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Subsidies (CAP)
9. Mr. Andrew Reed (Loughborough): What estimate he has made of the proportion of farm income derived from subsidies and price supports under the common agricultural policy. [107888]
The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Ms Joyce Quin): The overall value of direct payments and price supports received by UK producers in 1998-99 represented 230 per cent. of total income from farming.
Mr. Reed: Despite the enormous subsidies that go to farmers, we recognise that they are in crisis. However, does that not show that we are not getting good value for money from the common agricultural policy and other policies? Will the Minister ensure that we work harder to get much more of that money into things such as rural development plans to allow those farmers to convert,
and so that farmers are eventually paid for the work which they do but are not paid for--country stewardship and such things--rather than the Government interfering in the way they work on their farms?
Ms Quin: I welcome the broad thrust of my hon. Friend's remarks. We want a new sense of direction in agriculture. That is precisely what we are trying to achieve through the rural development regulation. The way the CAP has developed in recent years has distorted payments throughout the agriculture sector. Often, it has been difficult to support the sectors that we have wanted to support. At the same time, money has been spent through the CAP in a distorting way. We have made an imaginative start with the rural development regulation. I am glad that certain other European countries are taking a close interest in what we are doing.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
The Solicitor-General was asked--
Welsh Language
25. Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend): What provision the Crown Prosecution Service makes for Welsh speakers in the conduct of proceedings in Wales. [107907]
The Solicitor-General (Mr. Ross Cranston): It has been the CPS's policy in the conduct of its business to treat the Welsh and English languages on the basis of equality. That policy was given further effect by the publication of the "Welsh Language Scheme" on 27 January. The Welsh Language Board has approved the scheme. It aims to enable anyone who communicates with the CPS in Wales to do so in Welsh, if they so choose.
Mr. Griffiths: Is my hon. and learned Friend confident that there are enough Welsh-speaking chief Crown prosecutors to ensure that, in all cases where participants are Welsh speakers, they will be able to use their mother tongue?
The Solicitor-General: There are a number of Crown prosecutors who can speak Welsh. I think that about a quarter of them can, which compares favourably with the population as a whole. In addition, there are members of the Bar in Wales who can conduct trials in Welsh. Although it is a responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department, there are people who can interpret. I am confident that people in Wales can conduct criminal proceedings in Welsh.
Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy): As a member of the Welsh Bar, I know that provision is patchy in Wales. The CPS should run courses to train people to conduct and to deal with advocacy through the medium of the Welsh language. It is only proper that that should happen; and it should be an all-Wales scheme.
The Solicitor-General: As I said in my original answer, there is a dual policy. The Welsh language advocacy training programme supports Crown prosecutors to enable them to prosecute cases in Welsh--but I take the point. We are working on it.
Unclaimed Assets
26. Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East): What criteria are applied to the distribution of unclaimed assets of dissolved companies and intestate individuals; and if he will make a statement. [107908]
The Solicitor-General: In the case of dissolved companies, their beneficial property and rights vest in the Crown as bona vacantia. The Treasury Solicitor acts as the Crown's nominee for dealing with such assets for England and Wales, other than in the Duchies of Cornwall or Lancaster.
The criteria for distribution of the estate of intestate individuals are laid down in the Administration of Estates Act 1925. Where an individual has died intestate without known kin, the estate will fall to the Crown.
Dr. Iddon:
How does the Treasury Solicitor dispose of money arising from those sources that is left in bank accounts? What is the value of such money?
The Solicitor-General:
To answer the second question first, some £10 million net every year is administered in that way. In relation to money in bank accounts, that will go to the Crown, although it may be that claims can be made by, for example, unpaid creditors. In some cases, former members of the dissolved company can make an application.
Mr. John Burnett (Torridge and West Devon):
Is there a register, open to the public, of unclaimed estates of intestates? What is the time limit for claimants with genuine and proven claims to make claims against the Crown where assets have been confiscated by the Crown? Is that time limit effectively 30 years?
The Solicitor-General:
There is no such register of intestate individuals. I understand that there are about 2,000 cases every year, and that in about one third of them a next-of-kin is ultimately identified, so that money does not go bona vacantia. In some cases persons who do not have a legal claim but may have a moral claim--for example, they looked after the deceased--can make a claim and the Treasury Solicitor may make an ex gratia payment. The hon. Gentleman is right about the time limit; there is a time limit.
27. Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours (Workington):
If he will review the arrangements for the prosecution of crimes of rape. [107909]
The Solicitor-General:
The principles applied by the Crown Prosecution Service in rape cases are governed by the code for Crown prosecutors. In order to prosecute, a Crown prosecutor must be satisfied that the evidential and public interest tests set out in the code are met.
The Home Office is leading a review of all sex offences in the common and statute law of England and Wales, and expects to issue a consultation document this spring.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
In all seriousness, what are we to do about women who make false allegations of rape
The Solicitor-General:
The conviction rate in reported rape cases is 9 per cent; it is quite low. There is quite a high attrition rate. The CPS will prosecute only if a very high evidential test is met. It must be sure that there is a realistic prospect of conviction. Because consent is the issue in most cases, and because the parties involved in the majority of cases will have an acquaintanceship, that is a very difficult evidential test to be met. So I assure my hon. Friend that prosecutions are undertaken only in cases where there is clear evidence. Moreover, the public interest test that I mentioned will almost always be met, given that rape is a gross violation of a person's integrity.
28. Jane Griffiths (Reading, East):
What plans he has for investment in information technology for the Crown Prosecution Service in Reading in 2000-01. [107910]
The Solicitor-General:
I am pleased to report that the Reading CPS office will benefit from a significant IT investment this year and next.
The sum of £12 million from the Government's capital modernisation fund, together with existing CPS resources, will fund the so-called Connect 42 project, which will enable CPS staff to have access to modern PCs across the 42 CPS areas for the first time. It will also facilitate electronic mail communications with other agencies. The national roll-out to all CPS areas will be between August this year and July next year.
Jane Griffiths:
I thank my hon. and learned Friend for that very welcome reply. He will recall visiting the Crown Prosecution Service in Reading last year. Does he agree that the staff there will not only be grateful for this investment, but will be enabled finally to put into practice their commitment to fast and efficient justice for the 21st century?
The Solicitor-General:
My hon. Friend and I both visited the Reading office last year and saw a local initiative undertaken by one of the staff. I commend that member of staff, who has developed a local tracking system. Ultimately we need to develop the information tracking system nationally.
As well as the £12 million modernisation fund, there is a public-private partnership which will go beyond the initial modernisation stage and will enable the different agencies--the courts, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service--to talk to each other. In the end, as my hon. Friend said, that will lead to joined-up justice between the different agencies and more efficient justice.
Mr. Edward Garnier (Harborough):
No doubt the £12 million going to the Reading CPS office will be welcome--[Interruption.] Ah; it appears that there will be only £12 million nationwide. Is that not a ridiculously small sum? Information technology is not a new idea. The Government have been in office for nearly three years;
The Solicitor-General:
I know the hon. and learned Gentleman is on a bit of a high, but that was over the top.
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