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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Immigration Appeals

Mr. Malins: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many caseworkers in the London office of the Legal Services Commission will deal with applications by publicly-funded providers of immigration services for extensions to the number of hours permitted for advice and appeal preparation; and what their (a) legal qualifications and (b) experience of immigration work are. [172150]

Mr. Lammy: There are 22 caseworkers in the London Office of the Legal Services Commission dealing with these applications. Seven of the caseworkers have been    working on Legal Help, Controlled Legal Representation and certificated immigration and asylum work for over nine months, and three for over three years.

The London team has six solicitors, each of whom has a minimum of three years' immigration experience and acts as a coach and mentor for the more junior members of staff. The team can draw on support from a further three immigration solicitors, all with a minimum of three years' experience of immigration in private practice, and a team of eight consultants, all of whom are currently working in private practice.

The head of the London team has 19 years' experience in civil litigation and 15 years' experience in relation to immigration and asylum work specifically.

Public Defenders

Mr. Drew: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Public Defender System. [172992]

Mr. Lammy: In order to assess better the performance of the Public Defender Service (PDS) the Legal Services Commission (LSC), with the agreement of Ministers, increased the number of PDS offices from six to eight in 2003. Ministers will make a decision on the future of the PDS in the light of the research at the end of 2005. There
 
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are no current plans to open further offices but the Government and the LSC have always said that the PDS provides a flexible option to deliver criminal defence services where existing provision is low, or of poor quality.

Criminal Defence Service

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what action is being taken by the Legal Services Commission to ensure that the Criminal Defence Service works effectively with other parts of the criminal justice system in order to meet the needs of the community as a whole. [172320]

Mr. Lammy: The Legal Services Commission is heavily engaged with other agencies to improve the performance of the Criminal Justice System as a whole. The Commission is represented on key standing co-ordination and management groups, such as the National Criminal Justice Board and the Criminal Justice Council. It is playing an integral part in key reform initiatives, such as the Effective Trial Management Programme. In addition, it has a wide range of direct contacts with other agencies aimed at improving particular aspects of the system.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the Legal Services Commission is doing to improve the quality of defence services in terms of delays caused in the administration of justice. [172321]

Mr. Lammy: The Legal Services Commission is working with other agencies within the Effective Trial Management Programme to reduce delays in court proceedings and in the number of ineffective trials.

Criminal Justice System

David Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Home Office and (b) Department for Transport on reform of the criminal justice system. [172787]

Mr. Leslie: My Department and the Home Office are in continuous dialogue on reform of the criminal justice system. We also hold discussions with the Department of Transport when necessary.

Personal Injury Litigation

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many personal injury cases were commenced (a) in the High Court and (b) in the county court in each of the last 10 years; and in relation to (b) how many were (i) in the fast track and (ii) in the multi-track since their introduction; and if he will make a statement on trends in the volume of personal injury litigation. [173564]

Mr. Lammy: Figures on personal injury claims commenced in the High Court are set out in the table. Reliable figures on the number of claims to the county court and on how many were dealt with in the fast track and the multi-track are not available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
 
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	Claims issued
1994	1,474
1995	1,224
1996	1,543
1997	1,464
1998	1,754
1999	1,187
2000	1,024
2001	1,019
2002	827
2003	570

Solicitors

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to introduce regulations in Northern Ireland to make provision for solicitors to offer their services on a no-win-no-fee basis. [173423]

Mr. Leslie: The Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 provides for the introduction of conditional fee agreements, commonly called no-win-no-fee agreements, and litigation funding agreements. The Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission is currently considering the full implementation of the Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order, including the introduction of conditional fee agreements and litigation funding agreements. Decisions on this issue will be taken in the context of the Commission's recommendations on implementation of the Order.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Planning

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what restrictions are placed on local councillors in respect of (a) receiving representations from residents in respect of planning applications when they are (i) a member of the planning committee and (ii) any other councillor and (b) the ability of these councillors then to speak in debate on such representations. [173082]

Keith Hill: There are no restrictions in land use planning legislation on councillors or members of planning committees receiving representations from residents on planning applications. However, where any councillor has a personal 'and' prejudicial interest in any issue to be discussed by a local authority (whether or not in a planning committee), he or she should consider whether the provisions in the relevant authority's Code of Conduct affect their ability to speak in debate on such representations and require them to withdraw from that committee. In making their decision, they may wish to take the advice of their authorities' monitoring officers or the Standards Board for England. In the case of planning committees, they may also wish to consider the Local Government Association's Guidance Note to local planning authorities on preparing Codes of Conduct for councillors and officers specifically involved in planning matters, "Probity in Planning (Update): the role of councillors and officers". This Guidance Note recognises the importance of expressing local concerns in the planning system, while not calling into question the impartiality and integrity of
 
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councillors, and ensuring that planning applications are seen to be processed and determined in an open and fair manner.

Brighton and Hove Council

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what meetings have taken place, and on what date, between representatives of Brighton and Hove council and (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the last two years. [173143]

Keith Hill: My right hon. Friend the Member for    Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsford) met representatives of Brighton and Hove council on 14 January 2003 and 16 February 2004.

Cllr Ken Bodfish is a member of the Central Local Partnership on the Future of Europe which is chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope). The Partnership has met four times in the last two years. My hon. Friend the Member for Corby also went to a New Statesman Round Table event on eGovernment attended by Cllr Bodfish on 11 May 2004.

The information requested about officials' meetings is not held centrally and could only provided only at disproportionate cost. However Government Office South East officials regularly meet with local authorities to discuss a range of issues for which the Government Office has responsibility.

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