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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Energy Use

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much (a) electricity and (b) other energy his Department and its predecessors has used in each year since 1997 (i) in total and (ii) per square metre; what the projected use is for each of the following years for which forecasts are made; what plans he has to reduce usage; and if he will make a statement. [135048]

Mr. Lammy: For the amount of energy consumed each year since 1997, in total, and per square metre for my Department I refer the hon. Member to the answer given him by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 3 November 2003, Official Report, column 403W. This is based on annual returns provided by this Department.

My Department only forecasts energy usage for the forthcoming financial year and the current forecast for 2004–05 are set out in the following table. This table also includes details of our actual consumption for 2002–03 and our forecast consumption for 2003–04.

Consumption (GWH)

	Fossil	Electricity
2002–03(10)	104.5	(11)64.6
2003–04	95.7	61.7
2004–05	97.7	67.4

⁽¹⁰⁾ The figures for 2002–03 have been weather corrected to the 1999–2000 20 year average.

⁽¹¹⁾ This includes 10 per cent. of energy which is from renewable sources and therefore exempt from CCL.

My Department plans to reduce energy usage by continuing its planned program of energy surveys, efficiency works and training courses for Accommodation Liaison Officers.

In addition my Department follows guidance on government procurement produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This requires all new contracts to meet minimum efficiency standards as well as value for money, when purchasing certain types of product. Types of product that must meet energy efficiency criteria include IT equipment, gas boilers, white goods (eg fridges and washing machines), televisions, lighting systems and light-bulbs 2003.

Judicial Committee

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many countries use the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as their final court of appeal; and if he will make a statement. [134401]

Mr. Leslie: The Judicial Committee is used by 15 countries, as well as by the Sovereign Base area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus and by the United

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Kingdom Overseas Territories. Fuller details are available on the Privy Council Office website www.privycouncil.gov.uk.

Magistrates Courts

Mr. Byers: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what amounts of fines were (a) due to be paid and (b) collected in each magistrates' court in the most recent year for which information is available. [136532]

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Mr. Leslie: Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCCs) have a responsibility for the collection of a range of debts imposed by both the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court. Debt collected includes not only fines but also fees, compensation, confiscation orders, legal aid contributions and some maintenance orders. It is not yet possible to separate out only fines from the total so the figures provided in the table include all the elements above. Data are collected centrally at a MCC level, rather than at court level.

