Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their comments. The point is technical and it would not be helpful to respond now. We will write to the noble Lord. It is certainly not the intention of the amendment to have a situation where a fine is paid and then refunded. I do not believe that that is the intention of our drafting, but we will confirm that in writing, because I do not have the...
Lord Tunnicliffe: moved Amendment No. 40: Clause 43, page 22, line 19, at end insert— "(2A) On a reference to the Pensions Regulator Tribunal in respect of a notice, the effect of the notice is suspended for the period beginning when the Tribunal receives notice of the reference and ending— (a) when the reference is withdrawn or completed, or(b) if the reference is made out of time, on the Tribunal...
Lord Tunnicliffe: moved Amendment No. 41: Clause 43, page 22, line 41, leave out ""reference"" and insert ""a reference""
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 41, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 42. We have tabled these two minor and technical amendments to ensure that Clause 43 operates as intended. Amendment No. 41 corrects drafting to ensure that it is clear which aspects of the Pensions Act 2004 are being amended. Without the amendment, the Bill would incorrectly amend a further provision of the Pensions...
Lord Tunnicliffe: moved Amendment No. 42: Clause 43, page 22, line 41, after "Act" insert ", or any provisions in force in Northern Ireland corresponding to this Act," On Question, amendment agreed to. Clause 49 [Prohibited recruitment conduct]: [Amendment No. 43 not moved.] Clause 53 [Inducements]: [Amendment No. 44 not moved.] Clause 59 [Requirement to keep records]:
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I beg to move that consideration on Report be now adjourned. In moving the Motion I suggest that Report begin again not before 8.30 pm.
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for initiating this important debate. I would thank him with even more enthusiasm if he had done it a day or two later—that is, more than 24 hours after I found out I was going to pick up the DfID brief again. Inasmuch as this is a realistic statement in politics, I advise the House that I am the permanent spokesman for DfID in the...
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I give that assurance and commit to write to the noble Baroness. We will review Hansard after this debate and cover in such a letter any other issues that we have not covered in my response.
Lord Tunnicliffe: moved Amendment No. 55: Schedule 1, page 77, line 8, leave out "four" and insert "five"
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 57. I am sure that noble Lords will remember our debates in Committee about the trustee corporation. In particular, we had an interesting debate on the period for which a person can be appointed to be a member of the trustee corporation. We agreed to take away the valid points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, and the noble Lord, Lord...
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I beg to move that consideration on Report be now adjourned.
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, the United Nations estimates that there are now 4.8 million displaced Iraqis. This includes 2.8 million internally displaced people within Iraq and a further 2 million refugees in surrounding countries, the majority of whom are in Syria and Jordan.
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I must apologise for not being familiar with that individual case. I am familiar with the overall scene, however, and I believe that the United Kingdom's record in this matter is very good. The Foreign Secretary announced a scheme in October 2007 particularly to address these individuals. More than 20,000 people have worked for the United Kingdom in Iraq, but only 700 have worked in...
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, the only part of that question I am briefed on relates to the internally displaced refugees. We do not believe that tackling the issue of internally displaced refugees is substantially a matter of money. The Government of Iraq can help with these things and have the resources to do so. We welcome the fact that they are spending $213 million on this scheme, and we welcome the...
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I will certainly arrange to listen to the programme but I am convinced from the briefings I have had that our record on people whom the UK has employed is good and honourable, and is in line with that of the Americans on this matter.
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, I cannot confirm it since I have not seen the details of that case.
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, the whole international community must recognise the features of the response that has been set out. The Government are pressing for, and have achieved, a unified approach through the United Nations. The United Nations is drawing those strands together, which will allow better delivery, and we accept that that is the way forward. Iraq is not a poor country; the crucial thing is to...
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, we are grateful to Syria and Jordan for their hosting role. There is some modest help in the form of £3 million to the UNHCR, which is working in those countries. The issue is getting sight of where these people are and getting them registered. At the moment, the United Nations and the host countries are coping; they are providing primary healthcare, particularly in Jordan and...
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, we will certainly look into that. I believe that that will be the correct process in a case. If it is not, I will write to the noble Lord.
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, we consistently raise human rights issues with the regime. Our ambassador in Rangoon has repeatedly made it clear that Burma's many problems will be solved only through dialogue between the Government, opposition and ethnic groups. DfID is providing £600,000 of emergency assistance in response to food shortages in Chin State. This year, DfID is also providing £1.8 million to...