house of lords official report - United Kingdom Parliament

WA 207 Written Answers
[17 JUNE 2009]
Written Answers
WA 208
Written Answers
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Afghanistan
Question
Asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the
estimated cost of the war in Afghanistan to date.
[HL4144]
The Minister for International Defence and Security
(Baroness Taylor of Bolton): MoD identifies the costs
of operations in terms of the net additional costs it
has incurred. The costs that would have been incurred
regardless of the operation taking place, such as wages
and salaries, are not included. Savings on activities
that have not occurred because of the operation—such
as training exercises—are taken into account in arriving
at the net figures.
The total annual costs of operations in Afghanistan
since 2001 are set out below:
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09*
Total to
Date*
Resource Costs
187 236 36 58 148 560 1,071 1,656 3,952
(£M)
Capital Costs (£M) 34 75 10 9 51 178 433 967 1,757
Total (£M) 221 311 46 67 199 738 1,504 2,623 5,709
Note: The figures for 2008-09 are provisional outturn figures that are subject to final audit.
Our forecast cost for operations for 2009-10 will be
published in main estimates shortly.
Benefits: Uprating
Question
Asked by Lord Laird
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much
extra monies in (a) social security benefits, and
(b) public sector pensions, are forecast to be paid in
the financial year 2009–10 to take account of the
5 per cent and 6.3 per cent inflationary upratings
determined by the prices indices of September 2008.
[HL3627]
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury
(Lord Myners): My right honourable friend the Minister
for Pensions and the Ageing Society provided an
estimate of the costs of uprating DWP social security
benefits at the appropriate rates in 2009-10 on 12 February
2009 (House of Commons, Official Report, col. 1545).
The Government do not hold detailed costings for
indexation in respect of the full range of public sector
pension schemes, but the overall cost of the 5 per cent
uprating in 2009-10 has been estimated at around one
and a quarter billion pounds.
Community Empowerment, Housing and
Economic Regeneration
Questions
Asked by Baroness Hamwee
To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the
Written Answer by Baroness Andrews on 7 May
(WA 134), what criteria were applied in deciding
whether further changes in policy and practice discussed
in the White Paper Communities in Control required
legislation.
[HL4049]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Communities and Local Government &
Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of
Luton): Government can promote changes in the policies
and practices of external bodies through a variety of
means, such as legislation, the provision of funding
information or guidance, by piloting initiatives, and by
spreading best practice. The assessment of the best
means in any circumstances is carried out on a case by
case basis.
Asked by Baroness Hamwee
To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the
Written Answer by Baroness Andrews on 7 May
(WA 134), on what grounds they have decided not
to take forward “a number of more minor proposals,
namely on remote attendance and voting by councillors,
payments for councillors on loss of office, and
incentives to vote in local elections”. [HL4050]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: Most of the proposals for
change in the White Paper Communities in Control do
not require legislation. For those where legislation is
required, the Local Democracy, Economic Development
and Construction Bill, which is currently before
Parliament, contains the major provisions, including a
number added since introduction.
Given the stage of the parliamentary cycle, we have
decided to concentrate our energy on this, and not to
publish a Draft Community Empowerment Bill, which
would have contained only a few more minor proposals.
Substantial progress has been made since Communities
in Control was published. We published a “Communities
Progress Report” on 1 June. Copies are in the Libraries
of the House.
Asked by Baroness Hamwee
To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the
Written Answer by Baroness Andrews on 7 May
(WA 134), what the remaining proposals are which
require legislation, in addition to any legislation