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Computers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will discuss with software companies whether they would be prepared to waive
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rights and let licences be passed from one user to another when personal computers are reconditioned or similarly second-hand and the recipients are schools and educational facilities. [57691]
John Healey: My Department has regular meetings with major software suppliers and these discussions include issues related to the particular rights on licences. Our aim is to ensure that education institutions obtain best value for money, and usually the cost of licences for education is considerably lower than other market areas. It is important that schools are properly licensed, and most suppliers will offer substantial discounts to schools. This applies both to new, second hand or reconditioned computers.
Unpaid Advisers
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 129W, what the (a) names and (b) responsibilities are of unpaid advisers who have assisted the work of her Department since June 1997 but are not included in the Cabinet Office's annual report "Task Forces, Ad Hoc Advisory Groups and Reviews 2000–01". [57033]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 21 May 2002]: The Secretary of State has appointed Sir Cyril Taylor as her unpaid adviser for the specialist schools programme, and on sponsorship for education action zones.
I apologise to the right hon. Member. Sir Cyril Taylor's name should have been included in my reply to him of 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 129W, but was omitted in error.
Breakfast Clubs
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evaluation she has made of the value of breakfast clubs in enhancing the attendance and achievement of school pupils. [56354]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Evidence shows that out-of-school- hours study support, including breakfast clubs, can make a real difference to children's attitudes to school, attendance and attainment. Specific evaluation of breakfast clubs also points to benefits such as improved punctuality, concentration, social skills, and relationships with staff.
Sixth Forms
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact of the establishment of the Learning and Skills Council on the funding arrangements for school sixth forms. [56357]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Learning and Skills Council began funding LEAs for their school sixth form provision in April. Funding allocations were notified to LEAs and schools in early March. All LEAs have received their first tranche payments from the LSC.
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SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
36. Caroline Flint: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will examine ways of achieving more effective representation by the CPS in handling breaches of antisocial behaviour orders. [56381]
The Solicitor-General: A breach of an antisocial behaviour order is a criminal offence and the CPS will prosecute when the police send them a file.
Last year there were 85 prosecutions for breaches of ASBOs of which 69 resulted in a conviction.
Crown Prosecution Service
37. Mr. Mike O'Brien: To ask the Solicitor-General what action she has taken to introduce anti-discrimination policies within the Crown Prosecution Service. [56382]
The Solicitor-General: Anti-discrimination measures already implemented include:
- (1) training over 6,000 members of staff in equality and diversity, all staff have diversity objectives measured through the performance appraisal system,
(2) the appointment of 11 regional officers,
(3) campaigns on "dignity at work"
(4) a raft of community engagement initiatives across the country,
(5) all personnel procedures have been reviewed to ensure they are not discriminatory,
(6) a new complaints procedure has been written, and there is a review of 15,000 cases to see whether there are indicators of discrimination in any part of the prosecution process.
39. Mr. Kidney: To ask the Solicitor-General what arrangements she has made for the Crown Prosecution Service to support the Government's aim of reducing street crime. [56384]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service is committed fully to playing its part in the street crime initiative. With police it developed the Premium Service. This is designed to deliver a premium service of best practice in investigation and prosecution.
The premium service targets particular crime areas and will ensure that offenders are investigated and prosecuted with skill and determination. Experienced lawyers and detectives will handle cases and they will work closely together. An extra £6 million is being allocated to the CPS to free up experienced lawyers to concentrate on this work.
Key features of the Premium Service include:
- early CPS advice to get the charge right first time;
working closely with the police throughout the preparation of the case and the court hearing;
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speeding up the criminal justice process by using measures such as Narey courts, telephone advice, urgent conferences and simple, unbureaucratic procedures;
more careful consideration given to discontinuing prosecutions;
extra care for victims and witnesses;
use of videos in court to show the court the full picture of a robbery;
opposing bail when appropriate and being robust about appealing against decisions to grant bail;
presenting full evidence of previous convictions.
The Crown Prosecution Service has also been at the forefront in developing area protocols in partnership with criminal justice agencies at a local level. These protocols are designed to ensure that there is engagement all the way through the criminal justice system and with the local community.
The CPS has engaged fully with its criminal justice partners, meeting regularly at local levels and nationally at strategic levels. It has taken national areas of concern, such as those surrounding bail, and worked towards solutions that benefit the whole of the criminal justice system.
Both the Attorney-General and I are being briefed regularly by the CPS about progress on this initiative. The Attorney-General attends the ministerial meetings, which the Prime Minister chairs, together with the DPP and the chief executive.
Witness Intimidation
38. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking to identify cases of witness intimidation. [56383]
The Solicitor-General: The police have the primary responsibility to identify that a case involves an intimidated witness.
The Crown Prosecution Service will, as part of its case review, be alert to the possibility that the case may involve an intimidated or vulnerable witness and will take the appropriate action to protect witnesses, which could include an application for the remand of the defendant in custody or for special measures to protect an intimidated witness such as the video evidence screens or clearing the public gallery.
Death in Custody
40. Hugh Bayley: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans she has to seek the involvement of the CPS in giving advice immediately following a death in custody. [56385]
The Solicitor-General: In many cases the police already seek early legal advice from the Crown Prosecution Service during the investigation of a death in custody. The practice of the CPS giving early advice in these cases is one of the issues raised for consultation by the Attorney General in his review of the role and practices of the Crown Prosecution Service in cases arising from deaths in custody.
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Crime Statistics (North Yorkshire)
41. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on levels of (a) reported crimes and (b) successful prosecutions brought in North Yorkshire since 1996–97. [56387]
The Solicitor-General: The level of reported crime in North Yorkshire stood at 50,924 cases for the year 1996–97.
The figures for 2001–02, show 59,149 cases being reported in that year.
Over the last two years there has been a drop in the number of convictions with 10,801 in 2001–02.
PRIME MINISTER
Euro
Mr. Laws: To ask the Prime Minister what opinion polling has been carried out into the public's attitude to the euro since June 2001; what the cost has been of such polling; if he will publish the results; and if he will make a statement. [58611]
The Prime Minister: The FCO announced on 5 December 2001 the results of its opinion poll on attitudes towards the European Union and put the results in the Library of the House. The poll, carried out by ICM on behalf of the FCO, cost £28,317.50.
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