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Crown Court (Ex Post Facto Taxation)
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what estimate he has made of the savings in administrative costs which would result from replacing the present system of the ex post facto taxation of counsels' fees in the Crown court with a combination of an extended graduated fees scheme and individual case contracts. [125358]
Jane Kennedy: No estimates have been made. It will only be possible to do so once the extent of the graduated fee scheme and the contracts have been agreed.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the cost of administering the system of ex post facto taxation of counsels' fees in the Crown court in each of the last 10 years. [125357]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available.
Salaried Defence Service
Mr. Leslie: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will publish consultation papers on (a) establishing a salaried defence service and draft code of conduct for salaried defenders employed by the Legal Services Commission and (b) choice of representative in criminal proceedings. [126069]
Mr. Lock: Copies of both consultation papers have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies are also available on the Lord Chancellor's Department's website at http://www.open.gov.uk/lcd.
Departmental Expenditure Limits
Mr. Leslie: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals he has to amend the Lord Chancellor's Department's departmental expenditure limit for 2000-01. [126070]
Mr. Lock: Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate for Class V, Vote 1, the Lord Chancellor's Department's Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2000-01 will be increased by £10,000,000 from £2,515,609,000 to £2,525,609,000. The increase is in respect of an award from the Capital Modernisation Fund for the "Crown Court Programme".
The increase will be offset by a transfer from the Capital Modernisation Fund and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
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Penalty Clauses
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 16 May 2000, Official Report, column 16W, on penalty clauses, what penalty payments were made by CSL Group Ltd. [125360]
Mr. Lock: The totals for each financial year are as follows:
| Date | Total |
|---|---|
| 1998-99 | 33,600 |
| 1999-2000 | 113,250 |
| 2000-01 to date | 1,400 |
| Total | 148,250 |
CABINET OFFICE
No-smoking Policy
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on (a) the effectiveness of her Department's no-smoking policy and (b) the proportion of her Department's offices that do not allow smoking. [125160]
Mr. Stringer: (a) The effectiveness of my Department's no-smoking policy is not specifically measured.
(b) 100 per cent. However, designated smoking rooms are provided in each of the offices occupied by my Department. I also refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) on 21 December 1999, Official Report, column 574W.
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to her answer of 19 January 2000, Official Report, column 443W, concerning contracts, if
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she will list the companies concerned and whether these contracts were subject to a competitive tendering process. [124825]
Mr. Stringer: Details of companies concerned and whether they were subject to a competitive tendering process are given in the table:
| Name of company | Competitively tendered |
|---|---|
| AT Kearney | No |
| BMRB International | No |
| Close, Morton and Company | No |
| Competitive Contract Services | No |
| Garavi Gujarat | No |
| Hymans Robertson(23) | Yes |
| Opinion Leader Research | No |
| Pannell Kerr Forster/Knight Frank | Yes |
| PriceWaterhouseCoopers(23) | Yes |
| Rawlings and Co.(23) | No |
| Schneider-Ross | Yes |
| South Thames Consultancy | Yes |
(23) Two contracts
Specified Advisers
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Special Advisers employed by the Government are (a) men, (b) women and (c) from ethnic minorities; and how many attended (i) a state school and (ii) Oxford or Cambridge. [125565]
Mr. Stringer: At 12 June, of the 79 Special Advisers in post, 20 are women. In response to a voluntary survey, the number identified from ethnic minorities are five or less. The exact number is not identified in order to protect the identity of the individuals in line with guidance in the Government Statistical Service Code of Practice. Information relating to the educational background of Special Advisers is not held centrally.
Government Car and Despatch Agency
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many cars the Government Car and Despatch Agency has purchased since May 1997. [125555]
Mr. Ian McCartney: Since May 1997 the Government Car Service, which is part of the Government Car and Despatch Agency, has purchased 126 cars.
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