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Remuneration

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the number of individuals in his (a) Department, (b) related agencies and (c) related non- departmental public bodies whose annual remuneration including benefits in kind exceeded (i) £100,000 and (ii) £200,000 in each of the last four years. [26328]

Mr. Leslie: The information in relation to the number of individuals in (a) the Cabinet Office, which includes the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and (b) related agencies whose annual remuneration included benefits in kind exceeded £100,000 in the last four years is set out in the table.

No individual received an annual remuneration in excess of £200,000 during this period. Annual remuneration includes basic salary and allowances.

As at 1 April	Department	Related agencies
1998	4	0
1999	13	0
2000	14	0
2001	18	0

The information for (c) related non-departmental public bodies is available in the annual Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies" copies of which are placed in the Libraries of the House.

Civil Service

Mr. Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in each of the civil servant grades, what proportion are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities. [28070]

Mr. Leslie: Figures for April 2001 show that 24.2 per cent. of the senior civil service were women, and 2.4 per cent. of staff at this level were from an ethnic minority background. At levels below the senior civil

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service, Departments and agencies are responsible for their own grading structures, but these have been allocated to broad responsibility levels to give a common basis for tabulation.

Percentage of female and ethnic minority staff by responsibility level—April 2000Headcount

		Percentage
	Number	Female	Ethnic minorities(23)
Grades 6 and 7	22,750	24.3	2.6
Senior/Higher Executive Officer	74,920	30.6	3.1
Executive Officer	114,580	50.4	5.7
Administrative Officer/Assistant	249,090	62.4	7.5
Grade not reported	2,670	37.1	2.5
All non-industrial staff	467,770	52.0	6.0
All industrial staff	29,870	14.6	1.0
All staff	497,640	49.8	5.8

⁽²³⁾ Ethnic minority as a percentage of known ethnic origin

Stolen Equipment

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was. [26835]

Mr. Leslie: Items stolen between 1 May 1997 and 31 March 2001, and their approximate value, are shown in the table.

Corresponding figures for the 2001–02 financial year have yet to be collated.

Description	Number of items	Value (£)
Computers	23	21,598
Laptop computers	16	23,600
Various other IT equipment	—	32,205
Projectors	2	12,678
Computer printers	5	1,227
Mobile phones	3	570
Cameras	2	714
Car Stereos (stolen from leased cars)	3	300
Video recorder	1	300
Minidisc player	1	200
CD writer	1	800
Amplifiers	2	500
Bicycle	1	300
Tape recorder	1	115
Ladders	—	200
Software	—	300
Tools	—	850
Consumables	—	309
Total		96,766

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Magistrates

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many serving magistrates live in the Knowsley, North and Sefton, East constituency; and if he will make a statement. [30973]

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Mr. Leslie: I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is responsible for the appointment of magistrates in Knowsley and Sefton has asked me to say that the Knowsley, North and Sefton, East constituency covers two Petty Sessions areas—Knowsley and South Sefton. 34 magistrates live in this constituency.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many magistrates serve in the Knowsley area; how many of those live in Knowsley; and if he will make a statement. [30974]

Mr. Leslie: I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is responsible for the appointment of magistrates in Knowsley, has asked me to say that there are 88 magistrates on the Knowsley bench, 48 of whom live in the Knowsley area.

Guardian ad Litem Service

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what targets she has set for the Guardian ad Litem Service for answering mail from (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public. [30439]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Guardian ad Litem Service is now a part of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). The Lord Chancellor expects CAFCASS to give a timely response to mail from both hon. Members and members of the public.

CAFCASS is working to establish standard response times for procedures across the service. CAFCASS is also undertaking work to devise a unified complaints procedure for the Service. CAFCASS aims to meet my Department's target for replying to mail from hon. Members within 20 working days of receipt.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals she has for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Guardian ad Litem Service. [30480]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor has tasked the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) with delivering improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the guardian service.

CAFCASS is developing a new, unified service bringing together: the family court welfare services previously provided by the probation service; the children's division of the official solicitor's department; and local authority guardian ad litem and reporting officer services. The establishment of CAFCASS creates a new national body with a national voice to be an effective champion for children involved in family proceedings.

Empty Properties

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what his estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) his Department, (ii) his agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which he has had responsibility in each of the last four years. [30073]

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Mr. Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department has owned no empty properties in the last four years. The Court Service and the Northern Ireland Court Service have owned a total of 17 properties which have been empty at some point over the last four years. In all cases the buildings were empty only while being marketed for sale, except in one case where the building was empty prior to refurbishment. The estimates of cost and value are shown in the table:

£

Period	Cost	Value
1997–98	275,263	363,100
1998–99	122,186	1,638,060
1999–2000	331,688	2,473,210
2000–01	99,538	1,816,630

The other public bodies for which the Department is responsible have owned no empty properties in the last four years.

Department Expenditure (Publications)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years. [30098]

Mr. Wills: The estimated expenditure on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years is as follows:

1997–98: £60,200


1998–99: £61,700


1999–2000: £64,600


2000–01: £67,500.

Court Reporting Officers

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on the work and role of court reporting officers. [31288]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor has tasked the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) with operational responsibility for the work and role of court reporting officers.

CAFCASS is developing a new, unified service bringing together: the family court welfare services previously provided by the probation service; the Children's Division of the Official Solicitor's Department; and local authority Guardian ad Litem and Reporting Officer services. The establishment of CAFCASS creates a new national body with a national voice to be an effective champion for children involved in family proceedings.

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans she has to review the role and work of court reporting officers, with particular reference to the evaluation of the reports, complaints procedures and their ability to make recommendations. [31289]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor has tasked the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) with operational responsibility for the work and role of court reporting officers.

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CAFCASS has day to day responsibility for the services provided by all of its staff. There are currently no plans to review the role and work of court reporting officers. CAFCASS is undertaking work to devise National Standards and a complaints procedure. The effectiveness of such procedures will be monitored by their Inspectorate who will report their findings to me.

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