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Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract or service level agreement between RN Hospital, Haslar and the local NHS trust for the provision of district hospital services. [88423]
Mr. Doug Henderson: A Service Level Agreement exists between the Royal Hospital Haslar and the Portsmouth South East Hampshire Health Authority. A copy is being placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last met representatives of Annington Homes to discuss service accommodation; and if he will make a statement. [88363]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 28 June 1999]: I had a meeting with Sir Thomas Macpherson, the Chairman of Annington Homes (Ltd) (AHL) and Colin James the then Chief Executive of the Defence Housing Executive (DHE), on 29 July 1997. Additionally, DHE staff from the Purchaser Interface Unit meet formally with AHL representatives quarterly for Joint Working Boards (the last meeting was 8 June 1999) and bi-annually for Joint Executive Boards (the last meeting was 31 March 1999). Informal contact takes place on a daily basis.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has paid in each of the past five years in respect of compensation claims for injuries incurred during (a) military service and (b) non-military service; and if he will make a statement. [88366]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 28 June 1999]: The following amount of common law compensation was paid to members of HM Forces in each of the past five financial years for injuries sustained during service:
Year | £ |
---|---|
1994-95 | 11,881,178 |
1995-96 | 12,132,450 |
1996-97 | 14,523,261 |
1997-98 | 25,278,430 |
1998-99 | 26,675,952 |
Information regarding the types of activity that members of HM Forces were engaged in when they suffered injury for which my Department subsequently paid compensation can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Rapson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the armed forces road freight distribution systems. [89291]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
In March of this year, I agreed, subject to consultation with the Trades Unions and other interested parties, a proposal to rationalise the current
29 Jun 1999 : Column: 128
single-Service road Freight Distribution Systems. The consultation process has now been completed and has raised no concerns that would change the decision to rationalise. I have, therefore, given my final approval to proceed with the rationalisation process.
This change will result in the formation of a new Defence Freight Distribution Group, whose headquarters will be located in Portsmouth, and which will operate under the new Defence Transport and Movements Agency. Rationalisation and integration of the current single-Service systems should bring savings of nearly one million pounds a year.
Overall, the rationalisation process will result in a net reduction of some 15 civilian and 2 military posts. Every effort will be made to identify new opportunities for those staff concerned.
The new organisation will form on 1 July, with full rationalisation by the end of August, once associated work to harmonise current single-Service consignment IT tracking systems has been completed.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on what dates Special Advisers from his Department have travelled abroad on official business since 2 May 1997; which countries were visited on each occasion; and what were the names of the Special Advisers who travelled on each occasion. [86291]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
Special Advisers from this Department travelled abroad on the following occasions since 2 May 1997:
Date of trip | Location | Special Adviser |
---|---|---|
14-17 July 1997 | Washington | Andrew Lappin |
7-12 September 1997 | Canada/Boston | Andrew Lappin |
5-11 October 1997 | New Zealand/Australia | Andrew Lappin |
19-21 April 1998 | Ottawa | Mike Trace |
21-24 June 1998 | Washington | Andrew Lappin |
6-14 June 1998 | USA | Keith Hellawell |
7-10 June 1998 | New York | Mike Trace |
13-19 October 1998 | USA | Keith Hellawell |
4-6 November 1998 | Vienna | Mike Trace |
28 November- 3 December 1998 | Washington/Boston | Tim Walker |
16-19 January 1999 | Vienna | Keith Hellawell |
22-28 February 1999 | Dubai/Pakistan | Keith Hellawell |
23-24 February 1999 | Rome | Tim Walker |
16-19 March 1999 | Prague/Vienna | Mike Trace |
23 April-9 May 1999 | Australia | Keith Hellawell |
7-8 June 1999 | Paris | Tim Walker |
34. Fiona Mactaggart:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what forecast he has made of the average time taken to hear immigration appeals in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001. [87549]
29 Jun 1999 : Column: 129
Mr. Vaz:
The IAA aim to maintain the current waiting times of six weeks to an initial hearing and a further six weeks to the substantive hearing, throughout 2000 and 2001, assuming that the number of cases does not go beyond the numbers forecast by the Home Office.
35. Mr. Gapes:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to introduce measures to reform the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors. [87551]
Mr. Vaz:
I announced to the House on 22 June 1999, Official Report, column 1018, during Report stage of the Access to Justice Bill, the Government's plans to take powers to establish an office of Legal Services Complaints Commissioner. The Commissioner will have powers to intervene to improve standards of complaints handling by the legal professional bodies. However, we do not propose to appoint a Commissioner, and thereby bring these powers into force, unless and until a professional body is clearly failing to make substantial progress in improving its complaints record.
I am pleased that the Law Society Council approved in principle the recommendations of the Ernst and Young report on the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors at their meeting on 23 June. I believe this is a step in the right direction. I hope the Law Society will be able to put their house in order.
36. Mr. Amess:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent representations the Lord Chancellor has received about visits to his State Apartments. [87552]
Mr. Vaz:
Since 1 January 1999, the Lord Chancellor's Office has received 46 letters requesting visits to the Residence, and 14 requests to use the Residence for a fund-raising reception. The office estimates that there have been about 200 telephone calls inquiring about visits to the Residence. 28 letters have been received thanking the Lord Chancellor for the use of the River Room for charitable receptions, which have so far raised over £1.7 million.
37. Mr. Baker:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what progress he is making with his policy of ensuring that membership of the judiciary is representative of society as a whole. [87553]
Mr. Vaz:
The Lord Chancellor appoints or recommends for appointment on merit those candidates who satisfy the qualifications laid down by Statute and who, in his opinion, best meet the criteria for appointment. Without prejudice to this overriding principle, and in accordance with his commitment to equality of opportunity, the Lord Chancellor would like to see more women and ethnic minority practitioners appointed to the judiciary and has introduced a number of measures to encourage applications from members of those groups, including more flexible part-time sitting arrangements and a work-shadowing scheme.
29 Jun 1999 : Column: 130
39. Mr. Gareth Thomas:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to reform the method for appointment of judges. [87558]
Mr. Vaz:
The Lord Chancellor keeps the arrangements for appointing judges under review. He has taken a number of steps to improve the openness, flexibility and effectiveness of the judicial appointments process. At the level of circuit judge and below, the Lord Chancellor has arranged for judicial and lay members to be involved in the selection of candidates for interview, as well as in the interviews themselves; he requires assessments of candidates to be specifically related to the criteria for appointment; he has introduced greater flexibility into the sittings arrangements for part-time judicial appointments; and he has recently introduced a scheme under which practitioners interested in applying for judicial appointment may apply to "shadow" a serving judge. He has ended the system under which appointments were made to the High Court Bench by invitation only: vacancies are now advertised and candidates may apply for appointment. All but the most senior judicial appointments are now made through a process of open and advertised competition. The Lord Chancellor will nevertheless continue to consider the scope for further improvements to the judicial appointments process.
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