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18 Nov 2004 : Column 1705W—continued
Conditional Fee Consultation
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the consultation period ends for the Department's consultation paper from June entitled Making Simple Conditional Fee Arrangements a Reality; and when his Department expects to provide a report on the conclusions of the consultation. [199057]
Mr. Lammy: The consultation period was extended to end on 30 September. We are considering carefully the responses made and are talking to a number of respondents about their comments. We plan to come forward with a report of the conclusions of the consultation before Easter recess 2005.
Electoral Systems
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he expects to announce the review of electoral systems. [199007]
Mr. Leslie: The Government remain committed to their manifesto in respect of the reviews of electoral systems and will make any announcement on the time of a review at an appropriate moment.
Freedom of Information Act
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what support he plans to provide to local authorities to help them in responding to inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [199017]
Mr. Lammy:
The Government is fully committed to the implementation of Freedom of Information (FOI) across the whole of the public sector and has been engaged in a range of activities with local authorities to
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raise awareness of FOI and to provide advice on how to handle inquiries once the Act comes into force. For example, a series of roadshows on FOI have been held across the country over the past two years. A comprehensive Model Action Plan and a Training Plan, offering suggestions on good preparation for implementation and suggestions for effective training on FOI, were issued across the public sector. More recently, my Department has delivered FOI presentations to local authority discussion groups. These presentations have been an opportunity to encourage local authorities to cascade information and key messages about FOI and have stressed the importance of support from senior management in handling requests. Local authorities also have access to a comprehensive FOI website. This includes a portfolio of guidance on how to apply the Act and it will be revised and maintained in line with legal and policy developments.
In providing assistance to local authorities once the Act is in force, the Government and the Information Commissioner's Office have agreed that my Department has a specific role for leading and co-ordinating the work of central Government Departments. Local authorities will be able to seek general advice from the Information Commissioner Office (ICO) on how to respond to inquiries under the Act. In cases of complex requests local authorities can seek their own legal advice.
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reasons local authorities are not permitted to levy a charge for the time incurred in answering questions from residents under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [199018]
Mr. Lammy : The Government has always maintained that the majority of the costs resulting from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests would be met by the public purse. The public should not be deterred from asking for information because of the cost—freedom of information should mean free information for most requests. At the same time, we recognise that an open-ended commitment to answer all requests without charge would seriously impact on public authorities' ability to conduct their business. Ministers have therefore announced that authorities cannot charge for the work involved with answering requests where the cost is less than the appropriate limit—for local authorities, this will be £450. However, local authorities will be able to charge for requests costing more than £450 to answer.
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to reimburse local government for additional costs incurred as a result of responding to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [199034]
Mr. Lammy:
My Department is committed to the new burdens principles where its new policies would impact on local government. We have worked closely with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Local Government Association to assess the likely costs that local authorities will incur as a result of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We will transfer funding to the
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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to cover these costs, which will be distributed in the normal way through the Revenue Support Grant. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will announce further details about the Revenue Support Grant shortly.
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he will lay fees regulations before the House to guide local authorities on their response to enquiries from the public under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [199035]
Mr. Lammy: The Government will bring forward regulations covering the fees that can be charged under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 very shortly. Guidance on the fees policy will also be available at the same time.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely costs to his Department in the first quarter of 2005 of compliance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [199082]
Mr. Lammy: The projected cost of the Department's Freedom of Information (FOI) compliance team for the period 1 January 2005 to 31 March 2005 is estimated to be £38,000. To date, the compliance team has undertaken awareness raising for staff, developed procedures and guidance for dealing with information requests, conducted internal training and tested our processes in readiness for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.
Government Buildings (Disabled Access)
Tom Cox: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether all Government buildings in his Department within the Greater London area are fully accessible to disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [199307]
Mr. Lammy: With the exception of Conquest house (Law Commission) and Dover house (Scotland Office) I am not aware of any other DCA building or courts in Greater London where appropriate measures have not been taken or where a managed solution is not in place to afford full accessibility to disabled people.
Conquest house will be fully accessible by the end of March 2005 and works to Dover house, a Grade II listed building, are awaiting approval by English Heritage. Access audits of the Greater London Estate have been undertaken to identify where reasonable adjustments can be made to the DCA's buildings, to allow full accessibility to disabled people. A programme of works has been developed from these audits, which has ensured that the DCA complies with Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
The Privy Council is also compliant with the DDA.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Charging Initiative
Mr. Allen:
To ask the Solicitor-General what preliminary conclusions she has reached on the impact
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of the charging initiative of basing Crown Prosecution Service prosecutors in police stations; and if she will make a statement. [196229]
The Solicitor-General: Evaluation of the shadow charging initiative has demonstrated clear benefits in terms of cases moving more effectively and effectively through the criminal justice system, and ensuring that, more offences are brought to justice.
Early consultation between police officers and crown prosecutors, including those based in police stations means it is more likely that:
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