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Schools (Bullying)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children have had to move schools as a result of bullying in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) North Down in each of the past five years; and what steps he is taking to reduce these figures. [150677]

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Jane Kennedy: The Department of Education does not collect information about the number of pupils who move schools as a result of bullying. Parents move their children from one school to another for a variety of reasons, which may include alleged bullying. However, there is no requirement for parents to advise any statutory agency of the reasons for the move. The Department recognises that bullying in whatever form and for whatever reason, have no place in schools. The Department has issued comprehensive guidance to all schools about how to tackle bullying. Further, the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 2003, which came into operation on 1 April 2003, places a duty on all grant-aided schools to have an anti-bullying policy and to draw up measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils.

Airport/Port Security

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the current security arrangements at Northern Ireland's ports and airports. [150460]

Jane Kennedy: A number of agencies work together, each with specific roles that contribute to the overall security at ports and airports. Security regimes are routinely inspected by the appropriate regulatory body to ensure that operating authorities comply with the requirements placed upon them.

Solectron

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with (a) Invest Northern Ireland and (b) NORTEL Northern Ireland on the future of Solectron Carrickfergus. [151002]

Mr. Pearson: I have discussed the future of Solectron with Invest NI. In addition in November 2003, I met with senior Nortel executives in Montreal and Ottawa, Canada, to discuss future business issues. I also met Nortel's Northern Ireland Management on 2 February 2004. Invest NI continues to maintain contact with senior Solectron executives in Europe and the United States.

Statutory Sick Pay

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997. [148629]

Mr. Pearson: The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Burglary

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what guidance is given on (a) whether bail should be granted following a

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charge of house burglary and (b) the level of sentencing appropriate following a conviction for house burglary. [152118]

Mr. Leslie: The judiciary in both the Crown and magistrates court will apply any case law and relevant court of appeal judgments when making decisions on bail and sentence. Guidelines for sentencing in dwelling house burglary cases were laid out by the Lord Chief Justice in a 2002 judgment.

All magistrates receive training on the law in relation to bail and sentencing organised by the 42 independent Magistrates Courts Committees. In addition, they are issued with an Adult Court Bench Book, published by the Judicial Studies Board. This bench book includes a structured decision-making guide for use when making both bail and sentencing decisions. It also contains copies of both the National Mode of Trial Guidelines issued by the Lord Chief Justice as part of the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction and the newly revised Magistrates Court Sentencing Guidelines. Both of these documents provide guidance in relation to dwelling house burglaries. The Adult Court Bench Book is publicly available through the website www. jsboard.co.uk.

Consultations

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list those individuals and organisations (a) to whom (i) his Department, (ii) its executive agencies and (iii) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible sent a copy of the consultations (A) Combining English local authority, Greater London Authority and European Parliament elections: a consultation paper, (B) Modernising the civil courts: a consultation paper and (C) Constitutional reform: next steps for the House of Lords and (b) from who each received a response in each case. [151651]

Mr. Leslie: These consultation papers, as is routine with Government consultation, were published on the Department's websites. They were each distributed to a wide number of consultees, and each received a significant number of detailed responses.

I have placed a list of consultees and respondents to the "Combining English local authority, Greater London Authority and European Parliament elections" and "Modernising the Civil Courts" consultation papers in the Library of the House.

222 people responded to the consultation paper "Constitutional reform: next steps for the House of Lords". The consultation paper was sent to all those referred to in annex B of the paper, and others as requested. A summary of responses to the consultation will be published shortly, along with legislation to give effect to the Government's proposals.

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]

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Mr. Lammy: I wrote to the hon. Member for Northavon on 26 October 2003 in response to his letter of 29 August. I apologise that the hon. Member does not appear to have received the letter of 26 October. A further copy has been forwarded to the hon. Member.

Decennial Records

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1112W, on the 1911 Census, if the Lord Chancellor will amend Instrument No.12 (1966) to reduce the period of closure of decennial records to 50 years. [150830]

Mr. Leslie: The Lord Chancellor has not given consideration to amending Instrument No. 12 to reduce the closure period of decennial census records to 50 years.

Judicial Appointments Commission

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he last met the Lord Chief Justice to discuss his proposals to create a Judicial Appointments Commission. [151658]

Mr. Leslie: The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice regularly discuss judicial issues and constitutional reform.

They last met to discuss the Judicial Appointments Commission on 18 December 2003. Subsequent to this meeting, they have also had several telephone conversations to discuss the proposals to create a Judicial Appointments Commission.

Mr. Balwant Singh

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the letter sent by the hon. Member for Leicester, East to Miss Fitzmaurice on 2 December 2003, what progress has been made in finding the file of Mr. Balwant Singh. [151575]

Mr. Lammy: This appeal has not been received by the Immigration Appellate Authority. The British High Commission in New Delhi are responsible for forwarding the appeal papers to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (IND). Checks with IND have confirmed that no papers have been received pertaining to the appeal of a Mr. Balwant Singh.

Mr. Philip Brown

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reason Mr. Philip Brown of Llandrindod Wells, reference CSCU 121/03, was refused a refund of the fee charged to gain Power of Attorney for his late mother. [151246]

Mr. Lammy: Mr. Brown paid a fee to the Court of Protection for an application to register an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA).

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The application was received on 25 March 2003. Mrs. Brown unfortunately died on 27 April 2003 while the court waited for the statutory 35 day waiting period following notification of relatives of the application to expire before issuing the Enduring Power sealed by the court.

EPA fees are payable under Rule 26 of the Court of Protection (Enduring Powers of Attorney) Rules 2001. The court has set guidelines for the remission of fees, to ensure that cases are with consistently.

According to these guidelines, a registration fee will be remitted if the donor of the EPA dies within five working days of the application. This is because most of the administrative work generated by an application to register an EPA is done within the first few days of the application.

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