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8 Mar 2005 : Column 1632W—continued
WALES
Cancer
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what policies his Department has in place for supporting employees with cancer. [218583]
Mr. Touhig: The Wales Office has policies for providing support for its employees with ill health including cancer, as follows:
Managing attendance policy for managers to provide support in long term sickness cases and keeping in touch policy;
Support for applications to BMI for ill health retirement and access to payments under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (where appropriate);
The Wales Office is provided with pay, ration and personnel services by the Department for Constitutional Affairs and support for these policies is given by that department.
English Hospitals (Treatment of Welsh Patients)
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales Secretary for Health on the treatment in English hospitals of patients resident in Wales. [220205]
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Mr. Hain: My Ministerial colleague, the hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Touhig) and I have had a number of discussions recently with the Assembly Health Minister when we covered a range of issues.
Discussions are also on-going between the Welsh Assembly and the Department of Health on cross border issues.
A joint protocol was launched last month, which was developed to provide guidance and clarify responsibilities to commissioners and health professionals. It will ensure that patients understand the implications of accessing healthcare across the border.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Consultants
John McDonnell:
To ask the Solicitor-General what the total expenditure of the Crown Prosecution Service
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on external consultants was in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004 broken down by directorate; and what the cost of employing external consultants is expected to be in (i)2004–05, (ii) 2005–06, (iii) 2006–07 and (iv) 2007–08 broken down by directorate. [218198]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) employs the services of external consultants to bring in special skills and expertise or to cover gaps in staff resources and/or where an independent assessment is needed.
The following table provides a breakdown of expenditure by each headquarters directorate for financial years 2001–02 to 2003–04 and the expected costs of employing external consultants in financial years 2004–05 and 2005–06.
It is not possible to provide forecasts for the following years as detailed expenditure plans for those years have yet to be agreed. Future expenditure on external consultants is expected to continue to decrease. The aggregate expenditure of CPS areas has been included to ensure completeness.
(5)Forecast
Criminal Justice System (Military)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Solicitor-General if the Attorney-General will re-assess his role in the operation and application of the criminal justice system as it relates to the military. [218423]
The Solicitor-General: In the Attorney-General's Statement (14 June 2004, Official Report, House of Lords, columns WS22–24) he set out the role of the military prosecuting authorities, which act independently of the military chain of command. They are subject to the general superintendence of the Attorney-General.
The court martial system was established under the Army Act 1955 and is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Defence. The Attorney's role relates to prosecutions brought by the military service prosecuting authorities. The Attorney-General will not be re-assessing his role in this regard.
Crown Prosecution Service (Essex Pilot)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General, if she will make a statement on the (a) operation and (b) outcome of the pilot scheme attaching Crown Prosecution Service officers to police officers; in which police authorities the pilots are being conducted; and in which districts in Essex the pilot is being conducted. [209524]
The Solicitor-General: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 January 2005, Official Report, column 666W.
The outcome of the pilot scheme was that significant benefits to the whole criminal justice system were identified, principally that with full roll out of the statutory scheme up to 30,000 more offences could be brought to justice per year.
Statutory charging is now operating in:
Pilot schemes in CPS Essex have now been superseded by shadow charging schemes, as they have in the remaining 29 criminal justice areas. This is operating at Colchester, Chelmsford, Southend, Basildon, Grays and Harlow police stations. When Essex moves to
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statutory charging during 2005, there will be three additional charging suites with crown prosecutors based at Rayleigh, Braintree and Clacton-on-Sea.
Environmental Crime
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance she has provided to the Crown Prosecution Service on legislative provisions introduced since 1997 which availed a reversal of the burden of proof in environmental crimes; and if she will make a statement. [216737]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not generally prosecute in cases of environmental crime.
Like all prosecuting authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service carefully monitors developments in criminal cases involving challenges to reverse burdens. Where appropriate, it issues guidance, or revisions to guidance, on reverse burden cases to its prosecutors.
The CPS issued guidance circulars to its prosecutors following the decision of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords in Lambert" and, more recently, the decision of the Court of Appeal in Attorney General's Reference (No. l of 2004)." It also used its internal newsletter to notify prosecutors of the decisions of the courts in Lynch v DPP; Attorney General's Reference (No. 4 of 2002); Sheldrake v DPP." None of these cases have concerned legislative provisions introduced since 1997 which availed a reversal of the burden of proof in environmental crimes.
Iraq (Legal Advice)
Llew Smith: To ask the Solicitor-General what the reasons were for the choice of Professor Greenwood of the London School of Economics to be invited to contribute to the drafting of the legal advice prepared by the Attorney-General on the legal basis for taking military action to invade Iraq in March 2003. [219796]
The Solicitor-General: Professor Christopher Greenwood QC is an expert in the field of international law in the United Kingdom. He has advised the Government on issues of international law on many occasions, including, for example, in relation to proceedings commenced against the UK in the International Court of Justice by the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro) in 1999, which sought to challenge the legality of the military action in Kosovo.
Professor Greenwood did not contribute to the drafting of the Attorney-General's advice on the legality of the use of force against Iraq. As I set out in my reply to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) on 29 March 2004, Official Report, column 1147W, no non-Governmental experts or lawyers were asked to advise the Attorney-General on whether the conflict in Iraq was lawful. Professor Greenwood was instructed to assist in relation to legal issues arising from the Iraq conflict, including the preparation of the Attorney-General's statement to Parliament on 17 March 2003.
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