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19 Dec 2005 : Column 2551W—continued
Sentencing Guidelines
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent guidelines her Department has issued to judges about consistency of sentencing; and if she will make a statement. [36185]
Fiona Mactaggart: I have been asked to reply.
It is not the role of Government to issue guidelines on sentencing. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 set up the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC), an independent body chaired by the Lord Chief Justice, which is tasked with framing guidelines on sentencing. One of the factors to which the council must have regard when
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framing its guidelines is the need to promote a consistency of approach in sentencing. When sentencing an offender, courts must have regard to any guidelines which are relevant to the case.
The SGC has to date issued guidelines on Reduction in Sentence for a Guilty Plea, Overarching Principles: Seriousness, New Sentences: Criminal Justice Act 2003and, most recently, Manslaughter by Reason of Provocation.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Administrative Savings
Mr. Maude: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what administrative savings have been made by his Department in each of the last eight years. [34954]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) was created following the Machinery of Government changes on 29 May 2002.
The 2002 Spending Review provided for an increase of £902 million in the departmental expenditure limit by 2005–06, an annual average real growth of 4.9 per cent. To deliver the expanded programme, administration expenditure was also budgeted to increase.
In each year since the ODPM was established, administration spending has been constrained to below budget. Information on gross and net controlled administration costs underspends for Whitehall Departments is published in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Papers for the relevant years, which are available in the Library of the House.
Efficiency gains are now being made as part of the 2004 Spending Review (SR04) efficiency programme, as set out in Efficiency Technical Notes which are available on Departments' websites. The administration efficiency savings proposed for ODPM, compared with 2004–05, are set out as follows:
| SR04 administration efficiency savings (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 2005–06 | 8 |
| 2006–07 | 16.5 |
| 2007–08 | 25 |
Arson
Mike Penning: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many incidents of arson there were in (a) Dacorum and (b) Hertfordshire in each year since January 1997. [29570]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of deliberate primary fires attended by the Fire and Rescue Service in Hertfordshire is in the following table. Data are not available centrally for Dacorum.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 848 |
| 1998 | 826 |
| 1999 | 1,091 |
| 2000 | 1,276 |
| 2001 | 1,303 |
| 2002 | 1,294 |
| 2003 | 1,265 |
| 2004 | (109)959 |
(109)Data for 2004 are provisional.
Source:
ODPM
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Bellwin Scheme
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the (a) local authorities, (b) fire authorities and (c) police authorities in Hemel Hempstead, will be eligible for Bellwin scheme assistance. [38333]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yes, provided the actions authorities need to take result in eligible costs above the authorities' thresholds. Emergency financial assistance is available to local authorities under the Bellwin scheme to help with their costs incurred in taking immediate action to safeguard life or property or to prevent severe inconvenience to the inhabitants of the area. Local authorities have one month from the end date of an incident in which to notify the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of an intention to make a claim. Dacorum borough council has already registered such an intention and officials here have spoken to both Dacorum and Hertfordshire county council about the procedures to follow.
Circular 15/92
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2005, Official Report, columns 191–92W, on planning, if he will place circular 15/92 on his Department's website. [33480]
Yvette Cooper: It is now available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website.
Civil Servants
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many civil servants in each grade have left his Office in each of the last three years to join consultancy firms; and which firm each joined. [37362]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold this information on its former staff centrally, and could provide it only at disproportionate cost.
Construction Industry Research and Information Association
Mary Creagh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the results of the research study commissioned by his Department, project ID 11476, completed by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association on 31 December 2004, are expected to be published. [33845]
Yvette Cooper
[holding answer 2 December 2005]: A number of research reports prepared for the Buildings Division of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are being prepared for publication. The report mentioned
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by my hon. Friend is one of them. It is expected that the reports will be available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website early in the new year.
Correspondence
Mr. Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords were dealt with by his Office in each year since 1995 in respect of the percentage his Department took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if he will make a statement. [37390]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) was formed on 29 May 2002.
The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The Report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–40WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
Information on the number of letters received from members of the public by the ODPM is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information in respect of the number of parliamentary questions tabled by hon. Members and noble Lords for the ODPM is given below:
| PQs from MPs | PQs from Lords | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002(110) | 1,532 | 83 |
| 2003 | 2,747 | 180 |
| 2004 | 3,397 | 159 |
| 2005(111) | 3,218 | 160 |
(110)29 May 2002 to 31 December 2002.
(111)1 January 2005 to 30 November 2005.
Information on the percentage of letters and parliamentary questions that took (a) more than one month and (b) more than three months to provide a substantive answer, is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment the Government have made in the last three years of the possible effect of (a) council tax revaluation and (b) further council tax increases on the likelihood of (i) civil disobedience and (ii) civil unrest. [33499]
Council Tax (Kent)
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of spending by (a) Kent county council and (b) Gravesham borough council was financed from council tax in each financial year since 1996–97. [37592]
Mr. Woolas:
The percentage of Revenue Expenditure by Kent county council and Gravesham borough council that has been financed from council tax in each financial year since 1996–97 is as follows.
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The data are as reported by local authorities and are taken from Revenue Summary (RS) returns for 1996–97 to 2003–04, and Revenue Account budget (RA) returns for 2004–05 and 2005–06.
The definition of council expenditure used here is that expenditure funded from Aggregate External Finance (AEF), council tax and authorities' reserves.
Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in the method of reporting the information. In particular, the outturn data for 1996–97 to 2002–03 have been calculated on a non-FRS (Financial Reporting Standard) 17 basis whilst the outturn data for 2003–04 have been calculated on an FRS 17 basis. The budget data for 2004–05 and 2005–06 are a mix of FRS17 and non-FRS 17. This is because for their 2004–05 and 2005–06 budget forms local authorities, after consultation, were given the option to complete their forms either on a non-FRS 17 basis or on an FRS17 basis. Hence, figures for different years may not be directly comparable.
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