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SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Director of Public Prosecutions

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Solicitor-General when the Director of Public Prosecutions will publish his Annual report. [70726]

The Solicitor-General: I can confirm that I have today placed copies of the Annual report in the Libraries.

Certified Timber

Ms Walley: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the refurbishment projects that (a) are in progress and (b) will start within the next six months; and what action is being taken to ensure that these will procure certified timber. [59772]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 11 June 2002]: My own Department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, has plans to refurbish a part of the building it occupies within the next six months. This refurbishment involves painting and re-carpeting. It is unlikely that this process will involve the procurement of timber.

The Treasury Solicitor's Department has no refurbishment projects in progress. It is planned to carry out repairs and decoration works to the external street frontages of the Department's headquarters building within the next six months. The project is unlikely to involve the procurement of timber.

When timber is required, it is the Department's policy to instruct contractors that it must be obtained lawfully only from sustainable sources, and to verify that this is done.

The Crown Prosecution Service has only one refurbishment project for the period in question, at Crown House, Portsmouth, which will commence in August 2002. The Crown Prosecution Service will procure the work by competitive tender through its managing agents. The agents use the National Building Specifications as part of the standard specification and this includes the requirement to use certified timber.

The Serious Fraud Office has no refurbishment projects either in progress or due to start within the next six months.

Sentence Referrals

Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Solicitor-General how many requests for referral of a sentence to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue lenience were received by her Department after the expiry of the 28 day time limit for such referrals in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [56586]

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The Solicitor-General [holding answer 15 May 2002]: Relevant records are available only for the year 2000 onwards. The following figures are available:

Year 2000

one request for referral of a sentence to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue lenience was received by my Department after the expiry of the 28-day time limit;

Year 2001

three requests for referral of a sentence to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue lenience were received by my Department after the expiry of the 28-day time limit;

Year 2002

to date no request for referral of a sentence to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue lenience has been received by my Department after the expiry of the 28-day time limit.

Sick Leave

Mr. Heald: To ask the Solicitor-General how many days of sick leave were taken in her Department last year; how many related to employees suffering from (a) stress and (b) other mental health problems; and what the cost was to her Department. [56478]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 14 May 2002]: The latest annual report published by Cabinet Office "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service—2000" provides the latest figures available for each of the Departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible. The figures given for Treasury Solicitor's Department includes the figures for my own Department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers.

The number of days relating to stress and other mental health problems and the cost could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

EU Directives

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the EU directives and regulations that have been implemented through her Department in 2002; and what was the cost of each to public funds. [64987]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 1 July 2002]: None of the Departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible has implemented any EU directive or regulation.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the EU directives relating to her Department which have been (a) amended and (b) repealed in 2002. [64937]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 1 July 2002]: None of the Departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible has had policy responsibility for the amendment or repeal of any EU directive in 2002.

Annual Leave

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the average annual leave entitlement is for staff in her Department in 2002. [64660]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 1 July 2002]: The Cabinet Office has set the leave entitlement for all staff in the senior civil service at 30 days.

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Leave entitlement for staff below the SCS is determined by grade and length of qualifying service and, in the Departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible, varies from 22 days to 31 days per annum.

Average leave entitlement could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Performance Targets

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what has been the (a) cost and (b) saving from the pursuit of the Department's public service agreement targets in each year since they were introduced. [61038]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 17 June 2002]: The Law Officers' Department's public service agreement sets out the key outcomes it is committed to deliver with the resources provided, and its service delivery agreement sets out the key steps towards delivery of those targets. Every year the Department publishes performance against its targets—including on value for money—and the resources it has used in its departmental report.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the (a) cost and (b) saving has been from the Department's pursuit of service delivery agreement targets in each year since they were introduced. [61647]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 18 June 2002]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I have given him today in respect of a similarly worded question.

Statutory Instruments

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many statutory instruments have been (a) introduced, (b) removed and (c) amended by her Department since 1 January; and what the (i) cost and (ii) saving has been in each case. [64626]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 1 July 2002]: The information is as follows: (a) None; (b) none; and (c) none.

Buildings Insurance

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the cost of buildings insurance to her Department was (a) before and (b) after 11 September 2001. [66939]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 8 July 2002]: The Departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible follow the Government's general policy on insurance, set out in Government Accounting, Chapter 30, paragraph 30.2.5, which notes that Government do not need to purchase insurance to protect the viability of its business, and should consider insurance only where the value of claims met would exceed the cost of insurance premiums.

None of the Law Officers' Departments has entered into commercial insurance contracts in relation to buildings they occupy.

Building Values

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the buildings owned by her Department and estimate the market value of each of them. [66957]

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The Solicitor-General [holding answer 8 July 2002]: The National Asset Register, published in July 2001 (Cm 5221), lists assets owned by each Department and their valuation.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

LNM Holdings

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 4 July 2002, Official Report, column 539W, if the repayment schedule of the International Finance Corporation loan to Nova Hut steelworks has been renegotiated as a result of its recent acquisition by LNM Holdings. [70043]

Clare Short: I understand that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering restructuring the loan to Nova Hut steelworks, but no proposals have yet come to the IFC Board.

Comprehensive Spending Review

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff have contributed to her Department's input to the Spending Review. [68679]

Clare Short: Work by staff on the Spending Review was led by our Finance and Corporate Performance Division but also entailed contributions from many staff across all divisions of DFID. No staff have worked full-time on the Spending Review.

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