---

Overseas Visits

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the overseas trips on departmental business that have been undertaken in each of the last five years by officials in her Department; and what the (a) cost, (b) purpose and (c) result was in each case. [68735]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 12 July 2002]: All overseas travel by officials in the Departments for which the Attorney General is responsible is undertaken in accordance with the principles set out in Chapter 8 of the Civil Service Management Code. The detailed information requested about individual trips is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Ministerial Salaries

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the annual cost was of Ministerial salaries in her Department in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2001–02. [61037]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 17 June 2002]: The following information relates to the financial year and the figures comprise of the salaries paid to the individuals together with Employer's Related National Insurance Contributions.

6 April 1997–5 April 1998

£141,044.89

6 April 2001–5 April 2002

£179,231.82

Staff Training

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Department has spent on staff training and development in each of the last five years. [61051]

The Solicitor-General [holding reply 17 June 2002]: The amount spent by each of the Departments for which the Attorney General is responsible in each of the last five years is set out below. Crown Prosecution Service

	£
1997–98	1,234,217
1998–99	1,339,271
1999–2000	2,069,216
2000–01	2,700,903
2001–02	5,620,922

Serious Fraud Office

19 Jul 2002 : Column 616W

	£
1996–97	127,051
1997–98	134,962
1998–99	124,949
1999–2000	180,936
2000–01	237,996

Treasury Solicitor's Department

Figures for the last four years are:

	£
1998–99	213,460
1999–2000	230,690
2000–01	337,900
2001–02	402,080

Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers

	£
1998–99	13,820
1999–2000	8,800
2000–01	11,750
2001–02	10,500

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

Information is only available for the year 2001–02 as before 1st April 2001 the Inspectorate was part of the Crown Prosecution Service and training costs form part of the figures provided by the CPS. The sum expended on training in 2001–02 was £26,600.

Staff Numbers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many staff were employed by his Department on (a) 2 May 1997 and (b) 31 May 2002. [60919]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 17 June 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 13 June 2002, Official Report, column 1402W.

Staff Pay

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the cost in 2001–02 was of the pay increase to staff in her Department, agencies and the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible; and what the cost of the forthcoming increase will be in 2002–03. [50422]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 18 April 2002]: Figures are only available for the year 2001–02.

The figures for the Departments for which the Attorney General is responsible are as follows:

Crown Prosecution Service

£12.7 million

Serious Fraud Office

£303,000

Treasury Solicitor's Department (which includes Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and HM cps Inspectorate)

£1,065,000

19 Jul 2002 : Column 617W

Departmental Expenditure Limit

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how much and what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit for 2002–03 will be accounted for by staff costs; what the figures were for 2001–02; and if she will make a statement. [61023]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 17 June 2002]: Figures for the year 2001–02 are not yet available.

The departmental expenditure limit for the Treasury Solicitor's Department, which also includes expenditure by the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, is set in net terms and takes account of receipts from charges to client Departments for legal services provided to them. It would be misleading, therefore, to show staff costs as a percentage of that figure. However, after allowing for receipts, £24,773,000 (60 per cent.) of Treasury Solicitor's Department's gross administrative costs were accounted for by staff costs in 2001–02.

The departmental expenditure limit for the Serious Fraud Office for 2001–02 was £21,850,000, of which staff costs amounted to £7,785,000 (35.6 per cent.).

The departmental expenditure limit for the Crown Prosecution Service for 2001–02 was £402,200,000, of which staff costs amounted to £196,600,000 (49 per cent.).

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how much and what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit for 2002–03 had been spent by 31 May; what the figures were for 2001–02; and if she will make a statement. [61013]

The Solicitor-General [holding reply 17 June 2002]: Reliable estimates for 2002–03 spending to 31 May are not available. Estimated outturn spending figures for 2001–02 can be found in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2002–03 published in May 2002 as Command Paper 5401.

Crown Prosecution Service

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General which categories of important cases require the CPS to communicate directly with complainants; and what the purpose and outcome is of these communications. [60221]

19 Jul 2002 : Column 618W

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 10 June 2002]: Under the current Victim's Charter the CPS must, on request, meet families bereaved as a result of crime in order to explain the decision on prosecution.

