to our security. However, we have no current reason to intern or otherwise detain citizens of Iraq who are resident in this country, but I remain in close touch with the Security Service and the police over this and we will take whatever action is necessary to protect the public based on constant threat assessments.
Military action in Iraq should not—and will not—detract from our commitment to a multi-racial and diverse Britain—one which values the contribution made by each of our many diverse ethnic, cultural and faith communities. We want a truly dynamic society, in which people from different backgrounds can live and work together—while retaining their distinctive identities—in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding. But we understand that military action in Iraq will have an impact on how some members of our society feel—not least in increasing insecurity.
We are therefore working with the police and other local agencies to ensure that tension levels within our communities are monitored on a daily basis. Within local areas agencies are working together—and with local communities—to provide reassurance and to ensure that there are arrangements in place to deal with any potentially difficult situations that might emerge. At this stage the assessments provided give us no reason to believe that there is a serious risk of a disturbance—but we are not complacent about this.
We have taken precautionary measures to deal with the events that we can anticipate. We cannot guarantee 100 per cent security but we are preparing for a range of eventualities. We are in a situation that can develop at speed and change at speed. We will keep all aspects of our planning under review and I undertake to keep Parliament and the British public informed of any significant developments.
Iraqi Nationals Resident In Uk
asked Her Majesty's Government:How many Iraqi nationals are legally resident in the United Kingdom; and how many of these are permanent residents, students, temporary visitors, asylum seekers and refugees, and diplomats. [HL2086]
The Labour Force Survey provides estimates of the number of foreign nationals resident in the United Kingdom in private households, student halls of residence and NHS accommodation. The latest available estimate of the number of Iraqi nationals resident in the United Kingdom is 21,000. This estimate is obtained from averaging the results from the Labour Force Survey over the 12-month period ending November 2002 and is subject to sampling error. It is not possible to break this estimate down into the categories requested.
asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their estimate of the number of Iraqi nationals who are resident without permission in the United Kingdom. [HL2087]
The nature of illegal migration means that the work required to assess the number of illegal migrants in the UK is complex. There is currently no official estimate of the number of immigrants (nor the figure for Iraqi nationals specifically) who are resident without permission in the UK. This is, of course, why the Government have been consulting on the issue of the introduction of entitlement cards, and for purposes of entitlement by those who are formally claiming asylum have introduced the application registration card.
Local Authority Social Housing Grant
asked Her Majesty's Government:How the £230 million transitional fund to allow the completion of housing schemes dependent on the local authority social housing grant was calculated; whether they are confident that it is adequate, whether it is ring-fenced; and why they will not defer abolition of the grant to April 2004, when capital receipts will be pooled. [HL2094]
The transitional funding figure was an estimate made on the basis of information provided by the Housing Corporation as to normal levels of commitments by authorities at year end. I have since extended the transitional arrangements to support investment in housing of up to £550 million in 2003–04, which is higher than in any previous year. The money will be ring-fenced in the first instance to cover schemes that could have gone ahead in 2003–04 if local authority housing grant (LASHG) had continued. Details are set out in my Answer to Lord Jordan (WA 109–110) on 5 March 2003.The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister consulted local authorities on the principle of abolishing LASHG last autumn. In the light of work on the Communities Plan, it was decided to make this reform quickly, provided transitional funding arrangements were in place to ensure that well advanced, good quality schemes were able to go ahead. It would be indefensible now to retain a funding mechanism that does not allocate resources to areas where they are most needed, has consistently underspent nationally, and has given unfair advantage to one category of local authorities.
Titan Bridgelayer Vehicles
asked Her Majesty's Government:How the 33 Titan bridgelayer vehicles, ordered by the Ministry of Defence, will be allocated to the armoured regiments. [HL2161]
A total of 23 Titan bridgelayer vehicles will be assigned to the Royal Engineer (not armoured) close support regiments. The remaining 10 vehicles will be assigned to non-field units such as the Army Training and Recruitment Agency (ATRA), the Land Warfare Centre in Warminster and the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) to facilitate both individual and collective training.
Armed Forces Pension Scheme: Unmarried Partners
asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to extend Armed Forces Pension Scheme attributable benefits to unmarried partners. [HL2215]
The Government are aware of the concerns of service personnel whose unmarried partners are currently ineligible for pension benefits. While this is being considered as part of the reviews of
| Numbers in thousand | ||||||
| Taxable Incomes | ||||||
| £80,000–£100,000 | £100,001–£120,000 | Over £120,000 | ||||
| Year of Birth | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female |
| 1946–1961 | 58.6 | 8.6 | 31.8 | 4.4 | 87.9 | 10.1 |
Survey of Personal Incomes in 2000–01. I regret estimates are not currently available for 20001–02
pension and compensation arrangements for the Armed Forces, we have concluded that it would be appropriate to address now the particular risks associated with conflict. We have therefore decided that, as of today, where a service person dies as a result of service related to conflict, ex-gratia payments equivalent to benefits paid to a surviving spouse under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme may be awarded to their unmarried partner where there is a substantial relationship. Eligibility for such benefits will be assessed against a set of criteria which would include financial dependence or interdependence, children, shared commitments such as mortgage, prime beneficiary of a will, shared accommodation, the length of the relationship and no legal spouse. The decision on eligibility would be based on a broad assessment of the substance of the relationship and not all of these criteria would need to be met for entitlement to exist.
Taxable Incomes
asked Her Majesty's Government:How many taxpayers had taxable incomes of (a) £80,000–£100,000, (b) £100,001–£ 120,000 and (c) over £120,000 in (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02; and whether they will analyse the figures for each of these taxable income brackets for each of these years by sex and by year of birth from 1946 to 1961. [HL2058]
The number of taxpayers with taxable incomes of (a) £80,000–£100,000, (b) £100,001–£120,000 and (c) over £120,000 in 2000–01 is 127,000, 69,000 and 180,000 respectively. The information broken down by gender and by birth from 1946 to 1961 is in the table below: