asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have made an assessment of Oxfam's recent report which indicates that more than £7 billion of international aid money spent in Afghanistan in the past six years has not met the urgent humanitarian and development needs of the Afghan people because aid has been either insufficient or delivered ineffectively. [HL512]

DfID welcomes Oxfam's latest report and agrees with a lot of its conclusions. DfID agrees that there needs to be a stronger co-ordination and greater alignment of aid with national and local priorities and increased use of Afghan resources; that further major reforms are required in public administration, anti-corruption and the rule of law; that sub-national governance needs to be reformed and resources channelled more directly to communities; that each PRT should develop a phased, conditions-based exit strategy; and that more investment is required by the donor community in the areas of health and education.

DfID also realises that while expectations for development in Afghanistan are high, improving the capacity of the Government and civil society in Afghanistan is a long-term process. We have seen evidence of some improvement and this will need to continue with full support from the international community.

The Government of Afghanistan recently outlined their views on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan in a draft aid policy paper. A key proposal within this paper is increased co-ordination behind the Government's own established national priorities. DfID and other like-minded donors fully support the proposals outlined and will help ensure that they are implemented. The Government’s full plan for reconstruction and development, the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS), will be presented to the international community in March 2008.

Although it is the second-largest bilateral donor, DfID's £107 million commitment this year is small compared to US and multilateral financing, which accounts for a large proportion of the £2 billion plus committed to development in Afghanistan this financial year. This is why co-ordination of international assistance and improved effectiveness of aid is a major objective of DfID's policy support to Afghanistan.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When the national outline service to match apprentices to employers and training providers was trialled; and what were the main findings of the trials. [HL660]

The national online matching service is still being trialled in two Learning and Skills Council (LSC) areas in the south-west and south-east. The emerging findings show that young people value a single point for information and application on apprenticeships, while employers value the opportunity to advertise their vacancies and receive applications through the vacancy matching service. There are no plans to publish a report on the trials. However, the current apprenticeships review will receive proposals from the LSC on the shape of the national online matching service. The review's report will be published early in 2008.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the apprenticeship review will fill existing information gaps concerning the supply of apprenticeship places and demand for them. [HL661]

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and training providers endeavour to collect as much information as possible—but we need to continue to ensure that individuals and employers in the local area know that they should go to the LSC and training providers to find this information. We will, in 2008, introduce an online matching service that will greatly improve our ability to collect data on the number of people seeking an apprenticeship place, and on the places available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the present best estimate of the excess of demand for apprenticeship places over supply. [HL662]

We have no information on how many aspiring apprentices fail to obtain an apprenticeship place. However, rises over recent years in numbers of apprentices participating and numbers of employers offering places informed our recent commitment to a major expansion of the apprenticeship programme, with funding to increase overall places from 250,000 today to more than 400,000 by 2010-11, provided high- quality employer places are available. We expect that the new national matching service, to be introduced online in 2008, will greatly reduce the risk of young people failing to find a suitable apprenticeship place.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How they propose to simplify, and make more accessible, the process by which young people move into apprenticeship. [HL663]

We are introducing the national apprenticeship matching service in 2008. The apprenticeship review is considering the further reforms needed for young people to make an effective transition into apprenticeships, including in the area of information, advice and guidance.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will change the computer software of Government computers so as to make it impossible to transfer protected personal data held by them without complying with data protection principles and procedures. [HL474]

I refer the noble Lord to the Statement made by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister on 21 November (Official Report, col. 1179). The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A Statement on departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether details of persons prosecuted or offered fixed penalties for driving offences can be matched with persons who have been given temporary residency in the United Kingdom. [HL523]

It is not possible from the databases held centrally in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to match persons who have been prosecuted for driving offences with details of residency in the UK. Also statistics held centrally on fixed penalty notices issued for motoring offences are collected through aggregate returns which prevent any matching with other data sources.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the timetable for raising levels of functional literacy and numeracy is sufficient to make an early and significant impact on the problem. [HL664]

Our targets to improve adult functional literacy and numeracy skills over the next three years are ambitious and challenging, especially with respect to numeracy, and are necessary to ensure that 95 per cent of adults achieve functional basic skills by 2020.

We have put in place the investment to enable us to achieve this. A new numeracy strategy and marketing campaign in 2008 will drive higher demand for courses. More embedding of basic skills in vocational qualifications will increase the number of achievements, as well as improving success rates. Our work with employers and business, including the employer skills pledge, will also drive greater demand for literacy and numeracy skills.

With a target of all Skills for Life teachers qualified or working towards qualification by 2010, recruitment incentives and bursaries for Skills for Life teacher training, and new training routes for specialist Skills for Life learning support from September 2008, we are working to build a Skills for Life workforce that will support more learners and enable higher success rates.

The Skills for Life sector is well placed to respond to additional demand and the Skills for Life strategy has been benchmarked as the best in the world. It is crucial that we meet these targets—as well as our higher level skills targets—to ensure that Britain remains economically competitive in the long term.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the reply by Lord Malloch-Brown on 28 November (Official Report, col. 1219), whether they will confirm that there are 19 countries in Latin America and 15 British embassies. [HL667]

We regard 19 countries that are primarily Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking as being part of the Latin American region. They are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

We can confirm that there are 15 British embassies in Latin America. We also have further diplomatic representation through our high commission in Belmopan, Belize, and several subordinate posts in Brazil and the Caribbean. We have a UK trade and investment office in Monterrey, Mexico. In total we have 22 diplomatic missions with UK-based staff across the Latin American and Caribbean region.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Ashton of Upholland) on 20 November (WA 54), what assessment has been made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission of the compliance of government departments with their public sector duties to promote good relations. [HL539]

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (the commission) has not yet assessed the compliance of government departments with their public sector duty to promote good relations. The commission will proactively monitor the performance of all public authorities for compliance with all three public sector duties, which includes monitoring the performance of Whitehall departments in respect of the good race relations strand of the race equality duty.

The Commission for Racial Equality was involved in work with a significant number of public sector organisations, including Whitehall departments, in relation to the race equality duty under the Race Relations Act 1976. This existing work on enforcement is being taken forward by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in light of the recent decision by the House of Lords in Watt (formerly Carter) v Ahsan, they will now include in their proposed equality Bill (a) specific prohibition of discrimination, harassment and victimisation by all political parties in all of their activities; and (b) positive action provisions that will enable political parties to take the necessary steps to prevent or compensate for disadvantage and to rectify under-representation at all levels and across all of their activities. [HL542]

The Government are considering the content of the proposed equality Bill in light of the consultation that was completed in September. Matters under consideration include the application of discrimination law provisions to political parties, including positive action provisions. The Government intend to publish a response to the consultation, setting out policy for the Bill, in due course.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they expect to issue their response to the Crisp report on Global Health Partnerships: The UK contribution to health in developing countries, published on 13 February. [HL323]

We have worked closely with other government departments, in particular with the Department of Health, and with civil society and professional groups to consider the recommendations of Lord Crisp's report. The Government's response to Lord Crisp's report will be issued shortly by the Inter-Ministerial Group. The response will provide a basis for taking forward those areas of work likely to be most useful in making a sustained difference to helping meet the health needs of developing countries.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will organise a campaign mobilising extra resources to prevent standards falling in United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the near east schools, especially in Gaza. [HL460]

In January, DfID committed £100 million over five years to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). This is core funding, allowing UNRWA to prioritise the most urgent issues. Fifty-four per cent of its proposed 2008-09 budget is for education. Rather than mobilising extra resources for a particular use, such as UNRWA schools, we encourage other donors to make similar long-term core funding commitments to UNRWA.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to ensure that the membership of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is representative of the community. [HL391]

Commissioner posts for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission are advertised and filled through open competition which is regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.

In making appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission the Secretary of State pays due regard to Section 68(3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 which instructs that he “shall as far as practicable secure that the Commissioners, as a group, are representative of the community in Northern Ireland”.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the religious breakdown of the employees of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. [HL392]

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is independent of Government and recruits its own staff. This is therefore a matter for the commission itself.

Under the Fair Employment (Monitoring) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has a statutory responsibility to monitor the religious profile of its workforce, and is statutorily obliged to report this information to the Equality Commission. The Equality Commission does not publish these figures where the staff complement is less than 25. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission employs 22 staff.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are discussing possible reforms of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); what kind of reforms they favour; whether there is any emerging consensus about reforms; and what is their attitude towards the proposal for chairmanship of the OSCE by Kazakhstan. [HL672]

The Ljubljana reform road map, designed to strengthen the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), was concluded by agreement at the 2006 ministerial council in Brussels. The Government consider this to draw to a close the work on setting out the direction of OSCE reform. The Government would nevertheless remain open to suggestions on genuine improvements that respect existing commitments and the autonomy of the OSCE institutions and field missions.

The UK welcomed Kazakh aspirations to chair the OSCE in accordance with the principles and values of the organisation. At the 2007 ministerial council, agreement was reached by consensus on Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010. The Government encourage Kazakhstan to continue with its domestic reform process and uphold the commitments as outlined by its Foreign Minister at the ministerial council.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in the light of two recent gun attacks, 25 other gun and bomb attacks on police in 2007 and the continuing need for a number of Police Service of Northern Ireland officers to move home because of terrorist threats, they will reconsider the 12.5 per cent reduction in the Northern Ireland allowance. [HL264]

There have been substantial improvements in the policing environment in Northern Ireland since 1974 when this allowance was introduced.

Following a comprehensive independent review of the allowance in March 2006 the Police Negotiating Board agreed that the allowance should be reduced by 12.5 per cent from September 2007, with a further 12.5 per cent reduction from September 2008. The allowance continues to be uprated in line with annual pay increases.

The Government do not intend revisiting this at this time. The Police Negotiating Board will review the allowance in 2008-09.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many potential recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland have been turned down on the grounds of their religion since the creation of the force. [HL388]

Since the establishment of the PSNI there have been 12 completed recruitment exercises. These have generated in excess of 73,000 applications.

The number of recruits that will be directly affected as a result of the 50:50 provisions is 755. This figure is a projection based on the likely number of appointments to be made from all these recruitment exercises.

This figure represents 1.6 per cent of the total number of non-Catholic applicants.

50:50 recruitment is part of a package of measures that has led to more than 1400 non-Catholics being appointed to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland as trainee constables since November 2001. This is a higher level of non-Catholic recruitment than was witnessed in RUC recruitment at the time Patten undertook his investigations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have set target response times for incidents reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and, if so, how they are monitored and calculated. [HL556]

The PSNI is aiming to increase the percentage of emergency calls responded to within 15 minutes by 2 percentage points, bringing the target to 79.8 per cent. Non-emergency incidents are prioritised individually, and no target response times are set.

The target is monitored through the PSNI's command and control system, which records response times. The response time is measured from the time the incident is entered on the system to the arrival time of the police officers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have made an assessment of the evidence on reoffending from the personal progression system for prisoners and offenders in Northern Ireland; and whether the system will be trialled in other jurisdictions. [HL326]

The personal progression system (PPS) was supported by Equal European Union funding to develop initiatives to raise levels of employability amongst disadvantaged groups of the long-term unemployed. The Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO) led a partnership with the Northern Ireland Prison Service and Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) focusing on prisoners with a history of long-term unemployment. The PPS ran from 2002 for three years and was externally evaluated. Approximately 400 prisoners were involved in this programme. The lessons learnt were integrated into the follow-up project called ReachOut (2005-2007), which addressed the attainment of stable, permanent employment for ex-offenders. The Prison Service and PBNI agreed in November 2007 to support NIACRO in its bid for European structural fund support to develop the next phase, known as Jobtrack and which will focus primarily on preparing prisoners for employment on release.

While the relatively small sample did indicate a degree of improvement it would not be possible to determine the impact this had, if any, on reconviction rates overall.

I understand that similar EU-funded research programmes are also being piloted in other jurisdictions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many experts in children's welfare, children's educational needs and children's mental health are employed by HM Prison Service. [HL466]

The Youth Justice Board and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) currently fund 25 social worker posts in the young offender institutions to perform local authority children's services functions and support child protection.

Prisoner health and learning and skills services are commissioned by the National Health Service and the Learning and Skills Council. The Department of Health and DCSF do not collate records on the number of mental health and educational needs experts working in prison service establishments.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many people were employed in the Northern Ireland Prison Service on 1 January 1998, and at the beginning of each subsequent year. [HL555]

The number of staff employed in the Northern Ireland Prison Service during the period in question is shown in the following table.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the relationship between the ratio of staff to prisoners in the prisons and young offender institutions of England and Wales, and the number of hours spent by prisoners on association or useful activity, over the past 10 years. [HL528]

The staff to prisoner ratio in prisons and young offender institutions (YOIs) is designed to provide an appropriate regime in each prison or YOI, and will vary according to a range of factors, such as type and layout of establishments, type and mix of prisoners and the required level of security and control. The time spent in purposeful activity by prisoners is largely a function of the same characteristics as they apply to individual prisons or types of establishment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What additional powers will be given to the Information Commissioner in the light of the loss by HM Revenue and Customs of personal confidential information; and how they will give legislative effect to any such powers. [HL613]

Following the loss by HMRC of personal confidential information, the Prime Minister asked the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, to carry out spot checks on the compliance by government departments with the Data Protection Act 1998.

