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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 16 January 2006
PRIME MINISTER
2012 Olympics
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) when the Cabinet Committee overseeing the London 2012 Olympics is next due to meet; who will attend; and what the agenda is; [41883]
(2) whether the minutes of the Cabinet Committee overseeing the London 2012 Olympics will be made public. [41887]
The Prime Minister: Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice and the proceedings of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees is generally not disclosed, as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Details of the membership and terms of reference of the Committee are available in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Cabinet Office website.
Defence Decisions (Military Officers)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to allow the most senior serving military officers to express their views publicly on whether the country should go to war; and if he will make a statement. [41972]
The Prime Minister: The policy for serving military officers publicly expressing their views on matters of Government policy is set out in the Defence Council Instruction Contact with the media and writing or speaking in public". This is available in the Libraries of the House and is reflected in each service's Queen's Regulations.
Downing Street Tours
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister if he will invite a group of children from Shrewsbury withspecial needs to visit No. 10 Downing Street for a tour. [41559]
The Prime Minister: Hon. Members from all parties are invited on a rolling programme to nominate and accompany a small group of children from their constituencies to have tea at No.10 Downing Street. Hon. Members are invited to select, in a fair and open way, children and adults who have a particular interest in visiting No. 10 Downing Street. Since 1998 approximately 424 MPs have accepted invitations for children to come for tea.
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
Michael Gove: To ask the Prime Minister what was agreed at the Warwick National Policy Forum in regard to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. [40960]
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The Prime Minister: The National Policy Forum in Warwick was a Labour Party event.
Homeland Security
Mr. Bone: To ask the Prime Minister if he will take steps to establish a separate Department with responsibility for homeland security. [42469]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), at Prime Minister's questions on 8 September 2004, Official Report, column 711.
Iraq
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with General Sir Michael Rose concerning Iraq and the situation in the Middle East; and if he will make a statement. [41939]
Little Haven Children's Hospice
Bob Spink: To ask the Prime Minister if he will visit Little Haven Children's Hospice in Castle Point to review the work of the hospice and its funding levels. [42219]
The Prime Minister: I have no current plans to do so. However, I appreciate and fully support the excellent work that children's hospices do for children and their families.
Terrorism Victims (Compensation)
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether he plans to establish a scheme to provide compensation to British citizens who are the victims of terrorist acts abroad; and if he will make a statement. [42178]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) at Prime Minister's Questions on 19 October 2005, Official Report, columns 838–39.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Crime Clear-up Rates
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 1W, on crime clear-up rates, how many offenders went before the courts in each area listed in the table in each year between 2000 and 2005; how many (a) pleaded guilty and (b) were found guilty in each year; how many (i) cases and (ii) charges were discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service in each year; and on how many occasions the Crown Prosecution Service dropped a charge in favour of a less serious charge. [42758]
The Solicitor-General:
I have placed tables in the Library of the House that show the number of defendants whose case was completed in magistrates courts and in the Crown court, in each Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Area, in each of the years in question; the number resulting in guilty plea; the
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number found guilty after trial; the number whose case was discontinued; and, for completeness, the number resulting in other outcomes. The tables also express each outcome as a proportion of the total.
Other outcomes" comprise cases in which the defendant was found not guilty after trial; cases discharged in the course of committal proceedings; and cases which could not proceed because the defendant could not be traced by the police, or had died, or been found unfit to plead.
The CPS reports case outcomes at defendant level, and holds no central information on the outcome of specific charges. This information is held on individual case files, and could be retrieved only by examining every file in each CPS office. It is therefore not possible to provide figures for the number of charges discontinued, nor on the number of occasions on which a charge was dropped in favour of a less serious charge.
Figures for 2005 are provisional, and may be subject to revision.
Departmental Expenditure
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Solicitor-General how much was spent by the Law Officers on plants in each year since 1997. [41193]
The Solicitor-General: I am informed that the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate have not incurred costs on plants since 1997. The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers spent £40 in 2005. The Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office do incur expenditure on plants for its offices but no central records are kept of such expenditure specifically on plants. It would incur disproportionate cost to identify the figures.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Administration Costs
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which functions of her core Department are carried out in (a) England and (b) London; and what administration costs were associated with these functions for each area in the last year. [39821]
Jim Knight: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) is published annually by HM Treasury. It includes various analyses of public expenditure including Country and Regional Analysis in chapter 8, the data for which are obtained from Departments each year as part of the Country and Regional Analysis exercise (CRA). Treasury does not, however, monitor country or regional administration costs separately. The information is available at the following address on Treasury's website:
Provisional 2004–05 departmental administration costs outturn are set out in Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (CMD 6639), which is available in the Library.
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Defra's Departmental Report 2005 (CMD 6537) gives an overview of Defra's activities over 2004–05, and includes some tables of expenditure on services by function, country and region. The information is available at the following address on Defra's website:
This report is also available in the Library, or can be obtained in hard copy from The Stationery Office (ISO), ISBN 0101653727.
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the administrative costs were of each agency for which she has responsibility in the last year for which figures are available; what the total of such costs was in that year; and whether the costs are regarded for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable. [39849]
Jim Knight: Costs for each of the Defra executive agencies for 2004–05 are in their annual reports with accounts, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House. In the reports these are not further classified as identifiable" or non-identifiable", i.e. whether or not they benefit particular individuals, enterprises or communities within particular regions. Administrative costs for 2004–05 are set out in the following table.
(1)New agency in 2005—data not available.
Information on the precise apportionment of individual Defra executive agency administration costs to the identifiable" and non-identifiable" categories for the purpose of the Country and Regional Analyses exercise is available only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which functions of her core Department are carried out in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Wales; and what administration costs were associated with these functions for each area in the last year. [39947]
Jim Knight:
Provisional 2004–05 departmental administration costs outturn are set out in Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (CMD 6639), which is available in the Library. The administration budgets regime Treasury oversees is for Whitehall Departments only. How running costs are controlled in the devolved Administrations is a matter for them.
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Defra's Departmental Report 2005 (CMD 6537) gives an overview of Defra's activities over 2004–05, and includes some tables of expenditure on services by function, country and region. The information is available at the following address on Defra's website:
This report is also available in the Library, or can be obtained in hard copy from The Stationery Office (TSO), ISBN 0101653727.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the administrative costs were of each non-departmental public body for which she has responsibility in the last year for which figures are available; what the total of such costs was in that year; and whether the costs are regarded for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable. [40058]
Jim Knight: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA), which is published annually by HM Treasury, includes various analyses of public expenditure. However, non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), apart from ACAS and HSE, are not covered by the Treasury's administration budgets regime.
Information on NDPBs' administrative costs is not collected centrally in Defra and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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