Debt Analysis—Financial Year April 2002—March 2003

	Including Confiscation Orders		Excluding Confiscation Orders
	Amount Owed Total including Confiscation Orders	Amount Collected Total Including Confiscation Orders	Amount Owed Total Excluding Confiscation orders	Amount Collected Total Excluding Confiscation Orders
Avon and Somerset	8,181,788	5,259,280	8,037,845	5,201,617
Bedfordshire	3,480,794	2,025,001	3,369,920	1,990,976
Cambridgeshire	7,212,583	3,238,169	4,823,762	3,235,925
Cheshire	6,343,975	3,528,927	5,937,986	3,517,973
Cleveland	4,216,677	1,975,152	3,988,362	1,975,152
Cumbria	3,731,662	2,775,099	3,664,593	2,774,655
Derbyshire	8,019,991	4,686,960	7,701,784	4,375,281
Devon and Cornwall	8,789,409	5,532,765	8,611,511	5,427,765
Dorset	3,129,353	2,389,428	2,937,889	2,254,069
Durham	3,810,252	2,824,406	3,724,459	2,804,406
Dyfed Powys	2,998,274	1,960,800	2,985,359	1,955,054
Essex	11,051,684	8,218,465	10,823,161	8,187,035
Gloucestershire	2,810,188	2,354,218	2,778,482	2,285,011
Greater London	111,347,014	44,495,021	78,359,500	40,008,859
Greater Manchester	23,784,474	15,219,139	23,637,845	15,114,771
Gwent	5,112,864	2,928,599	5,078,825	2,927,407
Hampshire and IoW	9,564,623	7,373,651	9,559,305	7,130,126
Hertfordshire	6,601,848	4,435,570	6,465,770	4,051,933
Humberside	5,435,985	3,624,952	5,230,916	3,510,212
Kent	9,434,951	5,730,421	9,433,926	5,279,995
Lancashire	11,325,845	7,126,465	10,315,616	6,979,413
Leicestershire	6,860,746	4,714,845	6,856,679	4,712,644
Lincolnshire	5,112,202	3,022,844	4,357,890	2,877,555
Merseyside	13,398,088	4,377,442	11,211,568	4,257,610
Norfolk	3,788,526	2,844,567	3,564,228	2,631,267
North Wales	5,413,000	2,887,586	5,329,765	2,828,407
North Yorkshire	3,204,012	2,485,638	3,173,526	2,367,756
Northamptonshire	5,444,863	3,447,419	5,243,809	3,367,406
Northumbria	8,823,707	5,231,567	8,813,707	5,231,567
Nottinghamshire	6,901,699	4,503,754	6,306,446	4,186,059
South Wales	9,536,317	4,936,250	9,496,396	4,902,869
South Yorkshire	8,461,741	5,127,542	7,395,710	5,070,458
Staffordshire	7,974,944	4,533,341	7,095,831	4,320,887
Suffolk	3,405,285	2,366,200	3,226,536	2,330,078
Surrey	5,427,711	4,414,523	5,379,103	4,349,531
Sussex	6,402,558	3,958,078	6,402,558	3,958,078
Thames Valley	12,245,768	8,450,928	12,066,998	8,450,928
Warwickshire	3,015,942	2,612,689	2,906,417	2,578,005
West Mercia	6,807,395	4,845,635	6,666,562	4,843,985
West Midlands	23,774,188	11,759,135	20,876,615	11,749,870
West Yorkshire	18,252,877	8,550,736	12,641,471	8,514,510
Wiltshire	5,228,069	3,546,903	4,831,198	3,353,379
England and Wales	425,863,872	236,320,110	371,309,829	227,870,484

Small Claims Courts

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how the personnel who adjudicate in the small claims court are selected for (a) the job and (b) particular types of case. [134295]

Mr. Leslie: Small claims are heard in county courts by District Judges and deputy District Judges who are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. Any District Judge, or deputy, can deal with small claims cases. The listing officer in each court is responsible, under the superintendence of the judges, on a day-to-day basis for allocating cases to individual judges.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Housing (Islington)

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the London borough of Islington concerning (a) its arm's length management

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organisation application, (b) the cost of its preparation and (c) the views of the borough's tenants on this policy. [136508]

Keith Hill: The London borough of Islington was given a provisional allocation of £24.9 million under Round Three of the Arm's Length Management Organisation (ALMO) Programme in July this year. Officials at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have had detailed discussions with council officers while the bid was being assessed. This dialogue will continue as the council draws up its application under section 27 of the Housing Act 1985 to delegate its housing management functions to the ALMO. Approval under section 27 will only be given if we are satisfied that proper consultation has been carried out and that tenants support proposals. The cost of preparing ALMO applications is a matter for the council.

Fire Service

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what in-service death benefits are payable to members of the Fire Service. [136196]

Phil Hope: For Great Britain the full range of death benefits that are potentially available under the Fire-fighters' Pension Scheme are:

Spouse's Ordinary Pension


Spouse's Special Pension


Spouse's Augmented Award


Spouse's Accrued Pension


Child's Ordinary Pension


Child's Special Allowance


Child's Special Gratuity


Child's Accrued Allowance


Lump Sum Death Grant


Adult Dependent Relative's Special Pension


Dependent Relative's Gratuity

Eligibility will depend on individual circumstances at the time of death. In addition, under the Conditions of Service agreed by the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades, death grant is payable to the dependants or estate of any fire-fighter killed as a result of an accident on duty.

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