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Judicial Appointments (Northern Ireland)

Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many judicial appointments there are in Northern Ireland from the pool of solicitors engaged in private practice and counsel engaged in private practice who are occasionally or mainly employed by the Crown Prosecution Service. [214613]

Mr. Leslie: Persons appointed to full-time judicial office may not continue in private practice. Persons appointed as deputy judges may continue to be engaged in private practice. We do not hold information on the nature of the work undertaken in practice by deputy judicial office holders.

Rape Trials

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many rape trials were listed as floating cases at (a) the
 
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Central Criminal Court, (b) Teesside Crown Court and (c) Newcastle upon Tyne Crown Court during 2004. [215580]

Mr. Leslie: Records held centrally show that, during 2004, no rape trails were listed as floating cases at the Central Criminal Court, Teesside Crown Court and Newcastle upon Tyne Crown Court.

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what criteria are used to determine whether to list rape trials at Crown courts as floating trials. [215581]

Mr. Leslie: Cases selected as floating trials are generally short and uncomplicated, involve few witnesses all of whom are located reasonably locally and, in the assessment of the listing officer, have a particularly good prospect of being reached. Certain cases, including rape cases, because of their sensitivity, should normally be given a fixed trial date.

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what arrangements are made by the Courts Service for the presence at court of complainants in rape trials which are listed as floating trials. [215582]

Mr. Leslie: Court Service policy is that, Courts list rape trials as fixtures and not as floating trials. Arrangements for the presence of complainants, as with all prosecution witnesses, are a matter for the prosecuting solicitor. Complainants in rape trials would be offered a pre-court familiarisation visit. Arrangements can also be made for the complainant to enter the court building through a separate entrance or at a specific time and be met by a member of the court staff. Most venues of the Crown court now have dedicated witness facilities for witnesses to wait without fear of meeting the defendant. The Witness Service, which is present in all criminal courts, offers emotional and practical support for witnesses at court. Subject to judicial discretion, special measures, such as giving evidence by way of a video link or the use of screens in court, would also be available.

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what training judges in sexual violence cases are given in preparation for the trial of rape cases. [215584]

Mr. Leslie: Judicial training is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), an independent body chaired by Lord Justice Keene.

No judge may hear a case involving rape or a serious sexual offence without first having received appropriate JSB training. This consists of a two-day (over three) residential seminar. The seminar programme includes talks on: research into public attitudes to sexual offending and the views of complainants and victims on the way in which sexual offences proceedings are handled; the policies and practices of the police and Crown Prosecution Service in handling serious sexual offences; issues of evidential and procedural law and practice which bear on the conduct of trials in such cases; sentencing issues and the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders in the community and in prison. Also included in the programme is a series of discussions, in small groups, of trial and sentencing
 
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issues. All judges who exercise the criminal jurisdiction will receive training on the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 as part of a programme of training on the Criminal Justice Reforms, between January and March 2005.

Stationery

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Department and its predecessors spent on (a) stationery and (b) office supplies in each year since 1997. [213853]

Mr. Leslie: My Department has national contracts for the provision of stationery and office supplies, with purchasing delegated to management unit level. Information regarding expenditure is shown in the table:
£

	Stationery	Office supplies
1997	n/a	n/a
1998	43,660	n/a
1999	50,541	1,910,865
2000	45,991	2,380,618
2001	40,025	2,509,747
2002	35,263	2,994,164
2003	30,894	3,111,605
2004	20,595	3,218,613

Prior to 1998 for stationery, and 1999 for office supplies, information regarding expenditure was not held centrally. Such information could only be provided at disproportionate cost

NORTHERN IRELAND

Ballymacarrett Parade

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken against the branch of the Monkstown Young Citizens Volunteers that displayed paramilitary regalia and flags associated with the Ulster Volunteer Force on the Ballymacarrett Loyal Orange Lodge District No.6 Parade on 12 July 2004. [213534]

Mr. Pearson: Police have advised that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any person in connection with this matter.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken against the two bands that participated in the District Loyal Orange Lodge No. 6 Ballymacarrett Parade without undergoing the required registration. [213535]

Mr. Pearson: Police have advised that a prosecution file has been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Police Service of Northern Ireland is currently awaiting direction in the matter.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals in the Province provide cognitive behavioural therapy within the NHS for those suffering with depression and anxiety. [215360]

 
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Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave yesterday to question reference 212165.

Conferences

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many conferences were (a) attended by officials from his Department, (b) cancelled by and (c) facilitated by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the (i) cost to the Department and (ii) location was in each case. [205755]

Mr. Paul Murphy: This information is not held in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Control Orders

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in what circumstances Control Orders as announced by the Home Secretary on 26 January 2005 could be used against suspected terrorists in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [215157]

Mr. Pearson: The Home Secretary wrote to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with an outline of his proposed policy on 21 January 2005. Until detailed legislative proposals are brought forward, it will not be possible to assess the applicability of control orders to Northern Ireland.

Dentists

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many NHS whole-time equivalent dentists there are in the Province. [215366]

Angela Smith: Whole-time equivalent (WTE) information is not captured centrally in respect of general dental practitioners, who are independent contractors, but it is possible to provide an estimate at Northern Ireland level based on a recent workload survey. Precise WTE information is available, however, in relation to those dentists directly employed by Trusts.

Both headcount and WTE figures for each of these, as at December 2004, are provided in the table.

	Headcount	WTE
General Dental Practitioners	734	552.0(31)
Trust Employed Dentists	164	117.6

⁽³¹⁾Figure estimated from a survey carried out by Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety in October 2004

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many dentists in the Province left the NHS for the private sector in each of the last 10 years. [215375]

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.

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