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House Sales

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many house sales there were at more than (a) £50,000, (b) £100,000, (c) £200,000, (d) £500,000, (e) £750,000 and (f) £1 million in the Chorley constituency in each year since 1997. [137343]

Mr. Lammy: The figures for each completed calendar year are as follows. The Land Registry collects residential property price data by specified price bands and it is not possible to provide figures for sales specifically at more than £750,000. Alternative ranges have therefore been provided.

£		1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
50,001	100,000	770	806	932	1,056	1,060	1,193
100,001	200,000	261	332	385	437	579	845
200,001	500,000	16	29	39	39	73	168
500–001	600,000	0	1	0	0	0	2
600,001	800,000	0	0	1	1	0	5
800,001	1 million	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Over 1 million		0	0	0	0	0	1

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many house sales of less than £20,000 in east Lancashire took place in each year since 1997. [136732]

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.

Calendar year	Sales below £20,000 in the area of east Lancashire as defined in note 1 below	Sales below £20,000 in the east Lancashire pathfinder area
1997	1,340	1,452
1998	1,461	1,482
1999	1,372	1,382
2000	1,683	1,702
2001	1,953	1,881
2002	2,821	2,463

1. The area of "east Lancashire" referred to in the first column of sales figures has been interpreted as comprising the districts of Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley, Rossendale.

2. Sales are taken to mean the transfer of ownership for value of freehold and long leasehold residential properties, whether or not the purchase was supported by a mortgage.

Source:

Land Registry

Magistrates

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what advice the Lord Chancellor gives on the age of magistrates. [136914]

Mr. Leslie: I would refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement on 6 November 2003, Official Report, column 43WS concerning the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellors' National Strategy for the Recruitment of Lay Magistrates. That records the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor's decision that there need be no lower age limit for applicants to the magistracy who can show that they have the key qualities needed for appointment. This is intended to help in achieving a more diverse and better-balanced bench. The upper age limit for recruitment of magistrates is 65. The training to serve as a magistrate takes approximately two years to complete, and at least two—three years on the bench is needed to recoup the cost of training before a magistrate reaches the statutory retirement age of 70.

Mental Health

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will bring forward proposals in the draft Mental Incapacity Bill to prevent (a) medical staff and (b) carers from withholding care to people who are mentally incapacitated. [136625]

Mr. Lammy : The Draft Mental Incapacity Bill establishes a framework under which decisions can be made on behalf of adults who lack capacity. The Bill contains a requirement that all decisions must be made in the best interests of the person. The current law is that, in certain circumstances, care that involves the provision of medical treatment may be withheld by medical staff if this is in the best interests of the person because the continuation of such care would serve no beneficial purpose and would be burdensome. The Bill would not change this. However the Bill adds a new safeguard of a criminal offence of ill-treatment and neglect. This would mean that wilfully neglecting someone by withholding care could lead to prosecution.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions his Department has had with (a) charities, (b) religious groups, (c) legal professionals and (d) medical professionals about provisions on the withholding of care in the draft Mental Incapacity Bill. [136659]

Mr. Lammy: My Department has had a large number of discussions with a wide range of stakeholders on all aspects of the draft Bill and we set up a Consultative Forum in September 2002 to facilitate this. We have engaged with a number of lay and religious groups, for example Alert and CARE, in order to learn more about their views on healthcare decision-making, including the circumstances in which medical treatment is withdrawn

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or withheld. We have also similarly engaged with legal and medical professional organisations, including the Law Society and the British Medical Association. We are committed to maintaining contact with these and other groups with an interest in the draft Bill.

Paper Deeds

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether all paper deeds will be returned to the registered land and home owners rather than destroyed in the process of putting the Land Registry on-line. [136704]

Mr. Lammy: When making an application to Land Registry, a customer may now request the return of any of the documents lodged with the application subject, in

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most cases, to providing a certified copy.

For documents lodged on or before commencement of the Land Registration Act 2002 on 13 October 2003, registered owners have five years from that date to request the return of a document lodged by them or by a previous owner.

No decision has yet been made by Land Registry as to whether, and if so in what circumstances, documents will be destroyed. However, the Land Registration Rules 2003 require that before any documents are destroyed (and subject to the five year period for certain documents, as mentioned above) the Chief Land Registrar must be satisfied that either he has made a sufficient copy of the document or that further retention is unnecessary.

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