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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Council of Ministers

Sue Doughty: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) if he will provide a Written Ministerial Statement outlining the key points on the agenda for each of the Council of Ministers' meetings at which his Department is represented in advance of each meeting; [188218]

(2) if he will provide a Written Ministerial Statement outlining for each meeting of the Council of Ministers at which his Department is represented as soon as is practicable following that meeting (a) the key items of discussion, (b) the positions of the Government on those items, (c) the key positions taken by other member states
 
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that Ministers consider should be noted by hon. Members and (d) any preliminary discussion on the timing and the agenda of the following meeting. [188219]

Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 13 September by the Foreign Secretary.

Fathers 4 Justice

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to meet representatives of the Fathers 4 Justice campaign. [189213]

Mr. Leslie: None. We recently published a consultation paper "Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities", setting out proposals to improve the outcomes for children where parents separate, and also improve the experiences of their parents through provision of better, more focussed services. We are consulting on these proposals until 1 November 2004. Fathers 4 Justice has been invited to submit a response to this.

Freedom of Information

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the preparedness of Government Departments to fulfil the demands made on them for access to information after the Freedom of Information legislation comes fully into effect in respect of (a) speed and (b) comprehensiveness of reply. [189985]

Mr. Leslie: In accordance with Section 85(5)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act, the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs is required annually to lay before Parliament a report on his proposals for bringing fully into force those provisions of the Act which are not yet fully in force.

The fourth Annual Report on proposals for bringing fully into force those provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which are not yet fully in force will be laid before both Houses before 30 November 2004. Government Departments' progress on implementation and preparedness for full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act is surveyed annually for inclusion in this Report.

Additionally, my Department is liaising closely with other Government Departments in preparation for full implementation for the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Judicial Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what judicial appointments the Lord Chancellor made during the summer adjournment of both Houses of Parliament. [189214]

Mr. Leslie : The Lord Chancellor made, or recommended to Her Majesty, 322 judicial appointments during the summer adjournment of both Houses of Parliament. I will forward a table detailing the names of those appointed, and the posts they were appointed to the hon. Member, and I will place a copy in the House of Commons Library.
 
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Statute of Limitations

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will seek to alter the statute of limitations so that where a convicted criminal serving a prison sentence comes into money through whatever lawful means after the limitation period has expired, victims or their relatives may take legal action for recompense irrespective of the length of time that has elapsed since the offence took place. [189219]

Mr. Leslie: The government recognises there are concerns about compensation to crime victims or their relatives in these circumstances. We are currently considering a number of options to improve the compensation regime for victims. The civil law on limitation is one of several areas to be considered in this context.

UN Convention

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, when Jersey and Guernsey will apply the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; what consultations he has had with the island authorities; what undertakings he has been given on the formulation and enactment of legislation; and whether he has power to extend the convention to the islands in the way they were extended to the Isle of Man. [189721]

Mr. Leslie: These conventions both cover areas where the Governments of the Crown Dependencies have domestic competence. I understand that the Insular Authorities in Jersey and Guernsey have both made a commitment to have the necessary legislation in place when it is practicable to do so.

Once that legislation is in place and the Insular Authorities request the extension of the conventions, that may be done by declaration, in the same way as they were extended to the Isle of Man.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service

David Taylor: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans there are to review the status of witnesses in the Crown Prosecution Service's decisions on prosecuting cases. [187386]

The Solicitor-General: Crown Prosecutors apply the principles set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors ("the Code") when they make prosecution decisions.

Paragraph 6.7 of the Code sets out, "The Crown Prosecution Service prosecutes cases on behalf of the public at large and not just in the interests of any particular individual. However, when considering the public interest test Crown Prosecutors should always take into account the consequences for the victim of the decision whether or not to prosecute, and any views expressed by the victim or victim's family". While this paragraph applies to victims, similar considerations apply to witnesses.
 
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The Code is currently subject of a review. The review has involved consultation with, among others, victim and witness interest groups.

The Bar Written Standards for the Conduct of Professional Work prohibits prosecution counsel in trials from interviewing a witness about that or any other witness's evidence. Crown Prosecutors follow this practice in all cases.

In 2002, the Attorney General asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider whether the time had come for prosecutors to interview key witnesses before trial in order to establish the reliability of their evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service conducted a public consultation in 2003. The Attorney General is in the process of considering the responses to that consultation before reaching a final conclusion as to the appropriate way forward.

The Direct Communications with Victims initiative was successfully rolled out nationally in 2002. Under the scheme, where a charge is discontinued or substantially altered the prosecutors will write to the victim to explain the reasons for the decision. Additionally, a meeting will be offered to explain the decision in cases where a death has occurred, cases of child abuse, sexual offences, racially and religiously aggravated offences and offences with a homophobic or transphobic element.

The No Witness No Justice project is currently being rolled out nationally in CPS Areas. Under the project police officers will consider the specific needs of witnesses. This information will be passed to a prosecutor and to witness care units operated by police and CPS staff. The witness care units will take such action as is necessary to address the needs of the witness.

Significant steps have also been made to ensure that vulnerable and intimidated witnesses can give their best evidence when attending court as a witness through the ongoing implementation of special measures.

TREASURY

Hospital Acquired Infection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people who died in the last 12 months had hospital acquired infection attributed as the cause of death on their death certificates. [189440]

Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 21 September 2004:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people who died in the last 12 months had hospital acquired infection attributed as the cause of death on their death certificates. (189440).

It is not possible to give reliable figures on the number of deaths involving hospital-acquired infections from routinely collected mortality data, as information on where the infection was acquired may not be available to the doctor certifying the death.

 
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