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Economic Convergence

37. Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his forecast for economic convergence of the British economy with that of those nations in the eurozone. [125863]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has said we will make another assessment of the five economic tests early in the next Parliament.

NMB Group

Mrs. Gordon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the secured loans made by NMB Group plc's fully-owned subsidiary, Consumer Loans Company Limited, were redeemed during the Bank of England's ownership of NMB Group plc from 1994 to February 2000; in what proportion of the redeemed loans a charge for early settlement equal to six months' interest was levied; and in what proportion of the redeemed loans the charge for early settlement was calculated by reference to the Rule of 78. [125946]

Miss Melanie Johnson: During the period of the Bank of England's ownership, NMB was run on an arms length basis under its own board of directors. The overall policy was to run down the business. The Bank does not have details of loans and repayments, but asked NMB to responded positively to any approach by individual borrowers who wished to refinance their loan.

Scottish Parliament Committees

Mr. Welsh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will outline his policy on (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department accepting invitations to give evidence to committees of the Scottish Parliament in relation to the impact of reserved policy matters on devolved policy areas; and if he will make a statement. [126674]

Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 20 June 2000]: Decisions on whether Ministers or officials should accept invitations to give evidence to committees of the Scottish Parliament in relation to the impact of reserved policy matters on devolved policy areas depend on the circumstances of the case.

Voluntary Giving

Dr. Desmond Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress he has made following his announcement at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations conference on 9 February concerning the Government's intention to initiate a national campaign to promote the giving of time and money in partnership with the voluntary sector. [126877]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 21 June 2000]: When the Chancellor addressed the NCVO conference on 9 February, he said that he wanted to bring together all relevant parties to examine proposals for a national campaign based on a partnership with the

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voluntary sector. The NCVO and the Charities Aid Foundation have made some proposals on a possible campaign, which we are discussing with them.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many parliamentary questions were tabled to his Department between 19 October 1999 and 20 April which requested information, pursuant to previous answers. [127343]

Mr. Timms: Seventy seven.

PRIME MINISTER

Chief Press Secretary

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister under what circumstances the Chief Press Secretary is authorised to speak on his behalf when dealing with ministers. [126503]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 20 June 2000]: The Chief Press Secretary always acts in accordance with the Prime Minster's wishes.

Charter of Fundamental Rights

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the factors determining the number of delegates each political party was asked to provide for the drafting of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. [127184]

The Prime Minister: For the 30 national parliamentary delegates to Charter Convention, most parliaments, including the United Kingdom's, have selected one representative from each chamber and from each of the main political parties. The 16 members of the European Parliament were selected on a pro rata basis from among the European political groupings.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to veto the inclusion of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in any treaty base. [127197]

The Prime Minister: The Government have made clear their view that the Charter should be a declaratory document, not incorporated into the EU Treaties. That position is shared by a significant number of our EU partners.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list by political party the number of UK delegates to the drafting body on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. [127190]

The Prime Minister: The United Kingdom delegates to the drafting body of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights are:

Lord Goldsmith QC (Labour)--Prime Minister's representative

Win Griffiths MP (Labour)--Parliamentary representative

Lord Bowness (Conservative)--Parliamentary representative

Andrew Duff MEP (Liberal Democrats)--European Parliament representative

David Martin MEP (Labour)--European Parliament representative

Timothy Kirkhope MEP (Conservative)--European Parliament representative.

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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Young Offenders

Mr. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the length of time taken for young offenders' cases to reach a conclusion was in the courts in each metropolitan police authority area in the last year for which figures are available; and what the corresponding figures were for 1997. [126963]

Jane Kennedy: The exact information requested is not available. Information on the time taken in magistrates' courts proceedings is collected by the Lord Chancellor's Department's Time Intervals Survey. Figures on the

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timeliness of cases dealt with at the Crown Court are not however available separately for adult and youth defendants.

The table shows the average number of days from first listing to case completion at Youth Courts in Metropolitan Police authority areas from June 1997, February 1999, June 1999, October 1999 and February 2000 Time Intervals Surveys. The only survey to cover all Youth Court defendants in 1997 was the June survey, and the most recent results available are from the February 2000 survey. A degree of seasonal variation is believed to affect the figures shown in the table and therefore comparisons over time are best made between figures from surveys which are whole years apart, for example June against June.

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Average number of days from first listing to case completion at youth courts(16)

Survey(17)	Greater Manchester	Merseyside	Metropolitan(18)	Northumbria	South Yorkshire	West Midlands	West Yorkshire
June 1997(19)	62	67	50	47	50	72	55
February 1999	47	62	35	48	43	86	55
June 1999	48	53	40	43	37	68	39
October 1999	45	53	48	51	49	75	45
February 2000	49	54	51	44	50	74	46

(16) From the start of 1999 analysis of the Time Intervals Survey has included certain longer cases lasting over a year that were previously excluded from the calculations. In this table however the results presented are calculated on the pre-1999 basis for comparability. On the new basis of calculation many of the figures for the February 1999 to February 2000 surveys would be a few days higher.

(17) The first listing to completion period for all youth cases is believed to show some seasonal variation making figures from June surveys slightly lower than the underlying trend, and figures from February surveys a little higher than the trend. For this reason comparisons across time for figures in this table are best made between surveys a whole number of years apart, for example February against February or June against June.

(18) Based on youth courts in the London area. Excludes cases dealt with at youth courts within the Metropolitan Police authority area but outside the London Boroughs. Includes youths apprehended by City of London Police and proceeded against in London Youth Courts (Youth Courts are not held at the magistrates' courts in the City of London).

(19) In the June 1997 survey the sample sizes for Youth Court cases were less then 100 in Merseyside, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire and due to the small sample sizes these figures should be treated with added caution.

Source:

Lord Chancellor's Department Magistrates' Courts Time Intervals Survey

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Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many written parliamentary questions tabled to his Department between 19 October 1999 and 20 April 2000; have not received substantive answers, with commercial or other confidentiality cited as the reason. [127339]

Mr. Lock: In the relevant period, there was one written answer which withheld information requested by an hon. Member on the grounds that it was commercially sensitive.

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