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7 Feb 2005 : Column 1273W—continued
Tsunami (Passports)
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what charges he is imposing on survivors of the recent tsunami to replace passports lost in the disaster. [208720]
Mr. Browne [holding answer 17 January 2005]: In response to recent events the United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) has agreed to waive the fee for the replacement of those passports of UK nationals that were lost as a result of the recent tsunami in South East Asia.
It was the Passport Service's view that because of the magnitude of the disaster, and the circumstances in which British nationals lost their passports, it was
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entirely appropriate, given the national response, for those who lost their passports as a result of the disaster to have them replaced free of charge.
Correspondence
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when UK Visas will reply to the letter dated 6 January from the hon. Member for Edinburgh West with regard to Hakim Sadi. [213460]
Mr. Browne: The hon. Member's letter of 6 January was referred by UK Visas to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) on 27 January. IND wrote to the hon. Member on 2 February.
Wheel Clamping
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether all wheel clamping firms are now licensed under the Private Security Industry Act 2001; [212129]
(2) if he will make a statement on the work of the Security Industry Association regarding wheel clampers. [212104]
Ms Blears: From 28 February 2005 it will be illegal for wheel-clampers (also know as vehicle immobilisers) to work on private land without a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. The SIA started to receive application forms from 30 November 2004 and the total number of applications requested to date is 807.
The Security Industry Authority was set up in March 2003 under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to regulate the private security sector. Vehicle Immobilisers licensing will only apply to the immobilisation of vehicles parked on private ground where a fee is charged for release. Secondary legislation is currently before Parliament to include the activities of towing away and blocking in as licensable activities.
VIs will need to hold an SIA licence which will involve undertaking and passing a five-day training course, an identity check and a criminal records check. Licensing will ensure that only well-trained and reliable people work in positions of trust. There will also be a public register of VI licence holders.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Community Courts
Mr. Byrne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list community courts which have been established in England. [214035]
Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 31 January 2005, Official Report, 723W.
Consultants
Mr. Laws:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total expenditure by his Department on all external consultants was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) 2003–04; and
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what the estimated cost of employing external consultants will be in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06, (iii)2006–07 and (iv) 2007–08. [211679]
Mr. Lammy: My Department's net expenditure with consultants in the years requested was as follows:
Information on future expenditure with consultants is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The level of expenditure with external consultants reflects a wide-ranging and fast paced programme of change, designed to modernise and increase efficiency, provide better customer service, and value for money.
Delivering such a programme has necessitated the use of external expertise to supplement internal resources.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many contracts in his Department have been granted to (a) EDS, (b) Fujitsu and (c) jointly in each of the last two years; whether they were open to competition; for what they were granted; for how much, and over what period of time; and if he will make a statement. [211614]
Mr. Leslie: My Department has granted no contracts to (a) EDS, (b) Fujitsu and (c) jointly in each of the last two years. We do however have contracts with these suppliers which pre-date the period specified. In each case the Department awarded contracts in open competition according to the EU Procurement Regulations, based upon best value for money.
Departmental Policies
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Clwyd South constituency, the effects on Clwyd South of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [210328]
Mr. Leslie: The Department for Constitutional Affairs is the Government Department responsible for upholding justice, rights and democracy. The Department's aim is to provide for effective and accessible justice for all, to ensure the rights and responsibilities pf the citizen, and to modernize the law and constitution.
Currently, the Department has six strategy objectives, which cover the delivery of justice, civil and administrative law, protecting the vulnerable, modernising the constitution, increasing consumer choice and working in partnership with the independent judiciary. The Department also has seven Public Service Agreement targets to help deliver its strategic objectives.
Examples of the activity in 2004 to deliver these objectives include work with partners to make sure criminal trials are more efficient with the numbers of ineffective Crown Court trials falling from 24 per cent. in 2002–03 to 16 per cent. in September 2004. The rate has reduced from 31 per cent. to 25 per cent. for the same period in the magistrates courts. The Department has
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also been involved in work to help people resolve their disputes in the most effective way, including pilots to test the effectiveness of court-based mediation. During 2004 there was a reduction from almost 49 per cent. to 41 per cent. in those cases that had eventually to be resolved by a hearing. Another area where pilots were used successfully was for all postal voting in four regions of England at the combined European and local elections in June 2004. Voter turnout doubled in the pilot regions compared with 1999.
