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Slaughterhouses
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many invitations (a) he and (b) the Minister have received to visit slaughterhouses since their appointments; and how many each has visited. [88337]
Mr. Nick Brown:
My hon. Friend the Minister of State has visited slaughterhouses on eight occasions since 1 May 1997.
7 Jul 1999 : Column: 555
Trial Postponements
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many trials have been (a) postponed and (b) rescheduled to fit in with the trial judge's social and holiday commitments in the last 12 months to date; and if he will make a statement. [89556]
Mr. Vaz: The information is not kept.
Company Liability
Mr. Clapham: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will take steps to ensure that companies are legally liable for injuries caused to overseas workers as a result of operational decisions taken in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [89350]
Mr. Vaz [holding answer 2 July 1999]: Under English and Scots law companies are liable for injuries to their workers caused by their negligence. The courts decide in accordance with well established legal principles under each legal system whether claims may proceed in the English or the Scottish courts when it is alleged that the cause of injuries to overseas workers was operational decisions taken in the United Kingdom. The Government has no plans to legislate in this area.
Mr. Clapham: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he plans to bring UK law into line with Article 2 of the 1968 Brussels Convention on court action against companies registered abroad. [89349]
Mr. Vaz [holding answer 2 July 1999]: Under Article 2 of the 1968 Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, to which the United Kingdom is a party, a defendant is entitled to be sued in the courts of a member state of the European Union where he is domiciled. Once this basis of Jurisdiction has been established the courts of that state generally have no discretion to refuse to hear the case. However, this rule applies only to those cases falling within the scope of the Convention. In all other instances, and notwithstanding that jurisdiction has otherwise been established under English law, a court in England and Wales has a discretion to refuse to hear a case if in all the circumstances of that case it is satisfied that there is another jurisdiction which is clearly more appropriate to hear the case. The courts in England and Wales apply this long-established discretion in the interests of all the parties and the ends of justice and the Government has no plans to amend it.
Mortgage Repossessions
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many court actions for mortgage repossessions were brought at Newton county court in each year since 1990. [89680]
7 Jul 1999 : Column: 556
Mr. Vaz:
This question relates to Nelson county court. The numbers of mortgage actions between 1990-98 were:
| Year | Actions entered |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 238 |
| 1991 | 286 |
| 1992 | 277 |
| 1993 | 203 |
| 1994 | 205 |
| 1995 | 235 |
| 1996 | 214 |
| 1997 | 180 |
| 1998 | 246 |
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Allan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what guidance has been issued to magistrates and crown courts on the trial and sentencing of asylum seekers who have been stopped in transit in the United Kingdom for bearing false documents. [89673]
Mr. Vaz: There are no guidelines for trials in these precise circumstances. Like any other criminal trial, such cases are subject to the relevant statutory provisions, rules of court, practice directions, and case law. There are also no guideline judgments reported on sentencing in these circumstances. Within the statutory sentencing framework laid down by Parliament, the nature and severity of penalties imposed by the courts are matters of judicial discretion. Guidance can however be found in recent decisions by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), in particular in Ali Osman (1999) 1CR.APP.R.(S.) 230 and Daljit Singh (1999) 1CR.APP.R.(S.)490.
Police Authority-Magistrates Court Committee
Chairmen
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is his estimate of the number of people in England and Wales who are both chairman of a police authority and of a magistrates court committee where the areas of operation are approximately the same; and if he will make a statement. [89725]
Mr. Vaz: Of those areas where the magistrates courts committee is approximately the same as the police authority area, there is one area where the same individual is chairman of both the police authority and magistrates court committee.
CABINET OFFICE
Women's Organisations (Consultation)
Jackie Ballard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the women's organisations which have been consulted over proposed legislation by his Department during this session; and if their responses have been published. [87273]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
The Government is committed to making sure that policies are inclusive and take full account of the needs and experience of all those affected by them. Guidelines on Policy Appraisals for Equal Treatment published in November 1998 commit policy makers to assessing how proposals affect different groups of people.
7 Jul 1999 : Column: 557
Application of guidance is the responsibility of individual Departments. Within this Department we are making use of consultation, research projects and desegregated statistics to identify the impact of policy upon women.
