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Standards Board

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in how many, and in what percentage, of the cases that have been referred to the Standards Board for England the Board has found a serious breach of conduct. [111771]

Mr. Leslie: It is for the Adjudication Panel for England to determine whether there has been a breach of the code of conduct.

To 30 April 2003 the Standards Board for England had received 3,211 allegations of misconduct. Of these 1,216 (38 per cent.) have been referred for further investigation and, of 569 cases so far completed, 121 (21 per cent. of completed investigations) have been referred to the Adjudication Panel for England. Since January 2003 the Panel have considered 44 cases, of which 38 (86 per cent. of Adjudication Panel Cases) have led to disqualification from office, two (5 per cent.) to suspension, one to a reprimand and in one case no breach was found; of the remainder one was withdrawn and the other case was suspended.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Courts

Mr. Edward Garnier: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what plans there are for the temporary closure of courts as a result of departmental overspending; which courts are likely to be affected; an on what basis they are selected. [110165]

Yvette Cooper: There are no plans to close any Crown or County Courts in England and Wales temporarily in order to contain expenditure.

Decisions to close, or retain, Magistrates' Courts are not made by my Department, but by locally based Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCC).

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether the Lord Chancellor plans to introduce reduced sitting days for courts. [110213]

Yvette Cooper: The Lord Chancellor has no present intention of doing so.

In fact the planned number of sitting days in the Crown Court for 2003–04 has been increased from 101,297 in 2002–03, to 101,500. This is to take account of the increase in workload.

Criminal Offences

Simon Hughes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will list, broken

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down by Act, the criminal offences created in legislation sponsored by the Lord Chancellor's Department since 1997. [110989]

Yvette Cooper: An exhaustive list of new offences could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I can however provide the following information about new offences enacted since 1 May 1997.

The Access to Justice Act 1999 created two offences: misrepresentation in relation to the Community Legal Service/Criminal Defence Service, and unauthorised disclosure of personal information supplied for enforcing warrants. The first offence replaces the similar offences in relation to legal aid under the Legal Aid Act 1988.

The European Communities (Lawyer's Practice) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1119) created an offence for a European lawyer to practice in England and Wales and Northern Ireland without registering with the relevant competent authority. This was a regulation made by the Lord Chancellor implementing a European directive.

The Land Registration Act 2002 creates two new offences, of suppression of information and improper alteration of the registers.

Market Testing

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the estimated level of saving to the Department is from the use of market testing in 2002–03. [107762]

Ms Rosie Winterton: My Department did not carry out any market testing exercises in 2002–03.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Lambeth Palace Library

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what plans the Church Commissioners have for Lambeth Palace Library; and if he will make a statement. [111842]

Mr. Bell: In response to the report, "Resourcing Archbishops", the Commissioners have in consultation with the other National Institutions of the Church of England initiated a review of the arrangements for the housing and conservation of the 'documentary heritage' held by the National Institutions. The review will consider in particular the future of Lambeth Palace Library and, through consultation, will seek to define the purposes and role of the collections and examine ways of increasing public access. It will also consider the current preservation requirements and resourcing issues.

The terms of reference have been agreed by the Commissioners' Bishoprics and Cathedrals Committee and Board of Governors, and the membership of the Review Group is now being drawn together.

It is envisaged that the review will report next year.

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HEALTH

Human Trafficking

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the paper on the setting up by West Sussex County Council of safe houses for children and young people who have been trafficked into the United Kingdom. [112049]

Jacqui Smith: There is no paper, prepared by the Department of Health, on the setting up by West Sussex County Council of its safe house for trafficked children.

The establishment of safe house arrangements for these children was undertaken by West Sussex County Council, in pursuit of its duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in its area, in accordance with the Children Act 1989.

Benzodiazepines/Anti-depressants

Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what quantity of each individual (a) benzodiazepine and (b) antidepressant was prescribed by doctors in England in 2002. [111470]

Jacqui Smith: Quantities of individual benzodiazepine and antidepressant drugs dispensed in the community in England for the most recent 12 months, for which data are currently available, have been placed in the Library.

Vaccines

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the link between mercury in vaccines given to babies and (a) autism and (b) heart disease. [109928]

Ms Blears: Thiomersal is an ethylmercury-containing compound that has played an important role either as a preservative or in the initial stages of the manufacture of some vaccines for over 60 years. As with all medicinal products, the Medicines and Healthcare Products RegulatoryAgency (MHRA) and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) keep the safety of thiomersal-containing vaccines under continual review. The CSM has reviewed the safety, including postulated neurological adverse effects, of thiomersal-containing vaccines on a number of occasions.

CSM has recently reviewed two UK-based epidemiological studies that have provided reassuring results regarding the safety of thiomersal in vaccines, in relation to neurodevelopmental disorders. One of these studies, which used the United Kingdom's general practice research database (GPRD), specifically investigated whether there is any link between early thiomersal exposure through immunisation and autism. This study concluded that administration of thiomersal through childhood immunisation in the UK was not associated with an increased risk of developing a neurological developmental disability, including autism.

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The CSM has carefully considered the results of a recent study, by Geier and Geier, that suggests an association between thiomersal exposure through the United States childhood immunisation schedule and the development of autism and heart disease. CSM advised that the methodology in this publication had been inadequately described and that the authors conclusions regarding the association between thiomersal in vaccines and autism, speech disorders and heart disease are not justified. The CSM has advised that, with the exception of allergic reactions such as redness and swelling at the injection site, there is no evidence of harm from thiomersal contained in vaccines. The CSM has advised that the benefits of immunisation with thiomersal-containing vaccines outweigh any potential risks of vaccination.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to phase out the use of mercury in vaccines given to babies. [109929]

Ms Blears: The only vaccines used in the United Kingdom routine childhood immunisation programme that contain a mercury compound are diphtheria, tetanus and whole cell pertussis and diphtheria and tetanus vaccines. The mercury is present as ethylmercury in the excipient thiomersal.

While there is no evidence of harm caused by thiomersal in vaccines, the European Medicines Evaluation Agency recommended that it would be prudent to promote the use of vaccines without thiomersal as a precautionary measure. The Committee on Safety of Medicines has endorsed this recommendation and continues to do so. Manufacturers are actively developing research programmes to eliminate, substitute or reduce thiomersal in vaccines following these recommendations. This may take time because manufacturers are required to ensure that the reduction, replacement or elimination of thiomersal does not affect the safety, quality and efficacy of the final vaccine.

To date, a number of UK licensed vaccines have had levels of thiomersal reduced or removed completely from the manufacture of the component antigens or from the final vaccine. These developments are regularly reviewed and on 1 April 2003, a letter was sent from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to UK vaccine marketing authorisation holders, asking for an update on progress in reducing or removing thiomersal from vaccines.

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