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28 Oct 2004 : Column 1393W—continued
Oil for Food Programme
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Prime Minister when he last discussed the alleged corruption at the UN during the Oil for Food Programme in Iraq in person with the Secretary General of the UN. [194457]
The Prime Minister: I have had no such discussions with the United Nations Secretary General.
The allegations are subject to an independent inquiry appointed by the Secretary-General in April. The Government continues to co-operate fully with the inquiry, with which officials have had regular contact.
UN Secretary-General
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Prime Minister what criteria he used to select topics for discussion with the Secretary-General of the UN during his recent visit to London. [194456]
The Prime Minister: The office of the Secretary-General and the UK Government proposed topics for discussion.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Judges
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what measures the Department is taking to help (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities become judges. [193476]
Mr. Leslie: Judicial appointments are made solely on merit. To encourage lawyers from all backgrounds to apply for judicial appointment, we run workshops around the country, sometimes in conjunction with the Bar Council and the Law Society, to give an overview of the appointments process. Officials from my Department also attend conferences and events, such as the Minority Lawyers Conference and run a very successful work-shadowing scheme, whereby individuals can shadow a circuit or district judge for up to five days. This can help them to decide whether to pursue a judicial career.
In 2001, salaried part-time working for new district judge and tribunal appointments was introduced and from April 2005, this will be extended to all new and existing salaried appointments below the High Court unless the nature of the office or business needs dictate otherwise.
The establishment of the new Judicial Appointments Commission will further inspire a more diverse range of applicants through a more transparent, accountable and accessible appointments process. In addition, on 13 October 2004, we published a consultation paper
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entitled "Increasing Diversity in the Judiciary". The consultation paper highlights a range of issues that could act as barriers to judicial diversity, particularly for women, members of minority ethnic groups and disabled lawyers. Once we have identified which barriers exist, action will be taken to try to remove or reduce them.
Lay Magistrates
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what consultations he has had with the lay magistracy in each of the past 12 months. [192653]
Mr. Leslie: I have had at least 13 meetings with different groups of magistrates over the past 12 months on a range of matters. As with previous Administrations it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings under Exemption 2 of the Code of practice on Access to Government Information (internal advice and discussion) on the grounds that it would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Magistrates Court Trial Centres
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many magistrates court trial centres there were in England and Wales (a) in 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [192215]
Mr. Leslie: From the information available to my Department, in April 1997 there were 492 operational magistrates courthouses in England and Wales conducting trials and the latest data collected in September 2004 shows there are 369.
Personal Injury
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to raise the small claims limit in personal injury cases; and if he will make a statement. [193868]
Mr. Lammy: The Better Regulation Task Force in its report, "Better Routes to Redress" recommended that research should be carried out into the potential impact of raising the small claims limit for personal injury cases from the current limit of £1,000. Careful consideration is being given to this and other recommendations in the BRTF report and the Government will respond shortly.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how the courts will implement the power to review awards of compensation for personal injury. [193928]
Mr. Lammy: Section 100 of the Courts Act 2003 gives the Lord Chancellor the power by Order to specify the circumstances in which orders and agreements for future pecuniary loss for personal injury, made in the form of periodical payments, can be varied. The terms on which variation will be possible are contained in the Damages (Variation of Periodical Payments) Order 2004,which has been approved by Parliament under the affirmative resolution procedure.