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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 29 March 1995
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Mr. Darius Guppy
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 March, Official Report , column 30 , if he will list the applications for legal aid made over the past 12 months by Darius Guppy. [15665]
Mr. John M. Taylor: Over the past 12 months, Mr. Guppy has made six applications for civil legal aid and one for ABWOR--assistance by way of representation. No central record of applications for criminal legal aid is kept, but I am aware of one such application from Mr. Guppy, to which I referred in my answer of 20 March.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 March, Official Report , column 30 , if he will seek to amend section 38 of the Legal Aid Act 1988 to remove the confidentiality provisions on the disclosure of information on an applicant's financial means where the applicant is serving a prison sentence for theft. [15666]
Mr. John M. Taylor: No. The "confidentiality" clause in section 38 of the Legal Aid Act 1988 is not unique to legal aid and is common practice in organisations which retain personal details of an individual's circumstances.
Legal Aid Expenditure
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will estimate what was the expenditure from the legal aid fund (a) in total and (b) in Wales in the last available year. [15789]
Mr. John M. Taylor: Actual net expenditure on legal aid in England and Wales in 1993 94 was £1,210 million. For expenditure in Wales, I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 2 March 1995, Official Report , column 677 . The legal aid fund in Wales is administered by two separate area offices, situated at Cardiff and Chester, the latter being also responsible for administering legal aid in parts of England. It is therefore not possible readily to identify payments made solely in respect of assisted persons resident in Wales, nor is it possible to estimate what proportion of legal aid fund expenditure related specifically to Wales.
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TRANSPORT
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the costs and benefits of constructing a high speed rail link from north-west England to connect with the proposed channel tunnel rail link.
Mr. Watts: I have not assessed the costs and benefits of a completely new line. However, on 22 March, I announced the first stage of a £1 billion modernisation of the west coast main line.
Public Relations
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidelines his Department has issued to its agencies and other public bodies under its authority in respect of the employment of public relations companies and the procedures to be adopted in relation to requesting tenders for public relations companies. [16210]
Mr. Steven Norris: Guidelines for the employment of public relations companies are contained in the working guide for Government information officers, copies of which are available in the library of the House. The procurement rules and procedures for the Department are contained in the Departmental procurement manual.
Railway Heritage
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had with the Railway Heritage Group about the preservation of early records of the railway system in the last five years. [16597]
Mr. Watts: None. Early records which have come to light in the last five years have been sent to either the Public Record Office, the Scottish Record Office or the National Railway Museum to add to their existing collections. If the records were not appropriate for these three national bodies, they were sent to one of the local record offices listed by British Rail's records advisory panel. In future, the new independent Railway Heritage Committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Gordon Higginson, will supervise the transfer of historic railway artifacts and records to the collecting institutions.
Railtrack (Land Sales)
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 20 March, Official Report, column 89 , if he will give the total acreage of the 134 pieces of land sold by Railtrack to date. [16276]
Mr. Watts: I am advised by Railtrack that the total acreage of the 134 sale transactions by Railtrack to date amounts to about 41 acres.
Royal Train
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions the royal train was used in 1993 94; what were its destinations; which members of the royal family used it and on how many occasions; and on how many occasions was it used overnight. [16768]
Mr. Watts: The royal train was used on 47 separate occasions, involving use of the royal train coaches on 95
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days in 1993 94. I understand that the destinations were as follows:Aberdeen
Aberystwyth
Ashford (Kent)
Bodmin Parkway
Bridgend
Bridgwater
Cardiff
Derby
Edinburgh
Fort William
Gatwick Airport
Glasgow
Hexham
Inverkeithing
Lancaster
Leeds
Liverpool
Lockerbie
London
Lympstone Commando
Malton
Manchester
Mexborough
Morpeth
Newport
Northallerton
Penzance
Plymouth
Runcorn
Sheffield
Shrewsbury
Slough
Southampton Docks
Stirling
Stonehaven
Sunderland
Tattenham Corner
Thirsk
Truro
Whitland
Workington
The members of the royal family and numbers of occasions on which they used the royal train were as follows:
|Number of occasions
--------------------------------------------------------------
Her Majesty the Queen |11
The Duke of Edinburgh |5
The Prince of Wales |17
The Princess Royal |6
The Prince Edward |1
The Duke of Kent |1
The Duchess of Kent |4
The royal train was also used twice for state visits. The train was used overnight 48 times.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Departmental Report
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what was the cost of producing and
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circulating the last departmental annual report for each of the last three years in real terms. [16641]Mr. Dorrell: The last three editions of the report have been published as Command Papers by HMSO, which has borne the printing and publishing costs with the aim of recovering these from sales revenue.
