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British-Irish Council

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what    the role of the British-Irish Council is in monitoring and co-ordinating the implementation of the provisions of the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. [168815]

Mr. Lammy: The British-Irish Council does not have   a role in monitoring and co-ordinating the implementation of the provision of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. This is a matter for the Council of Europe and each of the Charter's ratified signatories. (Out of the BIC Members, only the UK and Ireland are members of the Council of Europe, and the UK is the only ratified signatory to the Charter.)

The British-Irish Council however has a sectoral working group looking at Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages, led by the Welsh Assembly Government. The work of the BIC in this area will complement current UK initiatives in respect of the Charter.

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he intends to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 25 March with regard to Mr. Martin Rathfelder. [172259]

Mr. Lammy: The Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor wrote to the right hon. Member on 4 May in response to his letter of 25 March.

Legal Aid

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the dispute with the Bar over legal aid in criminal trials. [169800]

Mr. Lammy: Very high cost criminal cases (VHCCCs) represent around l per cent. of all Crown court cases but take up (currently) around 51 per cent. of Crown court expenditure (£250–300 million). Over the last three years the percentage increase in the cost of the most expensive 1,000 criminal cases in each year has been 14 per cent. The new contracting scheme, which now applies to all these cases, introduces greater control and works on the basis of fixed rates for both barristers and solicitors. Cases are paid for as each stage is completed. That is an advantage from the lawyer's point of view over the former system where cases are on average paid two years after their start.

The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and I are concerned about the refusal by barristers to take on some very high cost criminal cases (VHCCCs) under the contracting regime which now applies to all cases. We have therefore set up a Review Committee with the Bar and Law Society to examine the VHCCC regime and report by 28 May 2004. The committee also includes the Legal Services Commission, the Treasury and the Crown Prosecution Service. I am pleased to note that
 
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the Chairman of the Bar has written to his members to help ensure that the essential public interest priorities are met pending the outcome of the review.

The VHCCC Review Committee met for the first time on 26 April, under the chairmanship of Ian Magee CB (Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of Constitutional Affairs, and Chief Executive, Operations with responsibility for legal aid). There was a useful exchange of views between the Bar, the Law Society, my Department and the Crown Prosecution Service and a programme of rapid work has been agreed, which should enable a full report to be prepared by 28 May.

The Review Committee's terms of reference are:

"To examine the workings so far of the very high cost criminal case regime and to make recommendations on how its procedures and structures might be improved to provide a better service to clients and a better system for those working within it.

The Review should consider:

the management and bureaucracy of the Scheme, including the balance between cost management and professional judgment;

whether there are opportunities to rebalance payments in the scheme to address anomalies;

the validity of the categories;

whether there would be advantage in extending the upper threshold of the graduated fee scheme (i.e. whether the graduated

The Review is to report on 28 May, unless parties agree to extend.

There is no commitment on the part of the Government to fund any measures, which would have the effect of increasing overall legal aid expenditure. But if the length of cases reduces overall, this may be reflected in increased rates."

Legal Aid (NHS Cases)

Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) patients and (b) patients' families have received legal aid support for disputes with NHS trusts in the last five years. [166692]

Mr. Lammy: The information requested is not directly available. The Legal Services Commission's computer systems do not record the status of the person receiving legal aid nor do they indicate who the dispute is against. However, the Commission is able to provide figures for the number of funding certificates where the Commission has granted Legal Representation for actual or potential clinical negligence proceedings. The figures are not necessarily reflective of the number of individuals involved:

	Number
1998–99	7,867
1999–2000	7,375
2000–01	7,329
2001–02	7,309
2002–03	6,307

The Commission has figures for the pre-representation legal advice and assistance stage only from April 2001. These are as follows—again the figures are not necessarily reflective of the number of individuals involved:
 
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	Number
2000–01	4,550
2001–02	4,903
2002–03	4,554

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Anti-social Behaviour

Chris Ruane: To ask the Solicitor-General which areas will be covered by the new anti-social behaviour prosecutors; and what mechanisms are in place for spreading best practice in combating antisocial behaviour. [172930]

The Solicitor-General: The twelve Areas covered by the new anti-social behaviour prosecutors are: Northumbria, Lancashire, South Yorkshire, Merseyside, Manchester, West Mercia, Birmingham, South Wales, Avon and Somerset, Sussex, Kent and London (North Sector).

The specialist prosecutors will be responsible for prosecuting anti-social behaviour cases and seeking orders on conviction.

Best practice is shared on a regular basis via a central project team and a dedicated Crown Prosecution Service intranet bulletin board. The expert prosecutors will be holding regular meetings with the Attorney General where they will circulate local good practice and feed back practitioner impact.

Those CPS Areas not included in the scope of the current project have now appointed lead anti-social behaviour prosecutors.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Regional Tourism

Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding for tourism has been made available to each regional development agency (RDA) in the current year; and how much of this funding each RDA passed on (a) to its regional tourist board, (b) to local authorities, (c) to local and regional businesses and (d) for use for marketing. [172389]

Mr. Caborn: In 2004–05, the RDAs will receive £3.6 million specifically for tourism as follows:

	Amount (£)
Advantage West Midlands	252,000
East of England Development Agency	543,000
East Midlands Development Agency	252,000
North West Development Agency	713,000
One North East	333,000
South East Development Agency	744,000
South West Regional Development Agency	403,000
Yorkshire Forward	360,000

This money is ring-fenced for the Regional Tourist Boards until the end of 2005–06. Those regions which no longer work with an RTB have sought the Department's approval to pass the money to other designated tourism
 
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delivery bodies. The RDAs will determine what objectives and targets the RTBs or other organisations should meet in return for the funds, working as appropriate with local authorities and businesses.

In the North East, ONE has taken over the core functions of the former Northumbria Tourist Board, and will retain the funding on the basis that it is ring-fenced for this purpose. In the North West, the NWDA has established four destination management organisations to take over the role of the former NW Tourist Board.

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