Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, Lord Morrow, and to have the pleasure of congratulating him on behalf of the whole House on his maiden speech, which focused particularly on education and the future of Northern Ireland. He has a long record of political and public service in Northern Ireland and I am sure that he will soon make an impact in this House, too. As an auctioneer...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, what was the cost of the recruitment process for engaging the last chairman? If the figure is not available, why not? Will my noble friend ensure that the cost of this recruitment process is calculated and reported to the House? Furthermore, will he ensure that a clause is written into the next chairperson's contract stipulating that in the event of failure to keep to that contract,...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, are the ecological principles the Minister seeks to apply in state schools being similarly applied in public schools?
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, noble Lords on all sides of the House are concerned about the problems that many people are now encountering with loans that they have taken out. Given the massive profits that we have seen banks receive recently, will the Minister consider having discussions with the Opposition and the Liberal Democrats about the possibility of all parties coming together to agree the...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, will my noble friend confirm or deny that the £4 million national young people's substance misuse partnership grant, which hitherto has been ring-fenced specifically for preventive work with youths with drug, personality and mental problems, is being diverted to offset deficiencies elsewhere in the NHS?
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, before I came into the House in 1997, I was a trade union official. I was initially an appointed officer with a job for life. Noble Lords opposite then changed the rules and, because I had some power and influence, I had periodically to submit myself to my members for re-election. It was always an unnerving experience, but the Conservatives were right; I have said that on a number...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, will my noble friend encourage NATS Ltd to continue to give all the assistance that it can to the air management authorities in Gibraltar to ensure that we have the safest possible skies there? Secondly, will he congratulate NATS Ltd on being one of the top 20 companies in the UK and on being seen by its staff as being so good, following the introduction of the PPP by this Government?
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I would like to pick up on the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Barker. When everyone embarked on this journey we were in general agreement that there was a case for change; that life was not perfect under the old regime. First, I would like to know when these discussions commenced. Secondly, could the Minister indicate at which point, in his opinion, things started to go...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, the principal charge against the Bill is that it attacks the foundation stone of British justice: the jury trial. I must confess that I am somewhat mystified by some of the arguments that run along those lines. Like my noble friend Lord Rosser, I note that the British legal system considers very many crimes to be best tried without a jury. It was not so long ago that a drink-driving...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I was referring to the range of charges which the prosecution believes it could run but, because it has to present the case orally and go into complex areas which move the focus away from what it sees as the principal arguments, the totality of the case is not advanced.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, as I grasped the point advanced by my noble and learned friend the Attorney-General, my understanding is that all the points are not presented to a jury because of the difficulty of getting them across. I shall move on as this has been a long debate. I will not go over all the points that I had intended to make, as many of them were covered by my noble friend Lord Tomlinson and I do...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, will the Minister resist the assault that is being mounted against ASBOs? In so doing, will she take into account the fact that people like me, when canvassing in inner London areas and council estates, find that people there embrace ASBOs and say that they have been the best thing that has happened for them? Will she be very cautious indeed? Yes, let us make sure that ASBOs work...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, while we are learning lessons from history and from the mismanagement of public projects, I exhort the Minister to have a look at what has happened with Battersea power station, which has recently been sold for £400 million. Acres of prime land in central London have remained unused for nearly 20 years when we have a grave shortage of housing, particularly for public service...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I welcome the committee's report. Perhaps I may ask the Chairman of Committees a general question on Lords' interests. If my memory is correct, when a register was introduced after some difficulty, Lord Williams of Mostyn promised that after two years had elapsed there would be a review of the procedure. I cannot recall that review having taken place. If it has, I apologise, but if...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, as one who complained in the past at having been left in the dark about the content of the Queen's Speech, I greatly welcome the Government's decision to publish their draft legislative programme. It is good government and is good open government, and I hope that we may see more of this in the future. I want to raise two issues. The first refers to the announcements and the Green...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I am associated with several charities in the drug and alcohol field, but today I speak particularly as a trustee of Action on Addiction, which is well qualified to offer a meaningful contribution to the new strategy. It operates long-established treatment services in both the residential and non-residential sectors, such as Clouds House, which are acknowledged as some of the best...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I should like to intervene briefly on that. I believe that a whole variety of solutions have to be employed in assisting individual addicts, but the increasing concern of many people is that the view on abstinence within the industry, so to speak, is that in many respects it is opposed to it. Many people on methadone have told me that they are never given the opportunity to try to...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I, too, was involved in the HMRC Bill, during whose passage confidentiality issues were dealt with. First, regardless of whether Customs and the Inland Revenue had merged, if procedures had not been followed this breach could have happened under the old Inland Revenue. Secondly, can the Minister confirm that while there is a target of 25,000 cuts, in fact only 12,500 cuts have been...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords—
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, will the strategy that is about to be concluded look at the underutilisation of resources available in gyms in the private sector? Will the Government explore the possibility of using those resources for schools, possibly in collaboration with the Youth Justice Board, as a means of getting some young people out of criminality and into exercise and a better life?