In addition, in April 2001 the CPS commenced a phased programme of implementation of the Direct Communication with Victims initiative. This follows recommendations made by Sir William MacPherson and Sir Ian Glidewell. All Areas who have implemented this initiative now:
provide all identifiable victims with a written explanation when the prosecution decide to discontinue their case, or alter charges substantially; and
in cases involving child abuse, sexual offences or racially aggravated offences, offer to meet victims to explain the basis of the decision if a further explanation is required.

Full national implementation will be completed by October 2002.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the (a) reasons for and (b) impact of significant staff turnover within the (i) Derbyshire, (ii) Hertfordshire, (iii) Humberside and (iv) North Wales CPS regions, with reference to the training budget as a proportion of turnover on 1 January. [59657]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 12 June 2002] As with any large organisation, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has turnover of staff. Table 1 (attached) shows that, there has not been a significant staff turnover in Derbyshire, Hertfordshire, Humberside or North Wales CPS, over the last twelve months, as compared to the national average for the CPS. The main reason for the loss of staff has been resignations.

In recent months Derbyshire, Hertfordshire, Humberside have seen an increase in the number of staff employed.

Loss of staff, particularly if they are experienced, impacts on the working of any organisation. New staff requires induction and training, which may vary from going on appropriate courses to "on the job" training. Inevitably this affects the training budget. It also means new staff members take some time before they are fully effective. However, the introduction of new staff, especially where they represent an addition to the existing numbers, is to be welcomed.

Table 2 (attached) shows the proportion of each local Area budget spent on training against their total running costs.

Table 12000

Area	Staff In Post (SIP) 1.1.00	Resignations*	Transfers to other Govt Depts.	per cent Turnover	SIP 31.12.00	Difference
Derbyshire	76.03	10		13.5	71.09	-4.13
Hertfordshire	62.95	15		24.9	57.26	-5.69
Humberside	76.38	7		9	78.76	2.38
North Wales	62.3	6		9.9	58.25	-4.05

* All leavers during the year 1.1.00–31.12.00 as a Head Count.

19 Jul 2002 : Column 619W

2001

Area	SIP 1.1.01	Resignations	Transfers to other Govt Depts.	per cent Turnover	SIP 31.12.01	Difference
Derbyshire	71.09	8		10.2	85.53	14.44
Hertfordshire	57.26	1.97		3	73.25	15.99
Humberside	78.76	5		6.4	76.21	-2.55
North Wales	58.25	1.49	1	4.1	60.91	2.66
National
(42 Areas)				5.9

2002

Area	SIP 1.1.02	Resignations	Transfers to other Govt Depts.	per cent Turnover	SIP 31.05.02	Difference
Derbyshire	85.53	3		3.3	92.11	6.58
Hertfordshire	73.25	1		1.3	76.57	3.32
Humberside	76.21	1		1.2	83.5	7.29
North Wales	60.91	0.51		0.8	59.93	-0.98
National
(42 Areas)		Jan, Feb &
March		1.9

Table 2Table Showing Proportion of Area Budget Spent on Training 1.4.01–31.3.02 Against Total Running Costs Allocation.

Area	Running Costs	Training Costs	per cent
Derbyshire	3,136,018	26,800	0.85
Hertfordshire	2,731,565	6,700	0.25
Humberside	2,808,450	12,716	0.45
North Wales	2,361,101	5,560	0.24

Mr. Laws: To ask the Solicitor-General what proportion of advocacy by the Crown Prosecution Service met the CPS's advocacy standards in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [69107]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 11 July 2002]: Advocacy standards form a part of the annual performance appraisal of all Crown Prosecutors and performance assessment markings are awarded to reflect the individual's overall performance throughout the whole reporting period. In each of the years since 1997, more than 99 per cent of Crown Prosecutors received a performance assessment marking of Box 3 (Performance fully meets the standard required) or better in advocacy standards.

HMCPSI include advocacy standards as part of their inspections of each CPS Area. These are reported in their individual inspection reports but there is no aggregation of data in relation to any specific aspect of an Area's performance.

Under the Department's training of Higher Court Advocates, candidates must additionally pass an assessment managed by the Nottingham Law School before they can be considered for deployment as advocates in the Crown Courts.

---