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Official Transport

Norman Baker: To ask the Leader of the House if he will list the transport arrangements for which payment is made out of public funds to (a) the Prime Minister, (b) the Leader of the Conservative Party and (c) the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in their respective capacities; and what payments were made in each case in 2002–03. [135096]

Mr. Alexander: I have been asked to reply.

The travel arrangements for Ministers are set out in Travel by Ministers, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The Leader of the Official Opposition is provided with a car for official duties associated with that office. The leader of the Liberal Democrats is not provided with an official car. For details of costs, I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided to the hon. Member for North Tayside (Pete Wishart), on 3 March 2003, Official Report, column 783W.

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CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Archbishop of Canterbury

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what proportion and how much of the total costs of the visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury to Rome in the first week of October were paid by the Church Commissioners; and of that sum, what proportion and how much relates to the cost for staff members, excluding the Archbishop, his wife and chaplain. [134346]

Mr. Bell: The total cost met by the Commissioners from within an annual budget set aside for the Archbishop for overseas travel was £2,100.

Of this amount, £227 (11 per cent. of the total) related to the cost for staff members.

Other members of the party and supporters were paid for by their respective offices or travelled at their own expense.

Church of England

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, how much the Church of England has contributed since 1 June 2002 towards the costs of (a) the Anglican Commission, (b) the Anglican Consultative Council and (c) the Anglican Consultative Centre in Rome. [134345]

Mr. Bell: The Anglican Communion (not Commission) comprises 38 self-governing Anglican churches, including the Church of England. Each church is responsible for its own costs.

The member churches of the provinces of the Anglican Communion meet 85 per cent. of the Anglican Consultative Council's core budget income and the Church of England's contribution is provided by parishes via the Archbishops' Council. I understand from the Council that the current amount paid is £359,700 a year, which would amount to some £509,000 from 1 June 2002 to the present.

The Anglican Centre in Rome is financed by fundraising and is not a responsibility of the Church Commissioners. However, the Archbishop made a contribution of £2,500 from his discretionary funds in 2002.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Criminal Justice Boards

23. Mr. Allen : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps the Lord Chancellor is taking to involve hon. Members in the work of local criminal justice boards. [134518]

Mr. Leslie: Local Criminal Justice Boards are newly formed partnership comprising key stakeholders including the Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, Probation and the Courts. As executive boards focused on improving the local criminal justice system, they need the ability to meet in private to discuss sensitive policy matters. However, it is possible for there to be more

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regular consultative discussions with hon. Members in particular, and for non-sensitive minutes of meetings to be published.

Legal Services (Consumer Choice)

24. Ross Cranston: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent progress the Lord Chancellor has made in increasing consumer choice in legal services. [134519]

Mr. Lammy: The Government have commissioned an independent review of the regulation of legal services aimed at promoting competition and innovation and improving services for consumers and we are reviewing future demand for legal services and the suppliers needed particularly in the publicly funded sector. We have already decided to open up the probate market to new providers, which should enable consumers to benefit from better and more cost effective services.

Stipendiary Magistrates

26. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many stipendiary magistrates there are in England and Wales; and what the figure was in 1995. [134521]

Mr. Leslie: Stipendiary magistrates are now known as "District Judges (Magistrates' Courts)", and there are currently 108 in England and Wales, including the Senior and Deputy Senior District Judges. At the end of 1995, 92 full-time stipendiaries were in post.

House of Lords

27. Ian Lucas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if the Secretary of State will bring forward proposals for an indirectly elected second chamber for the UK Parliament. [134523]

Mr. Leslie: As I announced to the House on 18 September, the Government proposes to introduce legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to put the House of Lords on a stable basis for the medium term. We are consulting on the details of our proposals and recognise that there is more to be done on Lords Reform after the removal of the remaining hereditary peerages.

Financial Penalties

29. Mr. Leigh: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what progress has been made in (a) improving the payment rate for financial penalties imposed by the courts and (b) implementing the recommendations made by the Committee of Public Accounts in its 68th Report, Session 2001–02, on the collection of fines and other financial penalties in the criminal justice systems. [134525]

Mr. Leslie: Sustained improvement in the fine payment rate is a key priority, and to deliver that my Department has established a wide-ranging programme of change to implement my 7-point action plan and to address the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee. Furthermore I have now set a revised target for 2003–04 which gives a clearer focus to those involved in enforcement.

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Land Registry

30. Jim Knight: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what progress has been made with putting the Land Registry on-line. [134526]

Mr. Lammy: Land Registry's key information services are already available online. The Department is also progressively enabling customers to make land registration transactions electronically, the culmination of which will be the introduction of a full electronic conveyancing system in England and Wales from 2006.

Legal Aid

31. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Lord Chancellor has to amend the workings of the legal aid system. [134527]

Mr. Lammy: The Government has a clear responsibility to ensure that we achieve value for money from the legal aid system. It seeks to achieve this through active monitoring and a programme of work which includes a major review of the demand, supply and purchasing arrangements for legal services, which will report in December.

Community Legal Service

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment the Lord Chancellor has made of the effectiveness of community legal service partnerships in promoting increased access to legal advice and assistance. [134520]

Mr. Lammy: Since the launch of the CLS in April 2000 more than 200 Community Legal Service Partnerships have been set up, covering more than 99 per cent. of the population of England and Wales. These partnerships have been effective in identifying priority areas of unmet need for legal and advice services in their locality. The extent to which these Partnerships have been effective in getting advice to the right people at the right time will be folly examined by the Independent Review of the CLS, which is due to report in April 2004.

Judges' Lodgings

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the judges' lodgings system. [134524]

Mr. Leslie: As I confirmed to the hon. Member in my written answer of 6 October 2003, it is our policy intention to introduce further efficiencies, particularly on rationalisation of Lodgings' ownership. I still hope to be in a position to make a more detailed statement later this year.

TRANSPORT

Imports

Denzil Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage by volume of the goods imported into the United Kingdom in the latest

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available financial year were transported by (a) sea, (b) rail and (c) air. [133901]

Dr. Howells: In 2002 ¹ , the estimated shares of goods (tonnes lifted) imported into the United Kingdom were as follows:

¹ Information is not available on a financial year basis.

	Percentage
Sea	95
Rail(1)	4
Air	Less than 1 per cent.

⁽¹⁾ Goods transported through the Channel Tunnel on through trains or on the freight shuttle.

Source:

DfT (sea), Eurotunnel (rail), Civil Aviation Authority (air)

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