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17 Jun 2003 : Column 117W—continued
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Asbestos
Dr. Cable: To ask the Solicitor-General what actions her Department and its Agency are taking to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; whether she has made an estimate of the cost of compliance; and if she will make a statement. [118850]
The Solicitor-General: The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers is fully aware of its obligations under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations and believes it is fully compliant, having commissioned survey reports and held asbestos registers since at least 1994, the last such survey report and register being dated 27 September 2002. This identified only minimal presence of asbestos, requiring no immediate action other than a recommendation that the risk be managed by periodic inspection to detect any change in condition. LSLO has a management regime in place for this.
The Crown Prosecution Service will be reviewing and updating the asbestos information currently held for the Crown Prosecution Service Estate. The review will include planned assessments for all Crown Prosecution Service sites (111 sites). Where the Crown Prosecution Service is not the major occupier, the Crown Prosecution Service will remind the main occupier of their responsibilities to ensure compliance with Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. An estimated cost of compliance is being produced.
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Serious Fraud Office A survey undertaken by managing agents confirmed there is no asbestos within the Serious Fraud Office's premises.
There is no further action for the Serious Fraud Office to take in respect of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Directorate
As a result of the Asbestos (Amendment) Act 1998, a survey of 26–28 Old Queen Street, the London office of HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, was undertaken. The building was found to be clear of asbestos.
The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulation 2002 is due for implementation by May 2004. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, in conjunction with its landlords, will be conducting another survey of its London Office in order to show its commitment to the new Regulation.
Treasury Solicitor's Department The Treasury Solicitor's Department commissioned a revised and updated asbestos survey and register for its premises in Queen Anne's Chambers in September 2002 (last previous update 1998) in the light of the impending new Regulations at a cost of £3,664.25 It is not envisaged that any further costs will be incurred specifically to achieve compliance as we have been following good practice guidelines for many years.
Departmental Catering Services
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor General what the cost was of (a) the in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by the Attorney General in 2002. [104250]
The Solicitor-General: A holding reply was given on 25 March 2003.
Of the Departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility, only the Crown Prosecution Service has an in-house canteen which is at their headquarters in London. The service is contracted out to a commercial firm and the cost of this facility in the Financial Year 2001–02 was £84,417.
No other catering services are provided by any of the Departments for which the Attorney General is responsible.
Some refreshments are provided for meetings and training events etc. on an ad hoc basis.
The available figures for money spent on catering services for hospitality, training, meeting refreshments etc. for the financial year 2002–03 to date is as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Treasury Solicitor's Department | 6,307.93 |
| Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers | 6,835.31 |
| Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate | 6,335.00 |
Departmental Website
Dr. Cable: To ask the Solicitor General if she will list the actions the Department (a) has taken and (b) is
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taking to ensure that the websites of the Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are accessible to partially sighted and blind people; and if she will make a statement. [118845]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service is working towards improvements to its website to provide accessibility to individuals with visual impairment.
This involves implementing the Office of the E-envoy's guidelines for UK Government websites that cover a range of accessibility issues.
The guidelines include following the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) recommendations and achieving 'Bobby' approved certification.
In addition, the Crown Prosecution Service will be seeking to achieve the Royal National Institute of the Blind's (RNIB) 'See it Right' accessible website logo for the RNIB scheme that promotes website accessibility for people with visual impairment.
Serious Fraud Office The Serious Fraud Office has followed checkpoints from priorities one and two of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (recommendations) when the site was built.
The Serious Fraud Office is committed to help partially sighted and blind people, and will consider what further work needs to be carried out on it site in order to help them gain access to its information.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has recently undertaken a review of the content of its departmental website. The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers is currently undertaking such a review. As recommended by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, neither site uses Macromedia Flash or Shockwave software, animated Gifs, frames or pop-up windows. Font sizes within the site's text are scalable and their colour settings are adjusted by site users. Site links, however, have not been coded for recognition by speech software. This and the provision of reports as text files in addition to their current Portable Document Format (PDF) are being considered.
Treasury Solicitor's Department We have three websites, each of which aims to be accessible to visually impaired people.
The Treasury Solicitor's Department has been designed to be accessible to individuals with visual impairment, using current best practice. The site is currently undergoing adjustments to achieve full compliance with the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, issued by the Office of the E-envoy.
The Government Legal Services website has been designed in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines for websites and general good practice. The site has achieved compliance for accessibility for the visually impaired as required by the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
The Bona Vacantia (BV) Division websites were developed late in 2001 and meet the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. There are minor areas
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where further action is required to improve accessibility and the BV website developer has been asked to look at this.
European Working Groups
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on progress with achieving transparency in respect of the European working groups for which the Department is responsible. [105731]
The Solicitor-General: [holding answer 2 April 2003]:
None of the Departments for which the Attorney-General holds ministerial responsibility are responsible for any European working groups.
Parental Leave Directive
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor General how many staff in the Law Officers' Departments have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive. [108357]
The Solicitor-General: [holding answer 14 April 2003]:
During the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003, a total of 20 staff within the Crown Prosecution Service applied for, and were granted, parental leave.
No employees of the Serious Fraud Office have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
No staff have had leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
Treasury Solicitor's Department
Three members of Treasury Solicitor's staff, which for these purposes includes staff at the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, have used their entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
PFI Schemes
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor General if she will make a statement on the expected saving to future funds from the private finance initiative schemes due to become operational in 2003. [105767]
The Solicitor-General: [holding answer 2 April 2003]:
None of the Departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility have any private finance initiative schemes due to become operational in 2003.
Staff Turnover
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what assessment she has made of regional variations in staff turnover in her Department. [112759]
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The Solicitor-General: [holding answer 14 May 2003]:
The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers is based in London and has no regional staff.
The Crown Prosecution Service does not consider the staff turnover in the majority of its regional areas to be sufficiently significant to justify detailed analysis. Consequently, the Crown Prosecution Service has not carried out a regional assessment of turnover. However, plans are being made to examine more closely the effect of staff turnover in particular areas in conjunction with the Government's request to look at the need for differentiated pay according to geographic location.
None. All Serious Fraud Office staff are based in Central London.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Directorate
HM Crown Prosecution Service Directorate has not carried out any precise assessments relating to staff turnover regionally. The Inspectorate currently employs 44 members of staff based in London and York.
Staffing strategy means that many posts are filled by individuals on loan from other Government Departments. A significant proportion of 'turnover', therefore, relates to individuals returning to their Departments after their loan period has expired, and so any assessment of regional variations is unlikely to be of any benefit.
Treasury Solicitor's Department
None, as only 12 of the Agency's staff are based outside London.
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