The only piece of legislation that this Department is responsible for in the current session is the House of Lords Bill.
Details of our consultation document "Reform of the House of Lords" were published in the Women's National Commission Briefing, which was issued to their 50 full and 33 associate members on 1 April 1999. Some requests for the document were received, but no further representations.
The present under-representation of certain elements of our society within the House of Lords is an issue that needs to be rectified. As a first, self-contained, step we intend to remove the rights of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. We are determined to remove the hereditary peers from the House of Lords because we simply do not accept, as a matter of principle, that in social, economic or, above all, by gender or ethnic origin the hereditary peers can reasonably be considered to be representative of the people of the country. Women are grossly under-represented in the House of Lords; they constitute just 2.5 per cent. of the hereditary peers.
The Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords will report back at the end of this year with recommendations for wide-ranging reform of the House of Lords. It will address the role that a fully reformed House should fulfil and it will consider how to bring the best possible range of representatives into the second chamber, whether by direct or indirect election, nomination or a combination of these methods.
A nominated, or partly nominated, chamber has the advantage of widening the possible range of representation. Gender, ethnicity, region, age--all these areas can be represented within a chamber that includes an element of nomination.
Dr. Fox:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of statutory instruments introduced by his Department into Parliament in (a) 1998, (b) 1992, (c) 1985 and (d) 1973 had the European Union as their legislative source. [89168]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
The total number of statutory instruments (SIs) registered as General Instruments in 1998, 1992, 1985 and 1973 is listed in the table. I have indicated the number of SIs which were made by my Department and its predecessors to comply with European Community obligations.
| Year | Number of SIs | Number implementing EC obligations |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1,565 | 0 |
| 1992 | 1,692 | 0 |
| 1985 | 1,204 | 0 |
| 1973 | 1,260 | 0 |
7 Jul 1999 : Column: 558
Older People (Public Services)
Mr. Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what estimate he has made of the number of older people who have received improved public services as a result of the first year of the Better Government for Older People Programme; [90068]
(2) how many copies of "Making it Happen", the report of the first year of the Better Government for Older People Programme have been produced; at what cost; and to whom unsolicited copies have been sent; [90063]
(3) if he will list the improvements made to public services as a result of the first year of the Better Government for Older People Programme; [90067]
(4) what was the cost to public funds of the first year of the Better Government for Older People Programme. [90069]
Mr. Kilfoyle: The Better Government for Older People Programme (BGOP) began in April 1998 and runs until April 2000. It is steered by a partnership led by the Cabinet Office and supported by Age Concern, Anchor Trust, the Carnegie Third Age Programme, Help the Aged, the Local Government Association and the Warwick University Local Authorities Research Consortium. It is an important part of the drive to modernise government so that public services are better equipped for the 21st Century. The Modernising Government White Paper sets as one of its targets that, by the end of the year 2000, older people should benefit from joined up services and integrated planning in at least half our local authorities.
Older people represent a significant and growing proportion of the population. For example, there are currently 10.5 million people over state pension age in the UK. This figure is expected to have increased to around 15 million by 2040, by which date 24 per cent. of the UK's population--the highest percentage in the EU--will be 60 or over. All these people, and many others, are the potential beneficiaries of the BGOP Programme.
Evaluation is an ongoing and integral part of BGOP. We will publish the results when the Programme comes to an end. Older people are already beginning to feel the benefit of improvements achieved at the local level by the 28 pilot projects, many examples of which are featured in "Making It Happen", the report of the first year of the BGOP Programme. But by far the biggest group of potential beneficiaries is those who will experience better-designed and delivered public services as a result of learning from the pilot projects.
BGOP's Learning Network brings together older people, the pilots and other partners in the Programme as well as local authorities. Its role is to help examine what does and does not work in relation to public services used by older people. It will inform the development of good practice and new models for better service delivery in the future. It links, through the Cabinet Office and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Older People to central government.
7,000 copies of "Making It Happen" have been printed at a cost of £9,925. Copies are being sent to all MPs, party leaders in the House of Lords, local authority chief executives, the pilot projects, all members of BGOP's Learning Network and others who have asked to be kept
7 Jul 1999 : Column: 559
informed of developments. We are doing this to spread good practice, raise awareness and keep Parliament informed about the Programme.
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