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EU Committees
(Scottish Executive Representation)
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the EU Committee on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances (Seveso II) is next due to meet; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [66449]
Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
The Committee of Competent Authorities (CCA) next meeting, which will be its eighth, will be held in Odense, Denmark, from 16 to 18 October 2002. The UK delegation will be headed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and will include others, also from HSE and the Environment Agency (EA). Matters relating to Scottish representation at such meetings should be raised with the Scottish Executive.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the EU Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the Directive on the prevention and reduction of environmental pollution by asbestos is next due to meet; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [66459]
Mr. Meacher: There are currently no plans for the EU Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the Directive on the prevention and reduction of environmental pollution by asbestos to meet. The UK
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representation on this committee depends on the agenda items under discussion. Officials from the Scottish Executive and other devolved Administrations attend as necessary in accordance with their interests.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the EU Committee on agricultural structures and rural development is next due to meet; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [64899]
Alun Michael: The EU Committee on agricultural structures and rural development is next due to meet on 24 July 2002. UK representation may vary according to the agenda for each meeting and may include members of the Scottish Executive and other devolved Administrations where there are items of sufficient interest. Agendas and papers are routinely circulated to all devolved Administrations in advance of meetings and they also receive reports of matters discussed.
CABINET OFFICE
Recycling
Sue Doughty: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance is given to Government Departments in relation to (a) recycling of waste products, (b) purchase of materials which are recycled, and (c) purchases of materials from renewable sources; what plans there are to change such guidance; and if he will make a statement. [65597]
Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.
The Government's policy on these issues is currently set out in the "Model Framework for Greening Government Operations", that was issued in 1998 and is on DEFRA's Greening Government website: http://defraweb/environment/ greening/conserve/conserve.htm. This will be replaced by a new Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate that will be rolled out during the current financial year and set targets for all key operational areas of the Government estate, including waste management and procurement.
The Greening Government website also provides guidance on recycling waste products, e.g. in the "Waste Guide—Advice for Government Departments". The procurement page on that site also contains guidance on purchasing recycled materials, e.g. Part 2 of the "Green Guide for Buyers" contains best practice advice on 'Resource Efficiency' covering the four "Rs", and there is specific guidance in Part 3 covering paper and IT equipment. URL: http://defraweb/environment/greening/greenpro/greenpro.htm There are also links to other sources of information such as the Buy Recycled Programme's Products Guide and the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
There are plans to revise the "Waste Guide". The Secretary of State has also set up a cross-Government Sustainable Procurement Group that will report to Ministers this summer on using the Government's purchasing power to promote sustainable development and encourage innovation and the supply of environmentally preferable goods and services. Their report due in July will, among other things, look at how the Government can increase its purchases of re-manufactured and recycled goods.
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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Catherine Meyer
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when his Department will set up a meeting with hon. Members to discuss the case of Catherine Meyer. [65383]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
My noble Friend Baroness Amos, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister responsible for consular affairs, would be happy to meet with my hon. Friend to discuss this case.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when her Parliamentary Secretary will meet the hon. Member for Leicester, East to discuss the Catherine Meyer case. [66332]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I will meet with the hon. Member for Leicester, East if he wishes. However, the Lord Chancellor's Department has had no involvement in the case since November 1994.
Leicester County Court
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the staffing level is at Leicester county court; and what it was in 1990. [64832]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department holds records on this which are accurate, back to April 1996.
The Department employed a total of 57 employees as at 1 June 2002 at Leicester county court. As at 1 April 1996 the Department employed 68 employees.
Land Registry
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff were employed in the Land Registry in 1990; and how many are employed currently. [66329]
Ms Rosie Winterton: On 1 April 1990, the Land Registry employed 10,771 members of staff and on 1 April 2002 it was employing 7,998.
Contact Orders
Margaret Moran: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many contact orders were (a) granted and (b) refused under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 in (i) 1999, (ii) 2000 and (iii) 2001. [65721]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The figures sought are published annually in Judicial Statistics.
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granted | 41,862 | 46,070 | 55,030 |
| Refused | 1,752 | 1,276 | 713 |
Contact orders include ones made for indirect contact or supervised contact, though no breakdown is available.
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Regulatory Impact Unit
Dr. Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many members of her Department have been employed in its Regulatory Impact Unit in the past five years; and if she will make a statement. [65972]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Between 1997 and March 2002, one person was employed to co-ordinate work on regulatory impact across LCD, alongside other duties. In April, this increased to two.
It is the job of departmental Regulatory Impact Units to establish and promote the principles of good regulation in their Departments. The staff in each unit work closely with the officials responsible for developing policies within their Department and the Regulatory Impact Unit within the Cabinet Office. They focus on those regulations that impact on business, charities and the voluntary sector.
Visa Applications
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many successful appeals for visa applications there have been from Arab countries since September 1999. [65232]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. There are a number of different types of visa and only family visit visa appeals are recorded separately from other immigration appeals. From October 2000 (when the appeal right for such applications was reintroduced) to 31 May 2002 there were 93 successful family visit visa appeals from the nationals of member states of the Arab League. The breakdown by country is as follows:
- Algeria—23
Djibouti—1
Egypt—9
Iraq—8
Jordan—1
Lebanon—0
Libya—4
Mauritania—7
Morocco—6
Oman—0
Somalia—5
Sudan—9
Syria—2
Tunisia—5
Yemen—13.
Solicitors
Dr. Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what support she is providing to the Law Society to facilitate the prompt reform of those solicitors practice rules identified as anti-competitive by the Director General of Fair Trading; and if she will make a statement. [66476]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Reform of the solicitors practice rules and removal of anti-competitive restrictions therein are matters for the Law Society to take forward. Where there are restrictions in legislation relating to the regulation of solicitors, they fall to Government to consider. As has already been announced, the Government are planning to consult before the summer break on those issues which fall to it arising from the DGFT's report.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what discussions her Department has had with the Law Society in the past 12 months on
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employed solicitors advising the public, fee-sharing and referral fees; and if she will make a statement. [66474]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Officials from both the Lord Chancellor's Department and from the Department of Trade and Industry have separately held meetings with the Law Society. The DTI has discussed competition issues generally. The LCD has discussed progress relating to those matters highlighted in the Director General of Fair Trading's report, "Competition in Professions". The issue of employed solicitors advising the public is one of the matters to be considered in the Government's consultation paper planned for release before the summer break.