§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements they have made for the involvement of disability organisations in consultations on a United Nations Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities before discussions resume on the current draft text at the United Nations in New York in January 2004. [HL4815]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamConsultations with disability organisations take place at a number of levels. A small informal group of UK internationally linked disability NGOs meets officials from DWP and FCO on an ad hoc basis to discuss progress and exchange views. In addition, we have established a broader consultative forum of UK disability organisations which meets on a regular basis. The latest meeting took place on 11 November.
Since 2003 the Government have funded a UK disability NGO representative to attend meetings of the ad hoc committee as a member of the UK delegation. These arrangements will continue for future meetings during 2005. We have also contributed £30,000 to a UN voluntary fund established to enable disability NGOs from developing countries to attend the ad hoc committees.
116WAThe cost of collecting and arranging each £1 of maintenance was 41.5 pence.
§ Lord Northbourneasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many applications under the Child Support Agency's new scheme for assessing payments had been received by March; how many had been processed by that date; whether the backlog is increasing or decreasing; and at what rate. [HL4708]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamThe number of applications received under the new scheme by March 2004 was 321,522 and of this number 152,560 had been processed. The number of applications waiting to be actioned is increasing on a month-by-month basis. The rate of increase is reflected in the following table.
More general information on the progress of the convention negotiations is available to all interested parties on www.disability.gov.uk.