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21 Feb 2005 : Column 38W—continued
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Advisory Committee on training in nursing met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [215412]
Mr. Hutton: I have been asked to reply.
This committee has not met during these presidencies. The members' terms of office have expired and the Commission has not sought further nominations.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Advisory Committee on the training of midwives met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [215413]
Mr. Hutton: I have been asked to reply.
The advisory committee on midwifery training did not meet during these presidencies.
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The terms of office of members have expired and the Commission has not sought further nominations.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Civil Servants
Mr. Laws: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost of the enhanced early retirement scheme for civil servants in his Department and its agencies was in each year from 1997–98 to 2003–04 and what the estimated cost will be in each year from 2004–05 to 2007–08; and if he will make a statement. [211655]
Mr. Lammy: Total costs for the early retirement scheme for the Department, which covers costs for the Court Service, the Public Guardianship Office and DCA headquarters, from its published resource accounts are outlined in the following table:
| Total DCA | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 579,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 208,000 |
| 2000–01 | 935,000 |
| 2001–02 | 624,000 |
| 2002–03 | — |
| 2003–04 | 1,016,000 |
| 2004–05(2) | 1,500,000 |
(2)Estimated
Information on 1997–98 is not readily available. The Department is unable to provide figures for years 2005–06 to 2007–08 without incurring disproportionate costs.
Cleaning Costs
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the costs of cleaning the Department and its predecessors were in each year since 1997. [213830]
Mr. Lammy: The direct cost of cleaning the Department's estate in 2002–03 was £5.05 million, in 2003–04 was £5.49 million and is estimated to be £5.83 million in 2004–05. These costs represent only those costs directly incurred by the Department through cleaning contracts and do not include cleaning services provided as part of wider facilities management contracts or provided by Landlords under the terms of individual leases. Information prior to 2002–03 is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Catering
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many departmental (a) canteens and (b) bars there are; and how much has been spent on the (i) running, (ii)staffing and (iii) supply costs of each in each year since 1997. [213625]
Mr. Leslie:
Departmental canteens and bars" is taken to mean facilities provided primarily for use by the Department's staff. This approach is consistent with the definition used in previous questions.
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(a) My Department has operated a staff canteen at its London Headquarters, where there is a concentration of staff, since 1997. Visitors to the building also use the facility.
The catering service is contracted out and income from sales is used to offset the cost to the Department. There is, however, a need for a subsidy, the cost of which is shown in the following table.
(b) There are no departmental bars.
Departmental Policies
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out, with statistical information relating as closely as possible to the constituency, the effect of his Department's actions and policies on Blackpool, South constituency since (a) 1997 and (b) 2001. [215616]
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 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
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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 59 days in the Lancashire criminal justice area, which covers the constituency of Blackpool South. This compares with 124 days in the 1997 calendar year, and 83 days in the 2001 calendar year.
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to West Dorset constituency, the effects on West Dorset of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [215973]
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 elects 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
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2004 was 51 days in the Dorset criminal justice area, which covers the constituency of West Dorset. This compares with 135 days in the 1997 calendar year.
Mr. Sedgemore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Folkestone and Hythe constituency, the effects on Folkestone and Hythe of the Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [216016]
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 Crowncourt 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 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 74 days in the Kent criminal justice area, which covers the constituency of Folkestone and Hythe. This compares with 121 days in the 1997 calendar year.
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