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19 Jun 2003 : Column 372W—continued

Departmental Events

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the (a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) other conferences sponsored by her Department and which took place on non-departmental premises in the last 12 months, broken down by title, purpose, date and cost. [104269]

The Solicitor-General: A holding reply was given on 25 March 2003.

The Crown Prosecution Service holds a number of events of this kind throughout the year. The Crown Prosecution Service does not keep a central record of all such events across England and Wales and could not obtain such information without incurring disproportionate cost. However, I am able to list those events that were national or international rather than local and these are shown in the table. The total cost of the 17 events for which information is held was £268,122.

Event	Place	Purpose	Date	Cost
National Senior Management Conference	The Royal York Hotel, York	To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans	April 2002	£46,150
National Senior Management Conference	Russell Hotel, London	To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans	July 2002	£18,760
National Senior Management Conference	De Vere Garden Park, Chester	To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans	October 2002	£47,242
National Senior Management Conference	Russell Hotel London	To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans	January 2003	£32,857
Conference of the UK Prosecuting Agencies	Browns Court Room, Covent Garden, London	To provide a forum for representatives of UK prosecuting agencies to share knowledge of information systems and to explore ways of closer networking	September 2002	£3,000
National CPS Training conference	Belton Woods Hotel, Grantham	To address training issues, share ideas look at the development of trainers within the CPS	May 2002	£3,000
Higher Court Advocates Conference	Nottingham Royal Moat House	Development of HCA's and HCA tutors	June 2002	£10,389
Speaking up for Justice Conference	Leeds Hilton	Development of Speaking up for Justice tutors	March 2003	£8,345
Victims Perspective Conference	Bath	Increase awareness of victims issues among CPS staff	April 2002	3,000
Victims Perspective Conference	Belton Woods Hotel Grantham	Increase awareness of victims issues among CPS staff	October 2002	£3,000
Victims Perspective Conference	Durham—CC	Increase awareness of victims issues among CPS staff	November 2002	£3,000
Community Engagement Seminar	Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth	To explain, promote and encourage community engagement across the CPS Areas. This was the final event of four, which had been held across the country.	May 2002	£8,380
Equality and Diversity Recognition Awards Ceremony	New Connaught Rooms, Great Queen Street, London	Awards to celebrate the achievements of individuals, teams or groups who have incorporated equality and diversity aspects into their work within the CPS and helped to raise public confidence in the service.	October 2002	£17,865
CPS Conference on Homophobic Crime and LGBT Issues	Savill Court Hotel Egham	To formally launch the Public Policy Statement on Homophobic Crime and associated leaflet, booklet and guidance document.	November 2002	£19,384
"On the Edge of Objectivity" Reducing the Justice Gap within 'Hate' Crimes	City Hall, Cathays Park Cardiff	To identify mechanisms to reduce the justice gap in hate crimes.	February 2003	£17,750
Proceeds of Crime Conference	Thistle Hotel, Victoria	To update CPS champions on progress with implementation of proceeds of crime legislation	March 2003	Not yetavailable
National Domestic Violence Coordinators Network Conference	Cavendish Conference Centre London	Opportunity for Domestic Violence Co-ordinators to exchange information and promote good practice	June 2002	£6,000
Human Trafficking Conference	Eastwell Manor Ashford, Kent	Facilitate greater cooperation between EU States and Candidate Countries and make recommendations.	May 2002	£20,000

19 Jun 2003 : Column 373W

The Serious Fraud Office has not sponsored any (a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) other conferences in the last 12 months.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate endeavours to hold two staff conferences/training events each year. Their purpose is the discussion of matters of importance across the Inspectorate and also evaluating and achieving consistency in the inspection process. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate does not have a room sufficiently big to hold the combined London/York staff at its offices and therefore the first day of each conference has been held at the Institute of Minerals. The second and third days of each conference have been held in groups and therefore accommodated within HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate premises. The cost 2002–03 was £2,902.81.

19 Jun 2003 : Column 374W

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate is currently leading the pilot joint inspection of the Gloucestershire CJS Area. An initial meeting was held with the Shadow Local Criminal justice Board and all other interested local agencies. In the absence of other suitable accommodation, a meeting room and facilities at the St. George Hotel, Cheltenham was used. The cost was £1,610.

