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16 Nov 2005 : Column 1341W—continued

Her Majesty's Courts Service

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what the average remuneration is for a lawyer employed in a non-management post in Her Majesty's Courts Service; [27474]

(2) what the average renumeration is for a non-management lawyer employed in the Government Legal Services [27508]

Ms Harman: The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Government Legal Services lawyers are employed in more than 30 different Government Departments. It is up to each department to determine what salary to offer and it is unlikely that a lawyer's management responsibilities will be recorded.

Jury Service

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many people summoned for jury service sought (a) deferment and (b) exemption in each of the last five years. [27533]

Ms Harman: The information is as follows.
People summoned for jury service who sought deferral or excusal: 2001–05

	Number of people who sought deferral	Number of people who sought excusal
Between 2 April 2001 and 29 March 2002	64,023	175,773
Between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003	63,767	160,522
Between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004	65,529	135,900
Between 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005	66,577	109,933
Between 1 April 2005 to the end of October 2005	42,266	60,831

 
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Litigation

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the development of a common EU mechanism for litigation. [27744]

Ms Harman: The EU is not developing a common mechanism for litigation. Certain measures have, however, been adopted or are under negotiation to facilitate cross-border litigation between EU member states. They include the European enforcement order, which came into force on 21 October 2005 which facilitates recognition and enforcement of uncontested judgments, a proposal for a European small claims procedure, and a European order for payment procedure to provide a simplified method of obtaining judgment on uncontested debts. These measures will benefit the citizens of the UK and the rest of Europe by providing a simplified and accelerated procedures for more straightforward cross-border litigation.

Ministerial Meetings

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Lord Chancellor last met the Archbishop of York to discuss constitutional issues of mutual interest to the Government and the church; and if she will make a statement. [28151]

Ms Harman: The Lord Chancellor has held no meeting with the Archbishop of York to discuss constitutional issues.

Post Mortems

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many post mortems have been undertaken in the last five years on unidentified dead persons where more than 12 months has elapsed since death and no inquest has been held. [27606]

Ms Harman: This information is not kept centrally.

Privy Council

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the members of the Privy Council. [28861]

Ms Harman: There are 535 Privy Counsellors. A list can be found on the Privy Council Office website—www.privycouncil.gov.uk

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs on how many occasions the Privy Council met in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005. [28862]

Ms Harman: There were 12 Privy Council meetings in 2004, and there have been 12 so far in 2005.

Privy Council Meetings

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs on how many occasions in the past two years meetings of the Privy Council involving attendance of Ministers have been
 
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held (a) outside London and (b) in Scotland; how many Ministers were involved; and which of these meetings lasted in excess of 15 minutes. [28150]

Ms Harman: In the past two years there have been four Privy Council meetings outside London, 3 at Windsor Castle and 1 at Balmoral Castle. Seven Ministers were involved in total. No record is kept of the length of Privy Council meetings.

Probate Costs

Lady Hermon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of why the costs of probate in Northern Ireland are higher than those elsewhere in the United Kingdom; and if she will make a statement. [28462]

Bridget Prentice: The fee structure for grant of probate in Northern Ireland is calculated on a different basis from England and Wales. Probate fees in Northern Ireland are charged on a sliding scale with reference to the value of the estate.

Saville Inquiry

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 November 2005, on the Saville inquiry, what the previous highest amount of public expenditure incurred in holding a public inquiry in the United Kingdom was; and what the total amount incurred for legal fees on that occasion was. [28461]

Bridget Prentice: To accurately gauge expenditure on public inquires prior to 1990 would be likely to incur unreasonable costs. However, since 1990 the highest expenditure for a public inquiry has been approximately £30 million for the inquiry into Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. This figure includes the cost of the inquiry itself, together with the costs of liaison units and legal support for witnesses from all the main Departments involved. Further detailed work would be needed to separate the legal costs from that figure.

Telephone Preference Service (Exemptions)

Bob Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what representations she has received from the charity sector on exempting charities from the list of organisations that are barred from calling people that have registered with the Telephone Preference Service; and if she will make a statement; [28734]

(2) what her Department's policy is on the inclusion of charities among the organisations that are barred from calling people that have registered with the Telephone Preference Service. [28751]

Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.

The Government have received no representations from the charity sector suggesting that there is any need to exempt charities from the list of organisations which are prohibited from making unsolicited calls to consumers registered with the Telephone Preference Service scheme. Charitable organisations are still able to
 
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make calls to such registered consumers if they have received prior consent, which overrides the consumer's TPS registration.

Bob Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what opportunities there are for people who register with the Telephone Preference Service to exclude charities from the list of organisations barred from calling them. [28752]

Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.

Charitable organisations are still able to make calls to Telephone Preference Service registered consumers if the consumer has given prior consent, as that consent overrides the registration.

Bob Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the merits of exempting charities from the list of organisations that are barred from calling people that have registered with the Telephone Preference Service. [28753]

Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.

None. We have received no representations from charities on this matter.

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