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6 Oct 2003 : Column 1035W—continued
Departmental Staff
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has for redeployment of members of his Department out of London and the south east. [125361]
Mr. Lammy: The scope for relocating Government activity is being considered by Sir Michael Lyons. His independent review was announced in the Chancellor's Budget statement on 9 April.
Details of the review, including the consultation launched on 19 June, can be found on the HM Treasury website at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk. Sir Michael will report his findings on the scope for relocating Departments and other public sector bodies before the end of the year.
Currently, 11,215 DCA staff (out of a total of 13,455) are either based in regional locations or are in front-line customer facing roles in London and the south east. We are, in light of the Sir Michael Lyons exercise, reviewing the need for continuing to locate staff in London and the south east.
Domestic Violence
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) when the new forms, devised by the Safety Stakeholder Group of his Department, screening Children's Act cases for domestic violence will be brought into use; and what steps are being taken prior to the forms' introduction to ensure that relevant issues of domestic violence are brought to the attention of the court; [130516]
- (2) what factors have influenced the date of the introduction of the new domestic violence forms for use in Children Act 1989 cases. [130656]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 16 September 2003]: I have been asked to reply.
We want to encourage contact between children and their non-resident parent where it is in the best interests of the child and safe for all family members. We encourage parents who are divorcing or separating to agree contact arrangements for their children. Most
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parents do agree such arrangements. Where the courts are asked to intervene, the Children Act 1989 makes the welfare of the child its paramount concern. The courts are required to consider any harm a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering when determining what, if any, contact order to make. The court is also obliged to make a finding of fact in any case involving allegations of violence. The court must determine whether or not the alleged violence has occurred and, if so, its impact on the child. This obligation is set out in best practice guidelines issued by the Children Act Sub-Committee to the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Board on Family Law in spring 2001. The impact of these guidelines is being evaluated.
The court may attach supervisory conditions to an order for contact that may be for indirect rather than direct contact. We are providing £2.5 million over the next three years from the Children's Fund to extend the provision of supervised contact.
Section 120 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 amended the Children Act 1989 to make it clear that when a court is considering whether a child has suffered or is likely to suffer harm, this harm includes harm a child may suffer as a result of witnessing the ill-treatment of another person. In addition the Safety Stakeholder Group has suggested revisions to the court forms used in applications for residence, contact, specific issues and prohibited steps to highlight allegations of domestic violence. This would enable domestic violence to be raised right at the beginning of proceedings and enable the judge more effectively to determine whether, and in what terms, any order should be made on the basis of all the available facts. The revised definition of harm and the changes to the court forms to highlight domestic violence will be implemented as soon as the necessary resources are identified.
Ecclesiastical Appointments
Mr. Beith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reason his powers of appointment to ecclesiastical livings referred to in paragraph 37 of the Consultation Paper on Reforming the Office of Lord Chancellor are described as the appointment of priests, but not to the appointment of clerks in holy orders, including deacons. [131824]
Mr. Leslie: A "Clerk in Holy Orders" is a generic designation, which covers those orders recognised by the Church of England, of which priests are one. The Lord Chancellor only appoints priests to those posts under his patronage.
Ethnic Minorities
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many ethnic minorities there are in each grade in his Department. [131739]
Mr. Lammy: The number of staff of minority ethnic origin by responsibility level is set out in the table below.
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| Gradeequivalent | Ethnic minority staff | White staff | Not known | Total | Ethnic minority as percentage of known ethnic origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA/AO | 660 | 4,326 | 2,442 | 7,429 | 13.2 |
| EO | 333 | 1,763 | 789 | 2,885 | 15.9 |
| HEO/SEO | 131 | 1,193 | 459 | 1,783 | 9.9 |
| Grade 6/7 | 26 | 364 | 179 | 569 | 6.7 |
| SCS | 0 | 81 | 36 | 117 | 0 |
| Total | 1,150 | 7,727 | 3,906 | 12,783 | 13 |
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what research he has undertaken to assess the implications of the ending of the free legal advice and representation service to ethnic minorities; and if he will make a statement; [128328]
- (2) what factors underlay the decision to end the free legal advice and representation service to ethnic minorities; what the benefits are of the changes he is proposing; and if he will make a statement. [128329]
Mr. Lammy: I have assumed that the hon. Member is referring to the effect on the services currently provided to ethnic minority clients by the Immigration Advisory Service (IAS), following the proposed transfer of funding from the Home Office to the Legal Services Commission.
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The terms of the contract that will be awarded to the IAS following the transfer of funding from the Home Office to the Legal Services Commission have yet to be finalised. Ministers will write to the IAS in the near future, once the position is clearer.
Fine Defaulting
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what measures have been taken to prevent people defaulting on court-imposed fines. [130771]
Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the Written Ministerial Statement I gave on 25 June 2003, Official Report, column 40WS in respect of fine enforcement.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what value of court-imposed fines were defaulted on in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [130772]
Mr. Leslie: The data are not available in the form requested.
Magistrates' Court Committees (MCCs) have a responsibility to collect a range of debts imposed by both the magistrates courts and the crown court. Debt collected not only includes fines but also fees, compensation, confiscation orders, legal aid contributions and some maintenance orders. It is not yet possible to separate out only the fines from the total and thus it is also not possible to report on the number or the value of court imposed fines that were defaulted on.
The available data illustrating the total value of arrears outstanding at relevant Courthouse, Northumbria MCC and national are as follows.
| Courthouse/area | 1999–2000(8) | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateshead | n/a | n/a | 461,028.08 | 439,039.30 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 563,330.36 | 589,787.61 | 979,945.41 | 967,089.08 |
| North Tyneside | 366,322.00 | 454,551.00 | 613,469.00 | 587,985.00 |
| Sunderland | n/a | 502,039.19 | 600,256.41 | 607,341.86 |
| South Tyneside | 169,930.30 | 181,144.84 | 270,283.70 | 358,126.63 |
| Northumbria MCC(9) | 2,008,365 | 2,763,505 | 3,201,597 | 3,157,655 |
| England and Wales | 227,361,076 | 225,908,941 | 246,481,521 | 276,870,306 |
(7) The amount of the 'closing balance owed' that is in arrears.
(8) Current information collection commenced in 1999–2000 and data is not available prior to that year.
(9) To note: this data is incomplete, it does not include information on Houghton Le Spring.
Food Expenditure
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent on food by his Department and by each of the agencies for which it is responsible in 2002–03; what proportion of that food by value was produced in the United Kingdom; what guidance he has issued to encourage the procurement of home-produced food; and if he will make a statement. [129370]
Mr. Lammy: The majority of food is provided under catering service contracts with commercial suppliers, in addition the Department buys some food directly.
Expenditure on catering service contracts in 2002–03 amounted to £2,093,265, the amount for food bought directly for the same period was £377,209.
Information available for DCA HQ indicates that on average 52 per cent. of the food bought directly was produced in the UK. For food provided under catering
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service contracts, dependent on the type of product and time of year this proportion varies from 25 per cent. to 100 per cent.
DCA is working with DEFRA to implement their guidance on local sourcing and has developed an action plan with our current catering service providers to increase the proportion of local and UK produce purchased.
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