Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords—
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the noble Viscount for giving way. I am the first non-lawyer to speak and the House will be glad to know that I do not intend to speak about any legal matter of any kind. I rise only because last Thursday the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, referred to my view of the adequacy of the Middlesex Guildhall as a Supreme Court. He said that I was wrong. I...
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, the noble and learned Lord should consult the Companion. He will find there that the purpose of amendments at Third Reading is to tidy up the Bill, not to raise matters of this consequence.
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they have any proposals to increase public expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gross domestic product from the figure of 0.7 to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development mean of 1.0.
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they will consider appointing a chief engineering adviser to represent the profession to the Government; as recently called for by the Institution of Civil Engineers. Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: Why National Health Service Wales has decided not to use National Health Service Professionals for the supply of temporary nursing staff to National Health Service trusts in Wales; and what the key factors were in this decision.
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 21 June (WA 105), whether they will provide a detailed breakdown of the 7 per cent charged to National Health Service trusts by National Health Service Professionals in relation to on-costs in the supply of temporary nurses; and whether any additional fees are levied at any point of National Health Service...
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: What budget has been set for establishing a special health authority for National Health Service professionals; and whether funds from past National Health Service Professionals start-up costs will be transferred to the new authority; and What ongoing financial support is expected to be required by the National Health Service Professionals Special Health...
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords—
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords—
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, I should begin by apologising to the noble Lord, Lord Ezra, who I did not see earlier on, because he was sitting so unusually far back. With regard to litter in the sea, is my noble friend aware that an offshore wind farm is proposed off East Anglia? The proposed offshore wind farm is rectangular: it is about a mile wide—which is about the distance from here to the Tate...
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, what exactly is wrong with the Middlesex Guildhall? It seems to me to be perfectly adequate because it is a mock Victorian gothic building and very suitable for such an organisation.
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, it gives me particular pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, in the debate. He and I had several interesting and, I hope, fruitful discussions while he was Minister for construction in Mr Major's government. I never got anything out of him, but that was his loss. I should declare my usual interest: I have been involved in the construction industry for a lifetime. I should...
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords—
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, individual windmills have fairly substantial foundations which a ship could strike and a good deal of damage would be done to a ship.
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, I believe that my noble friend Lord Whitty should pay great attention to the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Greenway. This is a very serious matter and I do not consider that the Government have treated it with proper courtesy. The question is partly one of diverting shipping around intrusions in the shipping lanes. The important point about those intrusions—it has not been...
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: When the national 1985 standards of fire cover will be withdrawn and replaced by fire cover arrangements based on the individual integrated risk management plans drawn up by fire authorities in England and Wales; and who will be responsible from that date for ensuring that the new fire cover arrangements are as efficient and effective as the 1985 standards.
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: When they will place a Fire Safety Order before Parliament under the Regulatory Reform Act 2002; and what guidance has been given to fire authorities on the proper discharge of their existing statutory duties under the Fire Precautions Act 1971 in relation to the application for and issue or amendment of fire certificates.
Lord Howie of Troon: My Lords, I support the noble Lord on the issue of building regulations. That is the way to go about the change, rather than using the law. The idea underlying the amendment and the attitude is a bit like motherhood and apple pie. The weakness of the approach is, simply, that renewable energy sources, desirable though they may be, have one overwhelming weakness; that they do not produce much...
Lord Howie of Troon: asked Her Majesty's Government: When the national 1985 standards of fire cover will be withdrawn and replaced by fire cover arrangements based upon individual integrated risk management plans drawn up by the fire authorities in England and Wales; and who will be responsible for ensuring that the new fire cover arrangements are as efficient and effective as the 1985 standards.