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Transport Infrastructure

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of priority bus lanes have   been created in Heywood and Middleton since 1997. [168549]

Mr. McNulty: Two priority bus lanes have been created in the Heywood and Middleton constituency since 1997, with a total length of 0.225 kms, on Rochdale Road, Middleton and South Parade, Rochdale.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of new cycle lanes have been provided in Heywood and Middleton using public funds since 1997. [168547]

 
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Mr. McNulty: A total of 19 km of cycle lanes have been introduced on various roads in Heywood and Middleton.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of new cycle lanes have been provided using public funds in Manchester, Gorton since 1997. [167307]

Mr. Darling: 1.3 km of cycle lanes on Ashton New Road have been introduced in Gorton since 1997, as well as 4 km of dedicated pathways along the Fallowfield Loop disused railway line and a further 2 km along the Ashton canal towpath.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of priority bus lanes have been created in Manchester, Gorton since 1997. [167308]

Mr. Darling: An 875 m long city-bound bus lane, starting from the junction with Redgate Lane, was introduced as part of the Hyde Road/Devonshire Street junction improvement scheme, completed in May 2003. £23 million has also been awarded for a Quality Bus Corridor along the A57 from Hyde to Manchester.

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of new cycle lanes have been provided using public funds in Stalybridge and Hyde since 1997. [168730]

Mr. McNulty: A 2.5 km section of the Transpennine Trail, which provides facilities for cyclists and other users, has been created in Stalybridge and Hyde since 1997. A number of footpaths throughout Stalybridge and Hyde have also been upgraded to bridleways thus providing additional cycle facilities.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Court Administrative Boundaries

25. Jim Knight: What plans there are to align court administrative boundaries with Government Office regional boundaries. [168408]

Mr. Leslie: With the introduction of the new unified courts agency, court administrative boundaries will be aligned with the Government Office boundaries and   Wales, with two exceptions: Cheshire, and the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We will re-examine these arrangements as part of a post-implementation review in the financial year 2006–07.

Judiciary

27. Keith Vaz: What plans the Lord Chancellor has to ensure greater diversity in the judiciary. [168410]

Mr. Leslie: The new, independent Judicial Appointments Commission will inspire a more diverse range of applicants through a more open, transparent and accessible system. The Department is also examining whether other barriers exist to deter applicants from   minority groups, while continuing to run its comprehensive outreach programme.
 
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Queen's Counsel

29. Dr. Cable: When the Lord Chancellor intends to present proposals to continue or replace the system of Queen's Counsel. [168413]

Mr. Leslie: We hope to make an announcement soon.

Social Security Commissioners (Welsh Language)

30. Mr. Llwyd: What action the Secretary of State takes to ensure that an appellant who is resident in Wales is able to conduct his case before the Social Security Commissioners through the medium of the Welsh language wherever that tribunal sits. [168414]

Mr. Lammy: All cases from Wales received by the Social Security Commissioners are processed by Commissioners who are familiar with the Welsh language. Where appropriate bilingual directions are forwarded to the appellant giving them the opportunity to request a hearing to be conducted in the Welsh language.

Local Authority Records (Public Access)

31. Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on access by the public to local authority records under freedom of information legislation. [168415]

Mr. Lammy: All public authorities, are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. When access rights come into force on 1 January 2005 anybody may request information from a local authority. The applicant has the right:

To be told whether or not the public authority holds that information; and if so,

To have that information communicated to him or her.

Data Protection

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what data protection safeguards are available to UK citizens whose detailed private information is made available to private companies in the US. [168250]

Mr. Lammy: The general rule established by the Data Protection Act 1998 is that, subject to exemptions, personal data may only be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area if they provide an adequate level of data protection. Adequacy of protection is determined on a case by case basis having regard to all the circumstances. The US Department of Commerce have established a set of data protection rules (generally known as the "safe harbour") to which certain organisations receiving personal data from the EU may subscribe. The European Commission have made a formal finding that the "safe harbour" provides adequate data protection for the purposes of the EC Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) to which the Data   Protection Act 1998 gives effect. About 450 organisations currently subscribe to the "safe harbour".

Immigration

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the
 
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legal   aid costs have been, to date, of representing (a) detainees and (b) those appealing against removal of nationality (i) before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission and (ii) in any subsequent appeals; and if he will make a statement. [168224]

Mr. Lammy: The Legal Services Commission cannot provide the requested information. Bills for most of the cases before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission have yet to be submitted to the Commission.

Legal Aid

Mr. Drew: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the legal aid budget. [168364]

Mr. Lammy: Legal aid expenditure for the year 2002–03 was £1,908 million in cash. Final figures for 2003–04 are not currently available; however, legal aid expenditure is expected to be £2,084 million in cash, and £1,819 million in resource. From 2003–04 legal aid is accounted for in both cash and resource terms, but no equivalent figure for resource is available for 2002–03.

Bob Spink: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs on how many occasions legal aid has been withdrawn because of fraudulent applications in each of the last three years. [167075]

Mr. Lammy: It is difficult to classify particular applications as deliberately fraudulent. The Commission has powers to investigate where doubts arise about whether a funded client is financially eligible for civil legal aid. Opponents or third parties can make representations about the merits of the case, the means of the applicant or both (mixed representations). Figures are provided in the table showing outcomes for these categories in each of the last three financial years for which it has finalised data:

	Total representations closed out	Cases where investigation led to refusal/withdrawal/amendment to certificate
2000–01
Means	2,871	1,010
Mixed	416	128
2001–02
Means	2,282	716
Mixed	306	80
2002–03
Means	1,984	676
Mixed	214	70

The Commission's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) deals with means assessments for individual applicants for legal aid which are difficult or contentious including cases of misrepresentation by applicants for publicly funded legal services. Figures on the number of cases in each year where investigation resulted in the refusal or withdrawal of funding or an increase in the contributions payable are set out as follows:

2000–01—319

2001–02—128

2002–03—152

 
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For criminal legal aid, means assessment was used prior to 2001–02. The Court Service referred cases to the Commission's SIU where applicants had complex financial affairs. In 2000–01 98 investigation into criminal cases were concluded, following 181 referrals from the Court Service. 95 per cent. of investigations in criminal cases led to the refusal or withdrawal of funding. 47 investigations were concluded in 2001–02 relating to applications for criminal legal aid made prior   to April 2001. In 85 per cent. of these cases, investigations resulted in a change to the decision regarding funding.

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