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NORTHERN IRELAND
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the membership and political background of the members of (a) non-departmental public bodies of the (i) Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, (ii) Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, (iii) Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, (iv) Department of Education, (v) Department of Environment, (vi) Department of Employment and Learning, (vii) Department of Health and Social Services, (viii) Department of Regional Development, (ix) Department of Social Development and (x) Office of the First and Deputy First Minister and (b) health and personal social services bodies. [218064]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Those appointed to the boards of non-departmental public bodies and health and personal social services bodies are not required to declare their political background. However, they are asked to declare any significant political activity they may have undertaken in the five years prior to the date of their application.
Information on the membership and declared political activity of applicants and appointees to bodies sponsored by the 11 departments of the Northern Ireland Administration can be found in the Public Appointments Annual Reports, the most recent of which was published in 2004.
The reports are available from the Library of the House and can be found on the Internet at www.ofmdfinni.gov.uk/publicappointments.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Official Residences
Chris Grayling: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the current occupants make towards the running costs of each; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure has been on those properties in each of the past five years; how much money was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2003–04; how many (i) domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment at each was in 2003–04. [213612]
Mr. Lammy: My Department is not responsible for any official residences.
The Palace of Westminster is responsible for the maintenance of the Lord Chancellor's residence in the House of Lords and for any work that needs to be carried out. There are no permanent staff employed at
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the residence. The Lord Chancellor's Private Office is responsible for the administration of the residence in terms of organising tours of the residence and keeping the diary of charitable functions. The Department does not make any contributions to the running cost of the residence. No refurbishment work has been carried out in the last five years.
The cost of (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining and (c) food for the past five years is as follows:
No figures are available centrally before 2003
Visa Appeals
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many visitor visa appeals were successful in 2004. [218324]
Mr. Lammy: The latest information taken from IRIS, the electronic database of the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA), indicates that 10,918 of the family visitor visa appeals promulgated by Immigration Adjudicators during 2004 were decided in favour of the appellant.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many of the successful visitor visa appeals in 2004 were (a) oral and (b) written. [218325]
Mr. Lammy: The latest information taken from IRIS, the electronic database of the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA), indicates that of the 10,918 family visitor visa appeals promulgated by Immigration Adjudicators in 2004, and decided in favour of the appellant, 6,863 were oral appeals, and 4,055 were appeals determined on the papers alone.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Anti-social Behaviour Act
Mr. Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crack house closures have been secured under the provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 in (a) Birmingham, (b) Bristol, (c) Leeds, (d) Liverpool, (e) Manchester, (f) Newcastle, (g) Nottingham and (h) Sheffield. [214041]
Caroline Flint:
Data are not collected on a city basis. The latest available information is for closure orders by Government office region for the cities named for the period 20 January to end September 2004 is as follows.
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| Number | |
|---|---|
| (a) West Midlands | 3 |
| (b) South West | 24 |
| (c and h) Yorkshire and Humber | 4 |
| (d and e) North West | 13 |
| (f) North East | 7 |
| (g) East Midlands | 10 |
Use of the crack house" antisocial behaviour powers form a key part of Operation Crackdown, the national police enforcement three month campaign that is currently running until the end of March and has been signed up to by 33 police forces in England and Wales.
Armed Police
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many armed police officers are employed by the Metropolitan Police Force. [215142]
Caroline Flint: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police tells me that his force had 2,209 firearms officers as at 7 February 2005.
Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he will reply to the letter dated 29 November 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. S. Bhakar; [208710]
(2) when he will reply to the letter dated 29 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. S Bhakar. [210144]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 18 January 2005.
Cycling
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the risk to pedestrians in Central London of cyclists ignoring red traffic signals; [216519]
(2) what advice he has given to police forces on identification and apprehension of cyclists who are observed ignoring red traffic signals; [216520]
(3) what steps he is taking to ensure active enforcement against cyclists ignoring red traffic signals. [216522]
Caroline Flint: It is an offence for a cyclist not to comply with light signals controlling traffic.
Chief officers of police are best placed to decide on the level of priority given to this offence in the light of its perceived seriousness, conflicting demands on police time and resources, and local circumstances.
As with other offending we would encourage members of the public to give evidence of specific problems and of particularly dangerous behaviour to the police. This will help ensure that the police target their responses effectively.
No assessment has been made of the risk to pedestrians in central London of cyclists failing to comply with light signals controlling traffic.
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Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for the offence of cycling on a pavement since 1 August 1999. [216626]
Caroline Flint: Figures on fixed penalty notices for pedal cycle offences are not collected centrally. However results from a special exercise undertaken to monitor new fixed penalties introduced on 1 August 1999 showed that in England and Wales for the period 1 August 1999 to 31 December 1999 there were 665 fixed penalty notices issued for the offence of cycling on a footway. A second exercise undertaken for the calendar year 2000 showed 821 fixed penalty notices issued for the offence.
The exercise has not been repeated.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2005, Official Report, column 895W, on cycling, how many cyclists involved in road accidents were reported as cycling without lights in the last period for which figures are available. [216394]
Caroline Flint: It is not possible from the information held on the Home Office Court Proceedings database to identify from the number of cyclists cautioned or proceeded against for lighting and reflector" offences, what number were involved in road accidents, as the circumstances of the offence are not collected centrally.
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