My Department incurred additional production and distribution costs relating to the 1995 report of approximately £1,000, and additional production costs relating to the 1994 report of £9,473 at current prices. Information on the production costs of the 1993 report, and distribution costs of the 1993 and 1994 reports can be calculated only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what was the cost of producing and circulating the departmental annual report; what was the circulation list; how many copies were produced; how many copies were sold; and at what price. [16640]
Mr. Dorrell: Some 1,900 copies of my Department's report were printed and published. Of these, 500 copies were purchased by the Department for distribution to its agencies, sponsored bodies and other external contacts, as well as distribution internally for use as a working document. In addition to those copies required by Parliament, Government Departments and agencies concerned, just over 1,150 copies were produced to satisfy other sales at a price of £9.55 net. The costs of printing and publishing the report were borne by HMSO, which aims to cover these costs from sales revenue. The Department incurred additional production and distribution costs approximately £1,000.
Statutory References
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what statutory references to hon. Members have been made in legislation introduced by his Department, or its predecessors, since 1965. [17039]
Mr. Dorrell: An analysis of all legislation introduced by this Department and its predecessors since 1965 for any reference of the type requested, could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It would be extremely unlikely for reference to be made specifically to an individual hon. Member. Frequent references are made to officers of state, and occasional general references are made to persons who are Members of one or other Houses of Parliament. The National Lottery etc. Act 1993 makes a reference to the Leader of the Opposition in schedule 6 concerning nominations for membership of the Millennium Commission.
Public Library Review
Mr. Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage on what date he received the report of the public library review from the consultants, ASLIB. [16180]
Mr. Sproat: The report of the public library review was received from the consultants on 23 February.
Mr. Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he will publish his response to the public library review. [16179]
Mr. Sproat: I hope to make a statement shortly.
Taylor Report Deadlines
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will extend the deadline for meeting the
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recommendations of the Taylor report for those football clubs which have experienced protracted planning difficulties. [15953]Mr. Sproat: Any applications for an extension to the deadlines already announced for football clubs to meet the all-seater or safe terracing will be considered on their individual merits, as occurred in 1994, following consultation with the Football Licensing Authority. Extensions will be granted only in the most exceptional circumstances and where delays in meeting the necessary criteria are unforseen and unavoidable. Whether planning difficulties would fall into such a category would depend on the facts of the individual case.
Sports Council for England
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he expects to be able to announce the membership of the proposed Sports Council for England. [17499]
Mr. Dorrell: I confirmed the Government's intention to set up new United Kingdom and English Sports Councils from 1 January 1996, subject to the grant of royal charters, on 23 March, Official Report, column 316. I announced at the time of his appointment as chairman of the GB Sports Council that Mr. Rodney Walker would in due course become first chairman of the Sports Council for England. I am pleased to be able to announce today the remaining members-designate of the Sports Council for England:
Mr. Gerald Dennis Vice-Chairman
Mr. Trevor Brooking Vice-Chairman
Mr. Keith Oates
Ms Julia Bracewell
Mr. Tim Marshall
Mr. Geoff Thompson
Mr. Ian Botham
Mr. Jeff Probyn
Mr. Chris Boardman
Mr. Peter Blake
Mr. Andrew Hancock
Mr. Jim Munn
Mr. David Oxley
Mr. Sam Stoker
Are serving members of the present GB Sports Council. We proposed last July that the English council should concentrate its resources on an increased programme of direct support for governing bodies of sport for the development of sport from the grass roots to the highest competitive levels. We expect the English council to develop its policies and programmes in full and meaningful co-operation both with the Central Council of Physical Recreation, which represents the interests of governing bodies, and with local authority interests.
I am also able to confirm that, as proposed on 8 July 1994, the present linkage between the Sports Council and the Regional Councils for Sport and Recreation will come to an end from 1 January 1996. Ministers will cease from today to renew or make fresh appointments to those bodies, but will in future appoint ministerial nominees in each of the regions of the English Sports Council. These will bring a further range of experience and expertise to the council's work, including that of local government.
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Political Advisers
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the names of those persons appointed as political advisers to his Department since May 1992. [15619]
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 27 March 1995]: The names of those persons appointed as special advisers to my Department since May 1992 are:
|Date appointment
Name |Date appointed |ended
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Chris Hopson |22 April 1992 |24 September 1992
Viscountess Cobham |12 July 1992 |24 September 1992
Mr. Dominic Loehnis |7 November 1992 |20 July 1994
Tourism Promotion
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 9 March, Official Report, column 280, who is responsible for establishing the accuracy of local claims regarding the origins of historical figures used in terms of tourism promotion. [16044]
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 27 March 1995]: Where such claims are made in advertisements or sales promotions, these must conform with the appropriate self-regulatory codes of practice. These require advertisements and sales promotions to be legal, decent, honest and truthful.
Certain claims must also comply with the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, which makes it an offence for a trader knowingly or recklessly to make a false or misleading statement about the nature of services, accommodation or facilities. This Act is enforced by local authority trading standards departments.
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