The Treasury Solicitor's Department makes full use of its own facilities in its HQ building at Queen Anne's Chambers in SW1 for events that it sponsors, which are mainly staff training and internal management activities. Occasional use is made of non-departmental premises for such events where there is considered to be specific benefit and/or there is a need to do so. The events held by the Department on non-departmental premises in the last 12 months (from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002) are listed in the following table. These are mostly in the nature of workshops and seminars.

Date	Event	Purpose	Cost
12 and 13 March 2002	AO development course	Self development training for administrative officers	£2,650
19 March 2002	Leadership seminar	A seminar for the staff in Bona Vacantia Division	£1,197
1 May 2002	Government Legal Service conference	To enable government lawyers to share experience and discuss common issues	£16,000(20)
15 and 16 May 2002	AO development course	Self development training for administrative officers	£968
2 and 3 July 2002	AO development course	See above	£2,650
3 September 2002	Management Module 1	Leading and managing people Part 1 of a 6t part management and leadership course for middle managers.	£1,247
20 September2002	Management Module 2	Part 2: managing money in Treasury Solicitor's Department	£484
15 October 2002	Appreciating difference workshop	Diversity training for HR staff and Diversity Group	£835
8 October 2002	Management Module 3	Part 3: Client and supplier management	£489
20 October 2002	Management Module 4	Part 4: Managing change and risk	£484
6 November 2002	Management Module 5	Part 5: Process and project management	£580
11/12 November 2002	Supervisory Board Strategy meeting	To identify the business strategy for the Agency for the following 3 years	£5,300
27 November 2002	Management module 6	Part 6: managing you own effectiveness	£481

⁽²⁰⁾ The cost of this event was covered from the Departments of those attending.

19 Jun 2003 : Column 375W

The figures provided include direct accommodation costs only: staff time, overheads for organising, facilitating and participating in the event are not included.

The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers has not sponsored any relevant meeting in the last 12 months

Departmental Running Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) her private offices separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) the Attorney General's Department. [105986]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 27 March 2003]: Of all the departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility, only the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers has a ministerial private office. The cost of the private office cannot be separately identified from the total cost of the department. The total cost of the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers for the financial year 2001–02 was £1,834,968 in staff costs and £974,974 on other expenditure.

Discontinued Trials

Mr. Gale: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will examine the causes behind the decision to discontinue the trials of Adrian Pasareanu, Lulezim Balliu, Alin Turcu and their two co-defendants; and if she will make a statement. [117815]

The Solicitor-General: The Code for Crown Prosecutors makes clear that no prosecution may be commenced unless it is believed that there is a realistic prospect of a conviction, that is that it is more likely than not that there will be a conviction. However, once a prosecution has begun, it is the duty of the prosecution to keep the prospect of conviction under constant review. If there comes a time when it is believed that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction, it is the duty of the prosecution to say so and to take steps accordingly.

The Crown Prosecution Service, undertaking that process of constant review, recently received information which meant that it could no longer put forward the principal prosecution witness, Florim Gashi, as a witness of truth.

In May 2003 the section of the CPS dealing with the kidnap received information showing that Mr. Gashi may have entrapped a Wandsworth parking attendant into criminal behaviour. The attendant also made allegations against Mr. Gashi that he had access to guns, an allegation that had also been made by one of the defendants in this case. Further, it was apparent that Mr. Gashi had lied to the police.

This information prompted a re-review of the whole case.

19 Jun 2003 : Column 376W

The Crown Prosecution Service was not told until three months after the arrests that Mr. Gashi had been paid for his information. Mr. Gashi had previously denied receiving more than expenses. It was only on 13 May 2003 that a News of the World employee disclosed that a cheque for £10,000 had been issued by the News of the World on 1 November 2002.

In the light of these developments the CPS requested advice of experienced senior counsel, who advised that there was no longer a realistic prospect of a conviction. As a result the CPS took the decision not to proceed with the case.

Mr. Gale: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will estimate the cost, to the public purse, of the abortive trials of Adrian Pasareanu, Lulezim Balliu, Alin Turcu and their co-defendants. [117816]

The Solicitor-General: It is estimated that the prosecution costs in this case will be in the region of £70,000.

This figure does not include staff or running costs, which are attributable to the operation of the Crown Prosecution Service as a whole and cannot be assessed on an individual basis.

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