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Trials
Mr. Chope: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of trials were ineffective in each of the last three years. [71645]
Yvette Cooper: A criminal trial is deemed as being ineffective when, for some reason, it cannot proceed on the day it has been listed for hearing and has to be re-listed at a later date. Figures relating to the proportion of ineffective criminal trials in the Crown court are set out in the table. This information is not available for the magistrates courts. Data on ineffective cases in the magistrates courts did not start to be collected on a national basis (England and Wales) until April of this year. The first quarterly figures should be available in September 2002.
| Total cases listed for trial | Total ineffective trials | Proportion of ineffective trials (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 50,791 | 12,444 | 24.5 |
| 2000 | 51,510 | 12,468 | 24.2 |
| 2001 | 52,338 | 12,612 | 24.1 |
Data Protection Act
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will place in the Library copies of each version of the guidance distributed to officials to advise them on how to answer subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998. [72622]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend the Member for Swindon, North (Mr. Wills), gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr. McCabe), on 25 April 2002, Official Report, column 446W.
Judges' Lodgings
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what action has been taken
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since the publication of Lord Justice Auld's report to assess the value for money provided by individual judges' lodgings; and what action will be taken in respect of judges' lodgings assessed not to provide value for money in line with the recommendation of the Auld report. [72810]
Yvette Cooper: The overall value for money and cost effectiveness of the Lodgings network is under continual review and has been so since the publication of Lord Justice Auld's report.
In terms of the general administrative efficiencies, of which the hon. Member is already aware, a general cost reduction of approximately £300k p.a. across the network had been expected. The estimate is now that this will rise as far as £400k p.a. These efficiencies include discontinuing the use of the Lodgings at Mold.
As the hon. Member will be aware the Government's White Paper "Justice For All" has now been published which sets out legislative proposals to modernise the criminal justice system. There are many issues connected to the White Paper, including Judges' Lodgings, which are under active consideration. When we have determined the way forward on Lodgings, I will write to the hon. Member with details.
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the average cost was of running judges' lodgings per night of accommodation provided in the financial year 2001–02. [72808]
Yvette Cooper: The figures for the financial year 2001–02 are not currently available, but I will write to the hon. Member with the figures as soon as they are.
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will list the (a) units of residential accommodation owned or rented by his Department for occupation by judges on circuit, (b) accumulative capital value of the same when last valued, (c) the running costs of maintaining the same for the financial years (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02 and (d) the number of judges accommodated in the same for each of the above years and the number of nights they were so accommodated. [72809]
Yvette Cooper: A list of the units of residential accommodation owned or rented by the Lord Chancellor's Department for occupation by judges on circuit was supplied in the reply to the hon. Member's question 02/407 on 29 November 2001. The only change to this list is in respect of the Lodgings at Mold, use of which, as the hon. Member is already aware, has been discontinued.
The capital value of the freehold lodging estate was £12.97 million as at September 2001.
The cost of running the judges' lodgings for the year 2000–01 was:
- Total cost—£5.616 million
Cost of lodgings (excluding the Treasury capital charge payable on all freehold properties)—£4.814 million.
Costs solely attributable to judicial occupation—£2.244 million.
The figures for the year 2001–02 are currently not available. Similarly it has not proved possible in the time provided to collate the judicial occupancy statistics requested. I will therefore write to the hon. Member with this information in due course.
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Yvette Cooper: The figures for the financial year 2001–02 are not currently available, but I will write to the hon. Member with the figures as soon as they are.
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the average cost was of running judges' lodgings per judge accommodated in financial years (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02. [72811]
Yvette Cooper: The average cost of running judges' lodgings per judge accommodated for the financial year 2000–01 is set out in the table on three bases:
| Cost per judge accommodated | |
|---|---|
| Total Cost of Lodgings | |
| 2000–01 | 61, 047 |
| Cost of lodgings(56) | |
| 2000–01 | 52,326 |
| Costs soley attributable to judicial occupation | |
| 2000–01 | 24,676 |
(56) Excluding the Treasury capital charge payable on all freehold properties
The figures for 2001–02 are not currently available, but I will write to the hon. Member with them as soon as they are.
Magistrates Courts
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, if she will make a statement on the implications of the criminal justice White Paper for her plans for magistrates court closures. [72219]
Yvette Cooper: The Government said in the White Paper, "Justice for All" (CM 5563), that it intends to legislate to integrate the management of the courts within a single courts organisation to replace existing magistrates courts committees and the Court Service.
The Government believe that an integrated system will support its aim of providing the widest possible network of viable local venues, keeping the delivery of justice local.
Referendums
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what her responsibilities are for the organisation of referendums. [60314]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
The former responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for policy on referendums have been transferred to the Lord Chancellor. The procedures for the organisation of referendums are set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
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Goodwin and I v. UK
Lynne Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how much public money has been spent fighting the case of Goodwin and I v. UK. [63971]
Mr. McCartney: I have been asked to reply.
The costs involved are spread across several Departments over a number of years and are available only at disproportionate cost. Counsels' fees are commercially confidential.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Mali
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the fairness of the recent parliamentary elections in Mali. [70874]
Mr. MacShane: The first round of parliamentary elections in Mali was on 14 July. The second is due on 28 July. Turnout for the first round was low, at under 20 per cent. However the Malian Government has worked hard to overcome some of the problems experienced in the presidential elections earlier this year. The elections are being observed by a number of Malian NGOs, who will not release their assessments of the elections until after the second round. Our Embassy in Bamako is also monitoring the elections closely.
Liberia
Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to bring all sides in Liberia's civil war to peace negotiations; and if he will make a statement. [72173]
Mr. MacShane: We are concerned about the fighting in Liberia. Our Embassy in Abidjan regularly presses the Government of Liberia to end the fighting. In meetings of Security Council members we have urged all parties to the conflict to begin ceasefire negotiations. We have called on all states to stop supporting armed groups in Liberia. We believe that providing military assistance to any armed group in Liberia would be a breach of Un sanctions against Liberia (as renewed by UN Security Council Resolution 1408 on 6 May 2002). We support the efforts of the various regional and local initiatives under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States, King Mohammed of Morocco, the Liberian Leadership Forum and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia, to find a solution to the conflict in Liberia. A Security Council Workshop on the Mano River Union (Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea), which was held on our initiative and chaired by my noble Friend Baroness Amos on 18 July, identified the need for greater co-ordination between these initiatives. We also provide political and diplomatic support to the EU presidency representative to the Mano River Union.
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