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High Court Vacancies

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many vacant posts

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there are for the High Court Bench; when he proposes to fill the vacancies; by what procedure he will fill the vacancies; and if he will make a statement. [122807]

Mr. Lock: There are currently no vacancies on the High Court Bench. The assessment of my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor is that the current demands on the High Court are fully met by the number of judges in post.

In November 1999 the statutory ceiling on the number of High Court judges was increased by eight, from 98 to 106. Since then, four additional High Court judges have been appointed in preparation for the implementation of the Human Rights Act in October 2000. This has taken the number of judges from 98 to 102 (excluding Mr. Justice Bratza, who is serving full-time on the European Court of Human Rights).

There remains capacity within the statutory ceiling to appoint a further four judges. The Lord Chancellor will continue to monitor the demands on the High Court, and he will recommend the appointment of further judges, within the statutory ceiling, when he considers it is necessary.

In February 2000, as part of his regular search for potential candidates, the Lord Chancellor again invited applications for consideration for appointment to the High Court Bench. When vacancies arise, appointment will be made on merit from those who have applied, either in 1998 or this year, or from others whom the Lord Chancellor regards as meeting the criteria to the required degree of distinction. Of the 19 High Court judges appointed since February 1998, eight had applied for appointment, and 11 were invited to accept appointment.

Careless Driving Charges

Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many careless driving charges authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service in Essex were heard by magistrates in the 12 months from May 1999 to the end of April 2000; and how many were still to be determined by the courts on 1 May 2000. [122902]

Jane Kennedy: Magistrates in Essex heard 942 careless driving charges in the period from January 2000 to the end of April 2000. Records before January are not readily available. There remain 644 charges to be determined.

Damages Act 1996

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he proposes to set a rate of return under section 1 of the Damages Act 1996; and if he will make a statement. [121902]

Mr. Lock: The Lord Chancellor published a consultation paper in March seeking views on the exercise of his powers under the Damages Act and raising alternatives to lump sum payments. The deadline for responses is 31 May and he will announce decisions following an analysis of the responses to that consultation paper.

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Criminal and Civil Cases

Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department for what reason a non-molestation order is treated as a criminal case and an access order is treated as a civil case. [121499]

Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.

The Family Homes and Domestic Violence (NI) Order 1998 creates a new unified and coherent legal regime for dealing with domestic violence. The old personal protection orders have been replaced by non-molestation orders. The non-molestation orders are civil orders made by the court for the protection of the applicant and any children who may be at risk of family violence. The breach of a non-molestation order, involving as it does the threat of violence to the protected person(s), is appropriately a criminal offence and police officers are empowered to arrest for breach of such an order.

An access order, since the introduction of the Children (NI) Order 1996 known as a contact order, is an order by the court to provide for contact between a parent and a child in circumstances where that parent is not living with the child. Breach of contact orders may be treated as contempt of court. However, difficulties in ensuring contact between children and parents may involve many complicated relationship factors and require to be dealt with sensitively within the family civil law system.

DEFENCE

Army Training Ranges

Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the competition to find a strategic partner for the management of the Army's training areas and ranges. [123710]

Dr. Moonie: As my hon. Friend the then Under- Secretary of State for Defence, now Minister for the Armed Forces, said in his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries (Mr. Brown) on 25 November 1998, Official Report, column 10W, we have been conducting a competition to seek a long-term strategic partner from the private sector to help introduce best commercial practice in supporting and managing the Army Training Estate. As a result of the work conducted thus far, it has been decided to include all non-core training support activities and services because there is scope for better value for money if the boundaries of the study were to be extended in this way. In addition, a site utility review is going to be conducted to establish the usage of sites and this may lead to rationalisation of some sites. It is too early to say what the impact of this work is going to be, both on jobs and individual sites, but the MOD Trades Unions will be consulted at every stage. Should any redundancies result from this study, these will be handled in accordance with MOD procedures agreed by the Trades Unions.

Logistic Information Systems Agency

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what performance targets have been set for the Logistic Information Systems Agency for 2000-01. [123715]

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Mr. Spellar: The Chief Executive of the Logistic Information Systems Agency has been set the following Key Targets for 2000-01.

Key Target 1
To deliver all Customer-agreed outputs to budget.
Key Target 2
To maintain or improve the cost ratio of Information Systems Delivery staff to Administrative staff of 1:0.58.
Key Target 3
To improve delivery performance to customer requirements such that:
The average time for Requests For Change assessment is reduced by 4 per cent. to five days.
The average period required for Requests For Change Authorisation is reduced by 5 per cent. to 64 days.
Key Target 4
To be graded as three or better for overall delivery, on a scale of one (exceptional) to five (ineffective), based on 100 per cent. of customer reports.

Merchant Navy Reserve

Mrs. Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Merchant Navy Reserve. [123786]

Mr. Spellar: I have recently decided, as part of my Department's continuous attempts to improve the effectiveness and operability of the naval reserve forces, to disband the Merchant Navy Reserve (MNR).

The MNR was formed in 1989 to provide a modest pool of experienced British Merchant Seamen to augment the crews of UK registered merchant ships in times of tension and war. The MNR's membership has never been called-out since its inception and there are no foreseen circumstances where the Government may be required to do so. The Cold War environment that generated the requirement for the Merchant Navy Reserve has changed fundamentally, resulting in the necessity for the Government to review all elements of the armed forces. Such reviews have demonstrated there is no longer a requirement to maintain the Merchant Navy Reserve in circumstances where there is no foreseeable need for its services.

My Department has therefore made arrangements for letters to be sent to individual members of the MNR thanking them for their past service and informing them of this decision and the reasons behind it. The letters encourage MNR personnel to consider joining the Royal Naval Reserve, an organisation which offers valuable training and personal development opportunities to all those with an interest in acquiring or maintaining the Nation's much-needed maritime skills.

The measure in no way effects the Government's wholehearted and continuing support for the Merchant Navy, a matter demonstrated amply in the 1998 White Paper "British Shipping: Charting A New Course". Industry, the unions and Government continue to work together to regenerate the UK merchant navy and seafaring skills base to meet the Nation's future needs.

Service Personnel (Marriage Statistics)

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy

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and (c) the RAF of age group (i) 16 to 24, (ii) 25 to 29, (iii) 30 to 34, (iv) 35 to 44, (v) 45 to 49 and (vi) 50 years and over have changed from Maristat One in each year between and including 1989 and the current financial year, stating in each age category the (1) proportional change from strength, (2) proportional change from married strength, (3) proportional change from married to divorced from the national population as a whole and (4) proportional change from married to divorced from the national married population; and if he will make a statement. [123242]

Mr. Spellar: This information is not held centrally by my Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the married strength of the (a) Army, (b) RAF, (c) Royal Navy and (d) all services, are married to a serving member of the Armed Forces not including Reserve Forces; and if he will make a statement. [123159]

Mr. Spellar: The information requested is as follows:

	Total married strength	Married to serving person	Proportion (Percentage)
(a) Army	48,614	2,868	5.9
(b) Royal Navy	20,014	844	4.2
(c) Royal Air Force	34,219	2,400	7.0
(d) All services	102,847	6,112	5.9

The table may contain some inaccuracies as some personnel may not have amended their records following the discharge of their spouse from the Armed Forces.

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