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19 Apr 2004 : Column 4W—continued
House of Lords Reform
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to propose changes to the voting rights of peers on secondary legislation. [165545]
Mr. Leslie: The Government decided not to proceed with its proposals for reforming the House of Lords this Session, in view of the determined opposition to the proposals in the House of Lords, and the consequent threat to the legislative programme. Instead, the Government is seeking further discussion of the ways in which the role, powers, procedures and composition of the Lords should be reformed.
Supreme Court
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whom the Government consulted about the proposed establishment of a Supreme Court. [165610]
Mr. Leslie: The Government issued a consultation paper, "Constitutional Reform: a Supreme Court for the United Kingdom" on 11 July 2003. The consultation period closed on 7 November 2003 and 174 replies were received from a wide range of interested organisations and individuals. The responses can be viewed on the Department's website.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much money has been spent on planning the Supreme Court. [165611]
Mr. Leslie: The spend to date on planning the Supreme Court is approximately £113,000. This consists of fees of £19,000 on the search for potential sites for the Supreme Court. A further £94,000 has been committed on the analysis and evaluation of the building options, completion of the Treasury 'Green Book' style economic appraisals and, more recently, detailed work on feasibility and outline design.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the implications of the proposed Supreme Court are for the judicial appeals process. [165616]
Mr. Leslie: The UK Supreme Court will assume the current jurisdiction of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords and the devolution jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Combining these jurisdictions in a new court will not affect the appeals process, but will offer improvement in the efficient management of work load through enhanced facilities and services within the court and greater flexibility for hearing cases.
Unpaid Fines (Cleveland)
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total number of overdue unpaid fines in the Cleveland Petty Sessional Division was on 1 April. [165338]
Mr. Leslie:
Information regarding fines is produced on a monthly basis as at the end of each month.
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The data we have on the Cleveland Magistrates Courts Committee show that the total number of overdue unpaid fines at the end of March 2004 was 33,013.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Doug Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's priorities are for the forthcoming spending review. [164686]
Tessa Jowell: My Department's strategic aim is to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities, support the pursuit of excellence and champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries. Decisions taken in the spending round will reflect that.
Mr. Doug Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's priorities are for sport and physical activity funding in the forthcoming spending review. [164688]
Tessa Jowell: My Department's priorities are to build on progress made since the last spending review through continued significant investment in sport and physical activity in schools and at grass roots level as a means of improving the health and well-being of people in this country, and in giving our most talented athletes the very best chance of fulfilling their potential.
Information Technology Projects
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list each information technology project being undertaken by her Department and its agencies including the (a) start date, (b) planned completion date, (c) current expected completion date, (d) planned cost and (e) current estimated cost; and if she will make a statement. [165010]
Mr. Caborn: The Department is currently undertaking the following IT projects:
1. Development of an information management programme to support Freedom of Information and other key business objectives, including pilot implementation of an Electronic Document and Records Management System—started September 2003—planned completion January 2005—expected completion January 2005—planned cost £1.3 million—cost to date £491,000.
2. Development of an extranet to link DCMS and its sponsored bodies—started March 2004—planned completion July 2004—expected completion July 2004—planned cost £20,000—cost to date none.
TV Licensing
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what arrangements are in place for (a) monitoring and (b) providing civil redress for unjustified actions by TV Licensing. [165593]
Estelle Morris:
The BBC, as licensing authority, monitors the handling of complaints received by TV Licensing. Complaints are dealt with in the first instance by TV Licensing's customer relations team; there is an avenue of appeal first to the Head of Customer Relations and then to the Customer Services Director. If
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a complaint remains unresolved, the case is referred to the BBC for review. These procedures are additional to any right to seek legal redress through the courts in respect of any alleged unlawful action. The BBC considers that it adheres to all relevant UK legislation and codes of practice and requires its agent TV Licensing to do likewise.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Pension Credit
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners he estimates have failed to claim their Pension Credit in each constituency in North Wales. [164854]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the form requested. However, as at 29 February, there were approximately 133,000 households (approximately 162,000 individuals) in Wales receiving Pension Credit. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 15 March 2004, Official Report, columns 4–5, we have published the latest monthly Pension Credit progress report with information up to the end of February.
The report, copies of which are available in the Library, is accompanied by tables showing the number of Pension Credit households and corresponding individuals in each constituency in Great Britain.
Pensioners (Somerset)
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of pensioners in Somerset who will receive the £100 payment towards council tax, broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area. [165599]
Malcolm Wicks: We are looking at the most effective and cost-efficient way to make the payments of £100 to eligible households. It is intended that a single one-off payment is made in 2004–05.
The latest available data showing households in Somerset with at least one occupant aged 70 or over broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area are in the tables. We expect the 2004–05 figures to be similar.
| Parliamentary Constituency | Households |
|---|---|
| Bath | 9,185 |
| Bridgwater | 10,030 |
| Somerton and Frome | 9,280 |
| Taunton | 11,095 |
| Wansdyke | 8,185 |
| Wells | 10,430 |
| Weston-Super-Mare | 10,155 |
| Woodspring | 8,570 |
| Yeovil | 10,190 |
| Total | 87,120 |
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| Local Authority | Households |
|---|---|
| Mendip district council | 9,530 |
| Sedgemoor district council | 10,745 |
| South Somerset district council | 15,685 |
| Taunton Deane borough council | 10,525 |
| West Somerset district council | 4,540 |
| Total | 51,025 |
Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
2. Any residence found to have four or more occupants is not included in these figures as it is assumed to be a Residential Care Nursing Home.
3. Local authorities and parliamentary constituencies have been allocated using the relevant ONS postcode directory.
4. Parliamentary constituency boundaries might not match exactly with local authority boundaries.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, Winter Fuel Payments data Winter 2002–03 100 per cent. sample.
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