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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 20 January 2005

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Church Attendance

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what the most recent attendance figures for the Church of England are; and if he will make a statement. [209742]

Sir Stuart Bell: The latest figures for church attendance reveal growth in adult attendance in 2003 in just over half (i.e. 23) of the dioceses in the Church of England. Nationally, this resulted in a small increase of 1 per cent. in attendance.

About 1.7 million people attend a church or cathedral for worship each month; 1.2 million do so each week and 1 million each Sunday.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Special Advocates

23. Mr. Kidney : To ask the Solicitor-General what plans the Attorney General has to appoint special advocates under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 to replace those who have resigned. [209668]

The Solicitor-General: Two other special advocates have already been appointed from the pool of 12 special advocates to act in the cases in which the two who resigned were instructed.

One appellant is without a special advocate because of the resignations but we do not expect there will be any practical difficulties with the process of allocating a special advocate to that case.

The Attorney General will increase the number of special advocates if necessary.

Sentences (Child Sex Offenders)

24. Ms Dari Taylor : To ask the Solicitor-General how many unduly lenient sentences for sex offences against children have been referred to the Court of Appeal in the last 12 months. [209669]

The Solicitor-General: Since January last year the Attorney General and I have referred to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient sentences for sex offences against children 26 cases. The Court of Appeal increased the sentence in 11 and confirmed the original sentence in seven. Eight have yet to be heard.
 
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Crown Prosecution Service

25. Mr. Allen: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2004, Official Report, columns 206–07W, on the Crown Prosecution Service, whether the review of charging arrangements has commenced. [209670]

The Solicitor-General: In December last year there was a review of the operation in Nottinghamshire of the new charging arrangements whereby the CPS rather than the police make the charge.

Good progress has been achieved, recommendations for improvement were made and the situation is being monitored.

26. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what liaison there has been between the Crown Prosecution Service and the Criminal Justice Board in North Yorkshire. [209671]

The Solicitor-General: The Chief Crown Prosecutor has chaired the board since its inception, and other members of the Crown Prosecution Service locally are working with partner agencies to deliver the board's objectives and targets.

Solid progress has been made. In particular, North Yorkshire has exceeded the target set for it by increasing the number of offenders brought to justice by 20.2 per cent. against its baseline figure. This is also against a background of falling levels of crime recorded in the county, which are down by 12 per cent. in the period January to December 2004 from the same period in the previous year.

Serious Organised Crime Agency

27. Mr. Heath: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the role of the prosecutors designated to work with the Serious Organised Crime Agency. [209672]

The Solicitor-General: The Government believe that prosecution will remain central to the successful disruption and dismantling of organised crime groups.

There will be a strong and effective prosecution capability, to provide prosecution services to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency.

The independent prosecution services will be provided by a new cadre of dedicated specialist prosecutors, drawn from the Crown Prosecution Service and the Customs and Excise Prosecutions Office, later the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office.

Iraq

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Solicitor-General if the Attorney-General will publish her advice to the Government on the legality of the war in Iraq. [209881]

The Solicitor-General: No. As I indicated in my reply to my hon. Friend of 23 February 2004, Official Report, column 78W, there is a long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, that advice which the Law Officers have given to the Government is not publicly disclosed.
 
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PRIME MINISTER

Iran

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister what information he has (a) received and (b) requested from his US counterpart on US military reconnaissance missions in Iran. [209892]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 November 2004, Official Report, column 578 during my statement on the EU Summit, to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (Sir Teddy Taylor)

Iraq (Attorney-General)

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister whether paragraph 23 of the Ministerial Code was applied in relation to the complete text of the Attorney-General's advice of 7 March 2003. [209939]

The Prime Minister: The Ministerial Code is a code of conduct and guidance on procedures for Ministers.

Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice and the proceedings of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Official Residences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the arrangements for (a) hon. Members and (b) Members of the Government occupying official residences to contribute to the running costs of those properties. [209844]

The Prime Minister: The running costs of official residences are the responsibility of the relevant Department.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the official residences which are occupied by (a) hon. Members and (b) Members of the Government. [209845]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) on 2 November 2004, Official Report, columns 180–81W.

There are a number of former Ministers and Prime Ministers who continue to receive special security requirements after leaving office. We therefore take into account the assessment of the threat to them. On this basis, it has been agreed that my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) may continue to have the use of the official residence while his security arrangements are reviewed, and appropriate measures can be put in place.

Treasury Functions (Birt Report)

Mr. Laws: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Government have commissioned a report by Lord Birt on the future functions of Her Majesty's Treasury; and if he will make a statement. [209393]

 
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The Prime Minister: Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

TRANSPORT

Correspondence

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will reply to the letter dated 29 November 2004 from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding the working time directive for truck drivers. [209820]

Mr. Jamieson: I replied to the hon. Member's letter on 11 January.

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what crèche facilities are provided by his Department; and at what cost. [202421]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has a variety of child care arrangements in place and is currently assessing the practicalities of introducing child care vouchers through salary sacrifice when the introduction of tax and national insurance benefits come into effect from April 2005. Salary sacrifice will be operated at cost neutral with the cost of operating the scheme being offset by savings in employers national insurance contributions.

The DVLA provides accommodation for a workplace nursery which is managed and run by an external provider. The central department offers a limited number of nursery places at its accommodation in Hastings, shared with ODPM and CSA at a cost of £6,000 per annum.

The Department also alerts staff to a number of play schemes operated during the school holidays and considers requests from staff to work flexibly as part of its wider child care initiatives.

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