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Proprietorial Schools
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many proprietorial schools there are in England and Wales. [99837]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Under the Education Act 1996 all registered independent schools must have a person or body acting as proprietor. From information available on the 2,231 registered independent schools in England, about 16 per cent. appear to be owned and managed by one or a few individual persons or a family; some 57 per cent. have charitable status; and most of the
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remainder have some form of non-charitable proprietorial company or other body. Figures for Wales are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Dr. Ladyman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what discussions he has had with the representatives and operators of proprietorial schools about the impact on them of the decisions of DETR not to issue permits under Section 19 of the Transport Act 1985. [99838]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Apart from the recent letter from my hon. Friend, the Department has received no approaches from individual independent schools or their representative organisations on this matter.
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Solicitor-General how many people are (a) under investigation and (b) suspended from the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to professional misconduct; and if he will make a statement. [98874]
The Solicitor-General: No professionally qualified member of the Crown Prosecution Service is currently suspended in relation to professional misconduct, although two are the subject of investigation by the professional bodies to which they belong.
It would not be appropriate to make any further statement while these investigations are continuing.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Solicitor-General what steps he is taking to monitor and improve the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service. [98875]
The Solicitor-General:
Performance management and monitoring in relation to the Crown Prosecution Service operates at three levels. First, my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General has a statutory duty to superintend the work of the Crown Prosecution Service. He and I meet the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and his senior staff frequently to discuss all aspects of the performance of the CPS; and we receive full briefing on current significant issues. Secondly, the DPP and his Chief Executive have developed structured arrangements for on-going appraisal of the 42 new Chief Crown Prosecutors (CCPs) and their Areas which are thorough but compatible with the decentralised structure of the CPS post-Glidewell. Thirdly, the CPS Inspectorate has embarked on a 2-year cycle to inspect all 42 CPS Areas and this will be accompanied by a programme of thematic reviews. The Government have placed before Parliament a Bill to strengthen the role of the Inspectorate by placing it on an independent statutory basis.
Government Car Service
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what was the total cost of providing all Government Car Service services in 1998-99; and what was the estimated cost of vehicles and drivers allocated to Ministers and their private offices in 1998-99. [99136]
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Mr. Ian McCartney:
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to the Government Car and Despatch Agency. I have asked its Chief Executive, Mr. Nick Matheson, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Nick Matheson to Mr. Norman Baker, dated November 1999:
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the constitution of the Council of the Isles. [98789]
Marjorie Mowlam:
Following devolution to Northern Ireland, the British-Irish Council will be established by the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of Ireland done at Dublin on 8 March 1999 (Ireland No. 5 (1999) cm 4296). The Agreement states that the Council shall be constituted and shall operate in accordance with the provisions of the Multi-Party Agreement reached at Belfast on 10 April 1998 (Ireland No. 1 (1999) cm 4292).
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list the occasions in the last two years when Government Departments have pressed the European Commission to carry out impact assessments; and if she will list the directives, regulations and decisions concerned. [99626]
Mr. Stringer:
The Government do not keep information in the form requested and could not do so without disproportionate cost.
My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office raised the general question of the importance of impact assessment when she met Commissioner Liikanen recently. This is part of our commitment to ensure that regulation is fair and that it has the minimum possible negative impact on prosperity and jobs. We want the European Commission to improve and extend its procedures for carrying out impact assessments. This is an on-going process and not confined to individual directives, regulations or decisions.
My Department has also issued guidance aimed at UK Ministers and officials that reminds them of the importance of assessment from the earliest stage of proposal. Copies of this Guide to Better European Regulations and the accompanying checklist were put in the Libraries of the House on its publication last July.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Guide to Better European Regulations was compiled; and what guidance it replaced. [99625]
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Mr. Stringer:
The Guide to Better European Regulations was published on 21 July 1999 after wide consultation, both within and outside Government.
The Guide replaced and superseded numerous forms of guidance.
Prior to its publication, guidelines were available to Government Departments in various forms, but never before had all the information on drafting, negotiating, presenting and implementing European legislation been available in one document and in such an accessible form.
Mr. Michael J. Foster:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what guidance the Lord Chancellor's Department issues to courts on whether a person who has legally changed his or her name by (a) statutory declaration and (b) deed poll is required to reveal any former name when appearing in court as a witness, defendant or civil litigant, or when standing surety for bail. [99393]
Jane Kennedy:
The Lord Chancellor's Department has not issued any guidance to the courts. Whether a person's previous name is relevant in criminal or civil proceedings and needs to be disclosed depends on the issues in dispute and the surrounding circumstances and is for the court to decide.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he plans to implement Part II of the Family Law Act 1996. [98869]
Jane Kennedy:
I refer the right hon. Member to the written Parliamentary answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate) on 17 June 1999, Official Report, column 213W. The position remains unchanged.
Mr. Hawkins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to amend the law to enable the Official Solicitor, when acting as (a) guardian ad litem, to initiate applications to a court seeking an Order to prevent the removal of a child from the jurisdiction, and (b) to bring application in overseas courts under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. [99726]
Jane Kennedy:
The Government has no plans to amend the law in this way.
Mr. Hawkins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which factors are considered by the Official Solicitor in considering whether or not to draw to a court's attention a possible risk that a child may be abducted and taken outside the jurisdiction of the UK courts. [99725]
Jane Kennedy:
The responsibility for acting to prevent the unlawful removal of a child from the jurisdiction rests with the holder of parental responsibility for the child. If the Official Solicitor is involved in the case and in the
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course of his inquiries discovers that there is a real and imminent danger of removal, he would advise the holder of parental responsibility so that appropriate action could be taken by that person.
The Minister of State has asked me in my capacity as the Chief Executive responsible for the Government Car Service to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the cost of the Government Car Service.
The total cost of providing all Government Car Service services in 1998/99 was £8.06 million. The estimated cost of vehicles and drivers allocated to Ministers and their private offices as £4.32 million.
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