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SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Iraq

Mr. Marshall-Andrews: To ask the Solicitor-General whether, in concluding that Iraq had failed to comply with UN Resolution 1441, the Attorney-General relied upon facts and assertions contained in Cm 5769 as material to his conclusion and to the opinion he gave as to the authority to use force; and which such facts and assertions were so relied upon. [135602]

The Solicitor-General: In reaching his view of the legal basis for the use of force against Iraq, as set out in the written statement made in Parliament on 17 March 2003, the Attorney-General had regard to the terms of all the Security Council resolutions set out in Cm 5769. In addition, in concluding that Iraq had failed to comply with its obligations under Security Council resolution 1441, the Attorney-General took into account the statements by the Executive Chairman of UMOVIC and the Director General of the IAEA dated 27 January 2003 and 14 February 2003.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many staff in the Department were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109262]

The Solicitor-General [pursuant to her answer of 9 June 2003, Official Report, c. 574W]: The figures I provided on the numbers of staff within the Crown

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Prosecution Service who have had periods of long-term sick leave in each of the last five years were unfortunately incorrect. "Long-Term" is defined as being a continuous spell of sick absences lasting four weeks or more. Further analysis of the data has revealed it included persons who had more than one period of sickness which cumulatively added up to 20 days or more. The corrected figures are:

	Number of people	Total number of employees	Percentage of employees
1998	312	6,274	5.0
1999	523	6,360	8.2
2000	650	6,440	10.1
2001	674	6,613	10.2
2002	698	7,219	9.7

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to her answer of 9 June 2003, Official Report, column 574W, on sickness absence, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the rise in the level of long-term sick leave from the Crown Prosecution Service since 1998. [128545]

The Solicitor-General: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer above. The Crown Prosecution Service has not carried out any detailed analysis of the reasons for the rise in the level of long-term sick absence since 1998. However, there continues to be a programme to reduce the overall level of sick absence in line with Government targets for the Civil Service as a whole. The Crown Prosecution Service is actively managing sick absence in line with the Cabinet office's initiative and the figures given in my answer above indicate a reduction in long-term sick absence from 2001 to 2002. The present figures for sick absence in the Crown Prosecution Service are broadly similar to Civil Service figures. The latest Cabinet Office figures show 9.7 per cent. of Civil Service staff had periods of absences lasting 21 days or more.

WALES

Departmental Expenditure (Official Residences)

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much the Department spent on (a) maintenance, (b) renovation, (c) council tax and (d) running costs of residential properties used by Ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [134699]

Mr. Touhig: The Wales Office was established in 1999. It is not responsible for maintenance, renovation, council tax or running costs of any residential properties.

Departmental Offices

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many offices are (a) owned and (b) rented by his Department in countries other than the UK, broken down by country. [133622]

Mr. Touhig: The Wales Office does not own or rent any accommodation outside the UK.

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HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcohol Misuse

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 15 July 2003, Official Report, column 221W, on alcoholism, when the report on the cross-governmental alcohol harm reduction strategy for England will be published. [135517]

Ms Blears: On 19 September the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit published their Interim Analytical Report on the harms associated with alcohol misuse. This will help inform the development of the cross-governmental alcohol harm reduction strategy for England. The final report setting out the Strategy will be published in time for implementation to begin in 2004.

Administrative Court

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases are waiting to be dealt with by the Administrative Court which relate to section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. [135454]

Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply. 882 cases are awaiting final determination.

National Criminal Intelligence Service

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff of the National Criminal Intelligence Service have the monitoring of allegations of bribery of foreign public officials as part of their job description; what percentage of time they are recommended as part of their job description to give to such monitoring; and in which department of NCIS they are based. [134677]

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 October 2003, Official Report, column 115W.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of corruption the National Criminal Intelligence Service has received since (a) 14 February 2002 and (b) January 2003 following the Memorandum of Understanding on Implementing Part 12 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; how many of these allegations have resulted in investigations; and what subsequent arrests have been made under Part 12 of the Act. [134676]

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 October 2003, Official Report, column 115W.

Breast Cancer Relief

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps the Charity Commission has taken to ensure that internet donations to Breast Cancer Relief are not misapplied; [135432]

(2) what assessment the Charity Commission has made of the role of Breacan Fundraising as owner of the website operated for Breast Cancer Relief; [135352]

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(3) what assessment the Charity Commission has made of the volume of donations made to Breast Cancer Relief via its website since the charity was placed in the control of a receiver manager; [135353]

(4) what action the Charity Commission took, and when, to alert WorldPay to the appointment of a receiver manager for Breast Cancer Relief. [135356]

Fiona Mactaggart: These are matters for the Charity Commission as the non-ministerial Government Department responsible for the registration of charities in England and Wales. The Director of Operations will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Community Support Officers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Community Support Officers are deployed in each local authority area in Sussex. [135171]

Ms Blears [holding answer 28 October 2003]: In total 65 Community Support Officers (CSOs) have been deployed in Sussex. Of these, 55 are wholly or partly funded by the Home Office. 10 of the 20 CSOs deployed in Brighton and Hove are wholly locally funded. The table gives a breakdown of CSO deployment by local authority.

Local authority	Number of CSOs
Adur	3
Arun	5
Chichester	3
Worthing	4
Rother	3
Hastings	6
Lewes	4
Wealden	2
Eastbourne	5
Brighton and Hove	20
Horsham	3
Crawley	4
Mid Sussex	3
Total	65

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Walsall, North (1) will receive a reply to his letter of 24 July 2003 regarding a constituent, ref: M3906/3; [128955]

(2) will receive a reply to his letter of 24 July regarding pay negotiations in the Probation Service, reference: M3906/3; and what the reasons are for the delay. [132830]

Paul Goggins [holding answers 11 September 2003 and 20 October 2003]: The information requested is as follows:

We have received numerous letters from Members of Parliament and their constituents, querying the delay in the settlement of this year's pay negotiations for the National Probation Service.

I have replied to my hon. Friend on 4 November 2003 and I apologise for this unacceptable delay.

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A pay offer was made to the Trade Unions on 22 July and has been accepted following ballots of members.

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