The range of the Department's policies and actions is wide and the statistical information relating to all of that activity is not collected on a constituency basis. Consequently, the information requested in the question cannot be provided in the form requested except at a disproportionate cost. However, statistical information about the Department's activities can be found at: http://www.dca.gov.uk/statistics/statfr.htm as well as at www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.
An example of the information available on those sites is data on persistent young offenders. The average number of days from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders sentenced between August and October 2004 was 64 days in the North Wales criminal justice area, which covers the constituency of Clwyd South. This compares with 124 days in the North Wales criminal justice area in the 1997 calendar year.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Kingston upon Hull North constituency, the effects on Kingston upon Hull North of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [211804]
Mr. Leslie: The Department for Constitutional Affairs is the Government Department responsible for upholding justice, rights and democracy. The Department's aim is to provide for effective and accessible justice for all, to ensure the rights and responsibilities of the citizen, and to modernise the law and constitution.
Currently, the Department has six strategic objectives, which cover the delivery of justice, civil and administrative law, protecting the vulnerable, modernising the constitution, increasing consumer choice and working in partnership with the independent judiciary. The Department also has seven Public Service Agreement targets to help deliver its strategic objectives.
The range of the Department's policies and actions is wide and the statistical information relating to that activity is not collected on a constituency basis. Consequently, the information requested in the question cannot be provided except at a disproportionate cost. Statistical information about the Department's activities can be found at: http://www.dca.gov.uk/statistics/statfr.htm as well as at www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.
An example of the information available on those sites is data on persistent young offenders. The average number of days from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders sentenced between August and October 2004 was 56 days in the Humberside criminal justice area, which covers the constituency of Kingston upon
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Hull North. This compares with 129 days in the Humberside criminal justice area in the 1997 calendar year.
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency, the effects on Preseli Pembrokeshire of his Department's policies and actions since it was established. [211324]
Mr. Leslie: The Department for Constitutional Affairs is the Government Department responsible for upholding justice, rights and democracy. The Department's aim is to provide for effective and accessible justice for all, to ensure the rights and responsibilities of the citizen, and to modernise the law and constitution.
Currently, the Department has six strategic objectives, which cover the delivery of justice, civil and administrative law, protecting the vulnerable, modernising the constitution, increasing consumer choice and working in partnership with the independent judiciary. The Department also has seven Public Service Agreement targets to help deliver its strategic objectives.
Examples of the activity in 2004 to deliver these objectives include work with partners to make sure criminal trials are more efficient with the numbers of ineffective Crown Court trials falling from 24 per cent. in 2002–03 to 16 per cent. in September 2004. The rate has reduced from 31 per cent. to 25 per cent. for the same period in the magistrates' courts. The Department has also been involved in work to help people resolve their disputes in the most effective way, including pilots to test the effectiveness of court-based mediation. During 2004 there was a reduction from almost 49 per cent. to 41 per cent. in those cases that had eventually to be resolved by a hearing. Another area where pilots were used successfully was for all postal voting in four regions of England at the combined European and local elections in June 2004. Voter turnout doubled in the pilot regions compared with 1999.
The range of the Department's policies and actions is wide and the statistical information relating to that activity is not collected on a constituency basis. Consequently, the information requested in the question cannot be provided except at a disproportionate cost. Statistical information about the Department's activities can be found at: http://www.dca.gov.uk/statistics/statfr.htm as well as at www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.
An example of the information available on those sites is data on persistent young offenders. The average number of days from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders sentenced between August and October 2004 was 33 days in the Dyfed-Powys criminal justice area, which covers the constituency of Preseli Pembrokeshire. This compares with 124 days in the Dyfed-Powys criminal justice area in the 1997 calendar year.
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