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9 Jan 2006 : Column 228W—continued
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Administrative Savings
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what administrative savings have been made by her Department in each of the last eight years. [34942]
Bridget Prentice: I refer the right hon. Member to the information published on gross and net controlled administration costs underspends for Whitehall departments which is published in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Papers for the relevant years. These are available in the Library of the House.
Efficiency gains are being made as part of the Spending Review 2004 efficiency programme by the Department as set out in the Efficiency Technical Notes which are available on the Departmental website.
Antisocial Behaviour
Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued by courts in (a) Wakefield and (b) Pontefract in each month since the penalty was introduced; how many have been breached; and how many breaches resulted in custodial sentences in (i) adult and (ii) juvenile courts. [38136]
Hazel Blears: I have been asked to reply.
Data on antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) are not available below local authority area level. The readily available information is by quarter and is given in the table for Wakefield metropolitan district council area.
The Home Office Court Proceedings Database holds breach proceedings only where there has been a conviction. These data are available at Criminal Justice System area level only.
(44)Between 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area (pfa). During this period 4 ASBOs were issued, as reported, within West Midlands pfa.
Note:
As from 1 June 2000 data collected centrally by magistrates courts committee (MCC) area by quarter. For the month of June 2000 no (0) ASBOs were reported as being issued.
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Channel Islands
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many Acts of Parliament have extended to each of the Channel Islands in the last twenty years. [40506]
Bridget Prentice: The Department for Constitutional Affairs does not keep a record of the UK Acts of Parliament which have been extended to each of the Channel Islands. UK Acts of Parliament do not normally extend to the Channel Islands. If they do, they may do so either by virtue of the Act itself or by Order in Council under an enabling provision contained in the Act. For an Act to extend otherwise than by an Order in Council is now very unusual.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what average time it has taken (a) for laws passed in the Channel Islands to be ratified by the Privy Council and (b) for the relevant Order in Council to be made over the past five years; and what steps she is taking to reduce this period. [40509]
Bridget Prentice: The Department for Constitutional Affairs does not monitor the time taken to complete each stage of the Channel Islands' legislative process. This Department and the Governments of both Guernsey and Jersey work closely to ensure that each piece of legislation is prioritised as appropriate.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will take steps to make provision for a seat in the United Kingdom Parliament to represent the Channel Islands. [40518]
Bridget Prentice: The Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom. Guernsey and Jersey are Crown dependencies with their own legislative assemblies and legislate for themselves on all domestic matters.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the (a) legal and (b) constitutional position of the Channel Islands in relation to UK law. [40520]
Bridget Prentice:
The Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom. Each has its own legislative assembly, administrative, fiscal and legal system and its own courts of law. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the ultimate court of appeal.
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UK Acts of Parliament do not normally extend to the Channel Islands. If they do, they may do so either by virtue of the Act itself or by Order in Council made under an enabling provision contained in the Act. For an Act to extend otherwise than by an Order in Council is now very unusual.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assistance her Department provides for people from the Channel Islands, who are in the United Kingdom to vote in home elections. [40525]
Bridget Prentice: Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK. They are internally self-governing parliamentary democracies and as such make their own arrangements to ensure that those eligible can take part in their domestic elections.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the (a) petitions and (b) registered complaints from islanders she has received relating to the feudal system on Sark in the last five years. [40507]
Bridget Prentice: I am aware of two petitions to the Privy Council in the last five years which have been about the constitution of Sark. Since the transfer of responsibility for the Crown dependencies from the Home Office in 2001, Ministers and officials at the Department for Constitutional Affairs have received a number of letters about the constitution of Sark. All correspondence and both petitions have been from or on behalf of two residents of Sark.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the constitutional status of Alderney. [40510]
Bridget Prentice: Alderney is an internally self-governing dependency of the Crown. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, but not part of the United Kingdom.
Child Pornography
Judy Mallaber: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer by the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale, East (Paul Goggins) on 30 November 2005, Official Report, column 591W, on child pornography, when she expects to introduce changes to Schedule 3 to the Data Protection Act 1998 to enable payment card companies legitimately to hold and process sensitive data concerning an individual and their convictions, with particular reference to purchasing child pornography on the internet. [38728]
Ms Harman:
My department continues to work with colleagues across Government and with the Association for Payment Clearing Services to take forward the amendment of Schedule 3 of the Data Protection. Once this work is complete the amendment will be placed before Parliament when legislative time allows.
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Compensation Bill
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when her Department plans to publish its proposals for a possible exemption for trades unions from the claims management proposals contained in the Compensation Bill [Lords]. [38326]
Bridget Prentice: The Compensation Bill will provide the legislative framework to introduce the statutory regulation of claims management activities. The Under-Secretary of State, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, announced at Second Reading of the Compensation Bill (HL) the Government's intention to exempt trade unions and that such an exemption may be subject to conditions, including a requirement to have regard to the code of practice issued by the new regulator. Exemptions will be a matter for secondary legislation and the Government will take account of Peers' and Members' views on appropriate conditions during the passage of the Bill.
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her Department plans to introduce an exemption for trades unions from the claims management proposals in the Compensation Bill [Lords], (a) through an amendment to the Bill and (b) by secondary legislation; and if she will make a statement. [38327]
Bridget Prentice: We plan to introduce an exemption for trades unions from the claims management proposals in the Compensation Bill by secondary legislation. Clause 4 of the Compensation Bill (HL) provides an order making power to exempt persons from the requirement to be authorised to carry out claims management services.
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