23 Jul 1996 : Column: 127
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 23 July 1996
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Youth Courts
Mr. Michael: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the average time an indictable offence took (a) from offence to charge or summons, (b) from charge or summons to first listing,
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(c) from first listing to completion and (d) from offence to completion for cases proceeding through youth courts for (i) England and Wales and (ii) each region in England and Wales in 1984 and 1994. [38798]
Mr. Streeter: The information requested for 1994 is contained in the accompanying table; however, similar data were not collected in 1984. The table includes information on all indictable offences--both indictable only and triable either way. The source of the figures is the magistrates courts time intervals survey. This survey collects information on all defendants in indictable cases in one sample week of February, June and October each year.
| Average number of days | Offence to charge or summons | Charge or summons to first listing | First listing to completion | Offence to completion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 39 | 26 | 67 | 132 | |
| English regions and Wales | |||||
| North England | 35 | 24 | 67 | 125 | |
| North West England | 34 | 23 | 58 | 115 | |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 32 | 23 | 73 | 128 | |
| East Midlands | 38 | 25 | 81 | 144 | |
| West Midlands | 35 | 25 | 71 | 131 | |
| East Anglia | 42 | 26 | 57 | 125 | Sample size less than 100 |
| Greater London | 38 | 30 | 76 | 144 | |
| South East (except London) | 63 | 28 | 57 | 148 | |
| South West | 35 | 26 | 64 | 125 | |
| Wales | 41 | 26 | 59 | 127 | |
Figures for the constituent intervals may not sum exactly to average offence to completion time due to rounding.
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Public Record Office
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what conclusions were drawn in the evaluation of performance carried out for the Public Record Office following its establishment as a next steps executive agency. [39678]
Mr. Streeter: An evaluation of the performance of the Public Record Office during its first three years as an executive agency was carried out by the Public Record Office in conjunction with the Lord Chancellor's Department and a report was completed in June 1996.
The report concluded that the office had benefited considerably from its move to agency status which had led it to re-evaluate and to clarify its aims and objectives within its statutory role, and to focus on improving its performance and on meeting the needs of its users. The office has made notable advances in planning and managing its work and resources and has achieved efficiency gains and service improvements in a period in which its work load was increasing and in which it also successfully undertook a major building programme at its Kew site.
Copies of the evaluation report will be laid in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list the total income received from lottery ticket sales in Cheshire since the start of the national lottery. [36383]
Mr. Sproat:
This is a matter for the Director General of the National Lottery. I have therefore asked the director general to write to the hon. Member, placing copies of his letter in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Pike:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list by county the percentage of lottery tickets purchased in each and the percentage of lottery awards funding received by each since the creation of the national lottery. [37696]
Mr. Sproat:
Sales figure are an operational matter for the Director General of the National Lottery who is responsible for regulating the operation of the lottery and I have therefore asked him to write to the hon. Member, placing copies of his letter in the Library of the House. The new awards database currently being tested by my Department will soon be able to show the percentage of lottery awards received by each county and I will write to the hon. Member with this information when it is available.
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Mr. David Nicholson:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps she is taking to co-ordinate with other authorities measures to prevent the illegal purchase of national lottery tickets by minors. [38953]
Mr. Sproat:
The Secretary of State has directed the director general not to licence games, which, in his opinion, do not have sufficient controls to prevent the participation of young people under the age of 16. In the director general's annual report, laid before the House on 17 July, he details measures he has taken to deal with this issue.
The sale of lottery tickets to minors is illegal. Camelot, as promoter of all lotteries forming part of the national lottery, is responsible for ensuring compliance with the law. My Department has taken part in co-ordination meetings with the other relevant authorities--the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Crown Prosecution Service and trading standards organisations--with an enforcement interest in this matter.
Mr. Robert Banks:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is the present total number of tourist information centres in the United Kingdom; and what arrangements are planned to centralise information. [38423]
Mr. Sproat:
There are 831 tourist information centres in the UK. This includes 562 in England, 160 in Scotland, 84 in Wales and 25 in Northern Ireland. In England, these are largely operated by local authorities with the English tourist board supporting common standards, staff training and national branding. Network TICs have to be prepared to offer information on destinations other than those in their local areas.
The ETB has a number of initiatives under way to improve the collection and provision of information. It co-ordinates the collection of data on attractions, events and accommodation into its tourism resource information processing systems--TRIPS--database. ETB has launched a Network 2000 project to determine how services might be enhanced by greater use of information technology and the internet. This includes a pilot project to make the TRIPS information available on-line to TICs.
Mr. Pendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment he has made of the specific roles for (a) the United Kingdom Sports Council, (b) the British Olympic Association and (c) the private sector has in the proposed British academy of sport. [39104]
Mr. Sproat:
Details of the Government's proposals for the British academy of sport, including the roles of the United Kingdom Sports Council, the home country sports councils and other sporting organisations, will be set out in the prospectus which will be published shortly.
Mr. Elletson:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what targets she has set for the executive agencies in her Department. [39637]
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Mr. Sproat:
The following targets have been set for 1996-97:
The Historic Royal Palaces Agency
Financial targets
Commercial surplus: £8 million
Call on the taxpayer: £6.7 million
Visitor satisfaction measures 1
Visitors' average ratings of:
Value for money: 0.7 to 1.0
Enjoyment: above 1.4
Helpful and friendly staff: above 1.45
Efficiency target
Savings on running costs: 2 per cent.
Conservation target
To complete both the fire protection works planned for 1996-97, and the programme of works identified by the buildings condition surveys as needed in 1996-97. To undertake further detailed inspection of the specific areas identified by the surveys as possibly needing work in 1997-98.
1 Visitor ratings are assessed from interviews with about 600 visitors each year, conducted by independent market research consultants. Ratings: 2.0 is extremely good, 1.5 is very good, 1.0 is quite good, 0 is OK, -1.0 is quite poor, and -2.0 is very poor.
The Royal Parks Agency
Financial
(i) Increase income from £2.48 million to £2.7 million from permits, fees, licenses, events, concessions and car parking.
(ii) Achieve a 6 per cent. improvement in running costs efficiency.
(iii) Invite tenders for a private finance initiative scheme for Pembroke lodge in Richmond park.
(iv) Establish a target by October 1996 for Royal Parks constabulary unit costs based on a reduction of the 1995-96 costs.
Fabric
(i) Prepare proposals for works to remove the White lodge in Bushy park from the "at risk" register.
(ii) Investigate opportunities for marketing columbarium spaces to fund further restoration works in Brompton cemetery catacombs, with a view to removing them from the "at risk" register.
(iii) Evaluate competitive tenders for works maintenance services and award new contracts by the end of 1996.
(iv) Achieve average visitor rating of 80 per cent. on cleanliness of the royal parks.
Visitor survey
Achieve an overall score of 8.3 out of 10 visitor satisfaction rating for the royal parks.
Assessment of soft landscaping quality
Achieve an overall score of 8 out of 10 for the soft landscaping presentation in the royal parks.
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