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30 Jan 2004 : Column 562W—continued
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Extradition
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps are taken to satisfy district judges that each person consenting to extradition has had access to legal advice. [150341]
Mr. Leslie: Sections 45 and 127 of the Extradition Act 2003 state that a person may not give his consent to extradition unless he is legally represented. However, a sane person cannot be compelled to take legal advice if they do not wish it.
All defendants who waive legal advice either have the means, or have been offered legal aid, to obtain it, but have taken a decision not to do so. The Senior District Judge at Bow Street Magistrates Court has confirmed that no District Judge would permit a defendant to waive legal advice without satisfying him or herself that this requirement is met, and that the defendant has full understanding of the consequences of his decision.
In practice, all defendants in extradition proceedings are represented, either by their own solicitor, or by the court's duty solicitor, to whom they will have access.
Burglary
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs in how many and what proportion of cases resulting in convictions for (a) house burglary and (b) aggravated house burglary, bail was granted before conviction in each of the last six years. [152119]
Mr. Leslie: The number and proportion of defendants convicted in the Crown Court of either burglary or aggravated burglary of a dwelling, and who had been committed on bail by the magistrates' court are provided in the following table.
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| Convicted | Committed on bail | Proportion (per cent.) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Burglary | Aggravated burglary | Burglary | Aggravated burglary | Burglary | Aggravated burglary |
| 1998 | 8,995 | 318 | 4,268 | 115 | 47.4 | 36.2 |
| 1999 | 8,266 | 271 | 3,746 | 108 | 45.3 | 39.9 |
| 2000 | 7,546 | 255 | 3,573 | 79 | 47.3 | 31.0 |
| 2001 | 6,435 | 265 | 3,007 | 99 | 46.7 | 37.4 |
| 2002 | 6,905 | 341 | 3,189 | 107 | 46.2 | 31.4 |
| 2003 | 7,061 | 301 | 3,232 | 75 | 45.8 | 24.9 |
Note:
Figures relate to number of defendants
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what proportion of convictions for (a) burglary of a house and (b) aggravated burglary of a house resulted in a gaol sentence in each of the last six years. [152120]
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Mr. Leslie: The number and proportion of defendants convicted of either burglary or aggravated burglary of a dwelling, and who received a custodial sentence in each of the last six years are provided in the following table.
| Convicted | Custodial sentence | Proportion (per cent.) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Burglary | Aggravated burglary | Burglary | Aggravated burglary | Burglary | Aggravated burglary | |
| 1998 | 8,995 | 318 | 6,389 | 302 | 71.0 | 95.0 | |
| 1999 | 8,266 | 271 | 6,070 | 270 | 73.4 | 99.6 | |
| 2000 | 7,546 | 255 | 5,309 | 238 | 70.4 | 93.3 | |
| 2001 | 6,435 | 265 | 4,564 | 261 | 70.9 | 98.5 | |
| 2002 | 6,905 | 341 | 4,730 | 322 | 68.5 | 94.4 | |
| 2003 | 7,061 | 301 | 4,530 | 264 | 64.2 | 87.7 | |
Note:
Figures relate to number of defendants
Correspondence
Mr. Webb: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he will reply to the letter of 29 August 2003 from the hon. Member for Northavon, forwarded to him by the Department for Work and Pensions, reference 142208, regarding Mr. Dicker. [151710]
Mr. Lammy: I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Information Technology
Mr. Allan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what cost savings have been made in the Department since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated. [151052]
Mr. Leslie: My Department established a centre of excellence covering all programmes and projects, including IT and procurement programmes and projects, in June 2003. The centre of excellence reviewed all pre-existing programmes and projects in October 2003 and identified £6.9 million savings that were made immediately. Further savings and other cost benefits will not accrue until planned improvements begin to take effect.
Legal Aid
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent changes have been made to the provision of public funding to suspects before charge. [150792]
Mr. Lammy: No changes have been made to the provision of Criminal Defence Service (formerly criminal legal aid) funding to suspects before charge. However the Department for Constitutional Affairs consulted last year on proposals to improve value for money in the CDS and will shortly be announcing the result of the consultation.
Public Bodies (Membership)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who the members of the (a) Imperial College Governing Body, (b) Court of UMIST, (c) Court of the University of Hull, (d) Court of the University of Sussex and (e) Court of the University of Ulster were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is. [151342]
Mr. Leslie:
The Privy Council appointees for the bodies mentioned and their terms of office are set out as follows:
Imperial College—term of office 4 years:
Field Marshall Lord Vincent
Trevor Phillips OBE
Ms Charlotte L. Chothia
Balram Gidoomal
Sir Alastair Morton
Sir Peter Williams CBE
UMIST—term of office 3 years:
Denis Robson
Miss Dawn Gibbins MBE
Geoffrey Galley
Keith Beckett
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University of Hull—term of office 3 years:
Lord Haskins
John Trebble
Michael Hollingbery
University of Sussex—term of office 3 years:
Mark Burrell
Mrs. Gail Rebuck
James Brathwaite CBE
University of Ulster—term of office 4 years:
The Lord Glentoran CBE
Mrs. Bernadette Grant
How Universities remunerate the members of their councils is not a matter for the Privy Council Office, but this information should be available from the bodies themselves.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who the members of the (a) Court of Victoria University of Manchester, (b) General Medical Council, (c) Royal Council of Veterinary Surgeons and (d) Royal College of Court were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is. [151457]
Mr. Leslie: The Privy Council appointees for the bodies mentioned and their terms of office are set out as follows:
- Victoria University of Manchester—term of office three years
- Dame Valerie Strachan DCB
- Dr. Inayat Khan Babar
- Colonel John Bradford Timmins QBE TD JP
- Ms Dawn Peters
- Anthony Nixon
- General Medical Council—term of office four years
- Kevin Baron MP
- The Very Reverend Graham Forbes
- Robert Nicholls
- Ruth Evans
- Dr. Arun Midha
- Mrs. Patricia Moberly
- David Bean
- Sir Michael Buckley
- Mrs. Gillian Camm
- Stuart Heatherington
- Robin McLeod
- Dr. Joan Martin
- Fiona Peel
- Ann Robinson
- Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons—term of office four years
- James M. Scudamore
- F. Brian Jennings
- Mr. Martyn Jones MP
- Mrs. Barbara Saunders
- Royal College of Art—term of office three years
- Dr. Kenneth Grange CBE
How these bodies remunerate the members of their councils is not a matter for the Privy Council Office, but this information should be available from the bodies themselves.
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