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Lord Levy

Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to her answer of 28 March 2000, Official Report, column 76W, if she will list the meetings between Lord Levy and (a) Ministers and (b) officials within her Department on Government business other than in his capacity as the Prime Minister's personal envoy delivering messages in the Middle East. [117783]

Mr. Stringer: To the best of my knowledge, no Minister or senior official in the Cabinet Office has had a meeting with Lord Levy since 1 May 1997 on Government business. This does not include social engagements.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Crown Office List

Mr. Ivan Lewis: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the review of the Crown Office List will be published. [119131]

12 Apr 2000 : Column: 222W

Mr. Lock: The Lord Chancellor's Department has today published the Review of the Crown Office List. The Review was chaired by Sir Jeffery Bowman. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Judges

Mr. Leslie: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the Lord Chancellor has completed his review of the terms of service of part-time judicial office-holders in England and Wales following the judgment of the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland in the Starrs case. [119130]

Jane Kennedy: The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and the Lord Chancellor have agreed new arrangements for part-time judicial appointments for which the Lord Chancellor is responsible. We accord the highest value to the maintenance of judicial independence for all judges, full-time and part-time, and the arrangements have been fashioned for that purpose.

I am placing in the Library of the House two joint statements signed by the Lord Chancellor and by the Lord Chief Justices setting out these changes for the following appointments in ordinary Courts in England and Wales:

Recorders.

Deputy District Judges,

Acting Stipendiary Magistrates,

Deputy Masters or Registrars of the Supreme Court,

Deputy High Court Judges,

Deputy Circuit Judges,

Retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, Lords Justices and High Court Judges;

and the following appointments in Northern Ireland:

Deputy Resident magistrate,

Deputy County Court Judge,

Deputy District Judge,

Retired Law Lords, Lord Justices and High Court Judges.

The Lord Chancellor has also decided that no useful purpose is served by retaining the separate offices of Assistance Recorder and Recorder and he will, accordingly, be recommending to Her Majesty that all serving Assistant Recorders should be appointed Recorders. In future, appointments will be made direct to Recordership through an openly advertised selection procedure.

I am also placing in the Library of the House joint statements signed by the Lord Chancellor and by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales covering the following fixed-term appointments to Tribunals:

Part-time Immigration Adjudicators

Part-time members of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal

Part-time members of the Income and Corporation Taxes Tribunal

Part-time members of the Lands Tribunal

Part-time members of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals

Deputy Social Security and Child Support Commissioners

Part-time Special Commissioners of Income Tax

Part-time members of the Appeals Service (social security)

Part-time Chairmen of the VAT and Duties Tribunal.

12 Apr 2000 : Column: 223W

The Secretary of State for Social Security and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have placed similar statements in the Libraries covering the following appointments for which they are ministerially responsible:

Secretary of State for Social Security
Pensions Ombudsman
Members of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Members of the VAT and Duties Tribunal.

These changes will come into effect immediately.

At a later stage, there will be a further announcement about the detailed aspects of these Tribunal arrangements as they will operate in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales following consultation with the devolved administrations.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Public Sector (Advisory Group on Openness)

Mr. Olner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will accept the recommendations made in the report of the Advisory Group on Openness in the Public Sector. [119124]

Mr. Straw: I set up the Advisory Group on Openness in the Public Sector last year to advise me on how I might facilitate a cultural change to greater openness in the public sector. The Advisory Group reported to me in December and I have carefully considered both the report and its recommendations.

The recommendations address the practical matters necessary to bring about cultural change and to implement a Freedom of Information Act. They set out a broad agenda for action which I am happy to endorse in full. I shall be looking to see how we can best give effect to that agenda and I commend the report and recommendations to all public authorities which will be brought within scope of the freedom of information regime described in the Freedom of Information Bill now before Parliament. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library and is also available on the Home Office website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Police Firearms

Mr. Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the most recent statistics available for the police use of firearms. [119125]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The statistics for April 1998 to March 1999 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued to officers was 10,928, a fall of over 7 per cent. on the previous year. The number of firearms incidents in which firearms were discharged by police was five, compared to three the previous year. There were no fatalities.

There was an increase of 3 per cent. to 7,791 in the number of operations in which armed response vehicles were deployed. Firearms were carried in these vehicles, but were not necessarily issued to officers on each occasion.

12 Apr 2000 : Column: 224W

Full details are set out in the tables.

