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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Next Steps Agencies

Ms Jowell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the total number of people employed by each of the next steps agencies under his Department's control; how many of those employees are women; and at what civil service or equivalent grades they are employed. [32736]

Mr. Streeter: The Lord Chancellor has responsibility for four agencies: the Court Service, the Public Trust Office, the Public Record Office and Her Majesty's Land Registry. As the question concerns a specific operational matter on which the respective chief executives are best placed to provide an answer, I have asked them to reply.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Ms Tessa Jowell, dated 20 June 1996:

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply on behalf of the Court Service to your Question about the number of staff employed by Next Step Agencies.
The number of staff employed by the Court Service is 10,390 and the number of women is 6,769. This is broken down by grade as follows:

		Per cent.
Grade 5	2	18.18
Grade 6	10	23.26
Grade 7	37	31.09
Senior executive officer	91	37.92
Higher executive officer	425	54.84
Executive officer	1,199	61.93
Administrative officer	3,243	67.76
Administrative assistant	333	70.85
Support grades	1,429	71.31

Letter from Julia C. Lomas to Ms Tessa Jowell, dated 20 June 1996:

The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary Question, listed on 11 June 1996 for answer on the 20 June 1996 regarding the total number of people employed by the Public Trust Office divided into male and female.

Grade	Males total	Females total
GRD 4	0	1
GRD 5 SOL	0	1
GRD 6 SPRN	3	1
GRD 6 LGL	3	1
GRD 7 PRN	4	1
GRD 7 COP	0	1
GRD 7 PPTO	1	0
GRD 7 LGL	0	1
SEO	20	9
HEO	50	38
EO	77	75
SPS	0	1
TYP MNR	0	3
SM 3	0	1
AO	89	103
AA	3	2
SGB 1	4	2
SGB 2	16	6
TYP	0	32
Total	270	279

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 524

Letter from Stuart Hill to Ms Tessa Jowell, dated 20 June 1996:

I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question concerning the total number of people employed in H M Land Registry and the number of women by grade. The information you require is as follows:

Grade	Male	Female
Senior Civil Service (Formerly Grades 2-5)	22	5
Senior Registration Administrator 1 (Grade 6)	24	0
Senior Land Registrar (Grade 6)	18	2
Senior Registration Administrator 2 (Grade 7)	43	2
Assistant Land Registrar (Grade 7)	54	40
Registration Executive 1 (SEO)	224	45
Registration Executive 2 (HEO)	409	183
Registration Executive 3 (EO)	980	1,388
Registration Officer 1 & 2 (AO)	970	2,372
Registration Assistant 1 & 2 (AA)	469	1,454
Totals	3,213	5,491
Overall Staff total (as at 12 June 1996)	--	8,704




HM Land Registry operates its own grade structure following the delegation of pay and grading for staff in Grades 6 and below in April 1994. The Civil Service equivalent grades are noted against the Land Registry grade title.

Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Ms Tessa Jowell, dated 20 June 1996:

I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply for the Public Record Office to your question about employees in the agencies for which he is responsible.
The total number of people employed by the Public Record Office is 454.7, of which 190.2 are women who are employed in grades ranging from Grade 12 to Grade 3 (and equivalent grades).

Senior Judges

Mr. Cox: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many senior (a) male and (b) female judges from an ethnic minority background sit in courts in England and Wales; and if he will state the position held by each such judge. [32913]

Mr. Streeter: The table sets out the figures for male and female holders of judicial office believed to be of ethnic minority origin as at 1 June 1996. The figures for ethnic minority office holders are believed to be correct, but as the ethnic origin of candidates for judicial appointment was not recorded prior to the autumn of 1991, the numbers may be incomplete.

Judiciary	Of ethnic minority origin	Male (ethnic minority)	Female (ethnic minority)
Full-time Judiciary
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary	0	0	0
Heads of Division	0	0	0
Lords Justices of Appeal	0	0	0
High Court Judges	0	0	0
Circuit Judges (including Official Referees)	5	4	1
District Judges	2	0	2
Stipendiary Magistrates	2	1	1
Part-time Judiciary
Recorders	13	12	1
Assistant Recorders	9	6	3
Deputy District Judges	12	8	4
Acting Stipendiary Magistrates	2	2	0

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 525

Children's Evidence

Mr. Cox: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if all courts in England and Wales now have a system of providing privacy for a child who is required to give evidence in court cases. [32875]

Mr. Streeter: I have asked the chief executive of the Court Service to reply directly to the hon. Member in respect of the operational arrangements for the Crown court, county court and High Court. The magistrates' courts are a locally managed service and responsibility for putting in place privacy systems for child witnesses rests with the relevant magistrates' courts committee. My Department is always willing to advise on such systems which include the provision of screens to shield witnesses, and the use of video and television links. Courts without such equipment can make arrangements with other courts to use their facilities. Where possible, every effort is made by court staff to comply with requests for a child witness to wait separately or to arrive and depart separately.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 20 June 1996:

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Question about facilities for children giving evidence in court cases. As Chief Executive of the Court Service I can reply in respect of the county courts, Crown Court and High Court.
It is for the judge presiding at the trial to determine whether it is appropriate for a child's evidence to be given by way of a live television link and whether to allow a video recording of an interview with a child to be allowed as the child's evidence in chief. 67 of the 92 Crown Court Centres in England and Wales have live television links to enable children to give evidence from a separate room and to play video recorded evidence. It is always open to the judge at a court centre without a live TV link to order a case to be transferred to a centre so equipped. Centres without these facilities can use screens which prevent the child and defendant seeing each other. The requirement for additional television link systems is kept constantly under review and additional systems are installed where a need is shown.
The civil courts do not have television links. However, it is very rare for children to give oral evidence in civil proceedings or to be present in court. Instead, the child is represented by a court welfare officer or guardian ad litem who gives evidence on his or her behalf. If a child does have to give evidence, screens can be used. Most civil cases are held privately in chambers so that only the parties to the case and their legal representatives are present.

PRIME MINISTER

Engagements

Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 20 June.[32547]

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 20 June. [32548]

The Prime Minister: This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 526

TRANSPORT

Airport Capacity (London)

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list, for each of the last three years, how many new-start airlines have been able to commence operations at (a) Heathrow and (b) Gatwick airports under the EU rule that allows 50 per cent. of any additional runway capacity to be offered to new-start airlines. [32795]

Mr. Norris: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Aviation Authority document CAP 644, "Slot Allocation: A proposal for Europe's airports", which provides useful information on the proportion of slots allocated to new entrant airlines. A copy of this document will be placed in the Library.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the time allowance expresed in minutes per flight that airlines currently build into their operating schedules to allow for congestion at Heathrow and Gatwick airports. [32787]

Mr. Norris: This is a matter for individual airlines.

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