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18 Mar 2004 : Column 423W—continued
Enforcement Agents
Andy King: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the fines officers working in the pilot enforcement programmes in (a) Cambridgeshire, (b) Cheshire, (c) Cumbria,
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(d) Devon and Cornwall, (e) Gloucester and (f) South Yorkshire implementing the Courts Act 2003 have been informed about the procedures covering vulnerable situations set out on page nine of the National Standards for Enforcement Agents issued by the Lord Chancellor's Department in April 2002. [161785]
Mr. Leslie: All Fines Officers in the local pilots areas have been recruited from existing staff, to whom the National Standards for Enforcement Agents was issued in May 2002. This guidance, together with general guidance ("Transfer of responsibility for warrant execution: Guidance notes", chapter 7 "Vulnerable people") issued by the then Lord Chancellor's Department in March 2001, will also be drawn to the attention of any new recruits—including fines officers, court clerks and enforcement agents, as part of their induction training. It is also included in follow-up training.
Legal Aid (Northern Ireland)
Lady Hermon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of the Department's legal aid budget has been spent in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years. [161891]
Mr. Leslie: There are separate budgets for legal aid in England and Wales (which is managed by the Department for Constitutional Affairs) and Northern Ireland (which is managed by the Northern Ireland Court Service). During the years 1998–99 to 2001–02 expenditure on legal aid was as follows.
| England and Wales | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 1,684.0 | 32.7 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,616.5 | 37.3 |
| 2000–01 | 1,736.8 | 40.6 |
| 2001–02 | 1,788.5 | 44.8 |
| 2002–03 | 1,982.0 | (2)48.5 |
(2) Subject to audit.
Northern Ireland Court Service
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many posts have been advertised by the Northern Ireland Court Service in the last five years; and how many were reserved, broken down by grade equivalent in the Northern Ireland Civil Service. [160334]
Mr. Leslie: Posts advertised in the last five years may be broken down as follows:
(3) Generic competitions with appointments being made to both reserved and non-reserved posts.
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Mr. Mallon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who in the Northern Ireland Court Service has responsibility for determining whether posts should be reserved. [160335]
Mr. Leslie: The Human Resource Manager is responsible for determining whether posts within the Northern Ireland Court Service should be reserved.
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Mr. Mallon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the grade equivalent in the Northern Ireland Civil Service is of post of audit manager for the Northern Ireland Court Service as advertised in competition PB/1/04. [160336]
Mr. Leslie: The equivalent grade of audit manager in the Northern Ireland Civil Service is Deputy Principal.
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs on what grounds it is stated that the post of audit manager for the Northern Ireland Court Service is a reserved post from which Irish nationals are excluded in competition PB/1/04. [160337]
Mr. Leslie: The post of audit manager in the Northern Ireland Court Service is reserved in accordance with the Civil Service Nationality Rules on the grounds, inter alia, that the post involves significant contact with the judiciary and access to sensitive information—for example, the personal records of the judiciary.
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs according to what guidance the Northern Ireland Court Service reserves posts; and if he will place a copy of that guidance in the Library. [160339]
Mr. Leslie: Posts in the Northern Ireland Court Service are designated as reserved or non-reserved in accordance with the Civil Service Nationality Rules—Guidance on Checking Eligibility. The guidance may be located at http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/nationality/contents.asp.
Websites
Mr. Heald: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total annual cost of his Department's websites, including those of its agencies, was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [159516]
Mr. Leslie: The information requested is listed as follows.
(4) Staff costs are not included (unless otherwise stated), and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
(5) The sites hosted by Cable and Wireless (2002–05) under a three-year contract. The hosting element of this is £158,796 per annum for a total of eight sites.
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