Number of operations in which firearms were issued

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
Total	8,726	12,379	11,842	10,928
Avon and Somerset	326	312	139	88
Bedfordshire	264	345	323	260
Cambridgeshire	47	54	96	43
Cheshire	219	288	216	299
Cleveland	487	1,026	103	35
City of London	275	308	307	147
Cumbria	54	72	68	52
Derbyshire	72	109	147	176
Devon and Cornwall	90	160	133	61
Dorset	36	36	54	69
Durham	111	131	103	114
Essex	267	331	505	590
Gloucestershire	33	41	51	52
Greater Manchester	142	214	165	160
Hampshire	190	245	217	129
Hertfordshire	47	96	82	75
Humberside	92	291	472	317
Kent	82	236	423	92
Lancashire	227	333	338	616
Leicestershire	138	155	89	109
Lincolnshire	25	58	52	57
Merseyside	280	671	675	484
Metropolitan	2,178	2,439	2,578	2,742
Norfolk	96	166	128	185
Northamptonshire	54	64	77	51
Northumbria	452	1,360	823	683
North Yorkshire	52	65	102	69
Nottinghamshire	57	84	306	266
South Yorkshire	225	155	302	135
Staffordshire	80	257	240	209
Suffolk	150	180	193	174
Surrey	70	133	87	60
Sussex	445	235	330	123
Thames Valley	96	215	227	158
Warwickshire	55	97	152	291
West Mercia	59	106	132	130
West Midlands	226	270	227	305
West Yorkshire	657	617	630	662
Wiltshire	26	26	26	24
Dyfed Powys	11	17	27	38
Gwent	47	89	86	64
North Wales	117	233	310	386
South Wales	69	59	101	148

Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs)

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
Total	6,554	6,738	6,585	6,308
Avon and Somerset	157	165	161	153
Bedfordshire	48	46	42	50
Cambridgeshire	92	90	80	80
Cheshire	84	70	82	70
Cleveland	65	86	84	78
City of London	120	88	81	55
Cumbria	100	108	122	98
Derbyshire	130	110	100	87
Devon and Cornwall	140	151	147	82
Dorset	75	74	72	72
Durham	103	138	144	96
Essex	203	228	217	235
Gloucestershire	85	82	84	79
Greater Manchester	186	209	182	217
Hampshire	104	106	112	110
Hertfordshire	43	42	41	43
Humberside	104	90	102	102
Kent	144	150	150	130
Lancashire	138	132	125	132
Leicestershire	105	104	94	90
Lincolnshire	81	82	85	75
Merseyside	119	147	165	121
Metropolitan	1,915	2,035	1,971	1,951
Norfolk	99	98	102	109
Northamptonshire	95	92	92	92
Northumbria	160	173	126	123
North Yorkshire	134	108	95	83
Nottinghamshire	126	128	129	120
South Yorkshire	125	110	108	90
Staffordshire	80	78	86	92
Suffolk	70	82	96	101
Surrey	79	76	61	69
Sussex	149	180	146	156
Thames Valley	175	185	194	179
Warwickshire	50	41	38	44
West Mercia	153	155	159	139
West Midlands	87	88	95	92
West Yorkshire	150	131	114	128
Wiltshire	145	134	105	88
Dyfed Powys	57	70	71	67
Gwent	55	70	59	64
North Wales	70	72	90	97
South Wales	154	134	176	169

12 Apr 2000 : Column: 225W

Number of operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
Total	5,523	8,060	7,544	7,791
Avon and Somerset	200	247	121	83
Bedfordshire	239	309	285	240
Cambridgeshire	15	23	19	27
Cheshire	180	240	166	247
Cleveland	465	1,014	(15)57	29
City of London	23	25	34	32
Cumbria	44	64	43	38
Derbyshire	53	97	99	153
Devon and Cornwall	21	77	58	43
Dorset	22	28	50	66
Durham	38	62	85	84
Essex	155	218	180	285
Gloucestershire	10	13	48	49
Greater Manchester	6	(16)--	56	43
Hampshire	159	208	170	114
Hertfordshire	20	35	25	26
Humberside	35	284	437	277
Kent	42	208	212	74
Lancashire	187	320	321	596
Leicestershire	101	126	68	109
Lincolnshire	21	39	34	42
Merseyside	239	618	559	396
Metropolitan	1,025	790	954	1,573
Norfolk	80	152	117	167
Northamptonshire	3	20	29	32
Northumbria	325	715	515	503
North Yorkshire	0	13	52	30
Nottinghamshire	44	66	(15)256	246
South Yorkshire	171	129	252	115
Staffordshire	70	235	206	185
Suffolk	117	120	135	104
Surrey	47	52	76	46
Sussex	413	173	284	(15)0
Thames Valley	73	164	184	139
Warwickshire	54	91	127	220
West Mercia	39	77	98	99
West Midlands	98	103	102	129
West Yorkshire	587	584	586	630
Wiltshire	1	23	21	17
Dyfed Powys	6	12	19	30
Gwent	39	58	47	39
North Wales	14	173	260	298
South Wales	42	55	97	136

(15) These forces have changed the counting method for incidents to which ARVs are deployed

(16) No figures available

12 Apr 2000 : Column: 226W

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