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RN Hospital, Haslar

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.

Service Accommodation

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.

Compensation Claims

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.

Road Freight

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.

CABINET OFFICE

Special Advisers

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

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Immigration Appeals

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.

Office for the Supervision of Solicitors

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.

State Apartments (Visits)

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.

Judicial Appointments

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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