This does not entail any legislative change. In practice it will mean that the Commissioner may carry out assessments of government departments on the basis that he will not be refused consent. The proposed spot checks will initially be focused on Whitehall departments.

The Thomas/Walport Review on information sharing will be asked to consider the case for providing the Information Commissioner with unfettered access to assess the processing of personal data within the private and wider public sectors.

The Government are also considering the Information Commissioner's request to create a new offence under the Data Protection Act of knowingly or recklessly failing to comply with the data protection principles contained in the Act.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress they have made with the programme of assistance following the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement in southern Sudan; and how many staff have been working on this (a) in the United Kingdom; (b) in Khartoum; and (c) in the south of Sudan. [HL671]

Following the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA), the UK pledged £317 million for Sudan for the period from 2005 to 2007. The UK now stands to exceed its pledge for this period, having disbursed over £290 million so far, and our financial commitment to Sudan has increased to £110 million in 2007. The UK's assistance has been focused on supporting the implementation of the CPA and in building the capacity of the southern Government to provide basic services for their population.

A large number of UK officials work on Sudan, including on development and political CPA issues. Amongst those there are 14 staff in the London-based joint DfID/FCO Sudan unit, the 27 staff in the DfID Khartoum office, as well as officials in the British Embassy. In Juba, south Sudan, the UK works through the joint donor office, which has 12 staff working exclusively on assistance to south Sudan.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have undertaken a cost-benefit analysis in relation to acceptance by the United Kingdom of the First Optional Protocol to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [HL469]

Our review of the United Kingdom's experience under the optional protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which is under way, will include an analysis of the costs and benefits to the United Kingdom of individual petition to the United Nations under that convention. We hope that that will provide a basis for comparison with other mechanisms.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their justification for allowing women to complain to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women of violations by the United Kingdom of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women while not permitting members of ethnic minorities to complain to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. [HL470]

The Government remain to be convinced of the practical value to the UK citizen of rights of individual petition to the United Nations. The UN committees that consider petitions are not courts, and they cannot award damages, or produce a legal ruling on the meaning of the law. One of our reasons for acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 2004 was to enable us to consider on a more empirical basis the merits of the right of individual petition under the other UN treaties. A review of the United Kingdom's experience under the optional protocol is now under way.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will be in a position to announce on Human Rights Day 2007 whether they intend to accept the First Optional Protocol to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [HL471]

The situation remains under review but the Government remain to be convinced of the practical value to the UK citizen of rights of individual petition to the United Nations. The UN committees that consider petitions are not courts, and they cannot award damages, or produce a legal ruling on the meaning of the law. In 2004, we acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. One of our reasons for doing so was to enable us to consider on a more empirical basis the merits of the right of individual petition under the other UN treaties. A review of the United Kingdom's experience under the optional protocol is now under way.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many cases have been taken against the United Kingdom to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women; what was the outcome of each; and what was the cost to the public purse. [HL472]

To date, two applications involving the United Kingdom have been made to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Both have been rejected as inadmissible. An analysis of the cost to the United Kingdom of dealing with the two applications will form part of the review of our experience under the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which is currently under way.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What estimate they have made of the monthly cost of keeping a young person in custody in England and Wales. [HL464]

The under-18 secure estate comprises the following types of establishment: young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children's homes. The table below sets out the average estimated monthly cost of keeping a young person under 18 in custody, using figures provided by the Youth Justice Board, based on data from 2005-06.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations the Northern Ireland Office is making to the Department of Education for the formal recognition of the school within the Juvenile Justice Centre in Bangor. [HL379]

A recent independent review of education services within the Juvenile Justice Centre in Bangor, commissioned by the Youth Justice Agency, has recommended that education provision for young people in custody should continue to be provided by the Youth Justice Agency, but that closer links should be forged with the Department of Education to inform future provision.

My honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (Paul Goggins) raised this issue with the NI Education Minister during a recent meeting to discuss wider responsibility for the provision of education services to young offenders in the youth justice system.

It was agreed that further discussions would take place with a view to agreeing responsibilities and the parameters of such services.