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6 Feb 2006 : Column 811W—continued
Telephone Cold Calling
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further steps his Department is considering to curb telephone cold calling. [48095]
Alun Michael: Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, consumers are offered protection from telephone cold calling through the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) scheme. This has proved to be an effective deterrent with 11.2 million registrations to date. No one is allowed to make an unsolicited marketing call to a subscriber who has either previously notified the caller that they do not wish to receive such calls or has been registered with the TPS scheme for at least 28 days. We have no evidence of any need to consider further measures. We have no evidence of any need to consider further measures.
LEADER OF THE HOUSE
Freedom of Information Act
Bob Spink: To ask the Leader of the House what total sum has been received by his Office for the provision of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in its first year of operation. [48494]
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Nigel Griffiths: No money has been specifically received by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons for the provision of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Compensation Bill
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely impact of the Compensation Bill on collective conditional fee arrangements. [47948]
Bridget Prentice: The Government considers that part two of the Bill, which introduces the statutory regulation of claims management services, will have no impact on collective conditional fee agreements. Statutory regulation will ensure that those who provide claims management services must abide by rules and a code of practice, providing much needed consumer protection. This will not affect the various methods available for funding claims.
Family Law Act
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what average time it has taken for proceedings to be concluded under the new provision 42A of the Family Law Act 1996, as amended by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. [45696]
Bridget Prentice: This information is not collated centrally. Part of our places for the implementation of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims and Victims Act 2004 is the better collection of statistical information. We are planning to research the impact of breaches and the implementation of the provisions of the Act.
Land Registry
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will take steps to ensure that the Land Registry holds details of the titles of all land in England; and if she will make a statement. [45940]
Bridget Prentice: Land Registry holds about 21 million registered titles to land in England and Wales. Most urban land is registered but much rural land remains unregistered. Registration is compulsory after certain specific events, for example, a sale of land or a transfer on death. Land Registry cannot otherwise compel registration but has a long term strategy of working towards a comprehensive register by persuading landowners of the benefits of voluntarily registering their holdings.
Office Equipment
Mr. Weir:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machines (i) her Department, (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) Executive agency and (C) other public body for
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which her Department is responsible in (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, (3) each English region and (4) Northern Ireland owned in (x) 2003–04 and (y) 2004–05. [40092]
Ms Harman: Most of the Department's IT equipment is provided under service supply contracts with service providers. Details of the equipment owned by the Department, its Executive agencies, and its non-departmental public bodies, for which records are held, is provided in the following table.
| PCs/Desktop Machines | 79 |
| Laptops | 28 |
| Servers | 5 |
| Printers | 21 |
| Scanners | 11 |
| Photocopiers | — |
| Fax Machines | |
| Owned in 2003–04 | 58 |
| Owned in 2004–05 | 53 |
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The Information Technology services for the Northern Ireland Court Service are provided through a Private Finance Initiative agreement and as such the majority of IT hardware items remain the property of the Service Provider. The Court Service has however, purchased certain items outside the Agreement and these details are shown above.
| Hardware | Position at 20 December 2005 |
|---|---|
| PCs/Desktop Machines | 1,974 |
| Laptops | 334 |
| Servers | 131 |
| Printers | 251 |
| Scanners | 14 |
| Photocopiers | (10)73 |
| Fax Machines | 27 |
(10) The Legal Services Commission inventory reflects the position at 20 December 2005. The Legal Services Commission also has 73 multi-functional devices, which are photocopies/printers. It is not possible to tell which are just used as photocopiers. These 73 are not included in the printer total given above
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Mr. Randall: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions for breaches of antisocial behaviour orders the Crown Prosecution Service has brought in (a) Uxbridge and (b) the London borough of Hillingdon. [48518]
The Solicitor-General: Police records are kept for the London borough of Hillingdon, which includes Uxbridge. Separate figures for Uxbridge are not retained. These records denote breaches of all antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) granted within the borough of Hillingdon. They also include ASBOs breached in Hillingdon but granted within other boroughs.
Figures for breaches of ASBOs prior to 2004 are unavailable.
In 2004, five adults were prosecuted for breach of an antisocial behaviour order.
In 2005, 42 adults and two youths were prosecuted for breach of an antisocial behaviour order.
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General what representations he has received about the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) Essex and (b) Southend in each of the last nine years for which information is available. [47965]
The Solicitor-General:
A review of records indicates that neither I nor my predecessors have received representations from any MPs other than the hon. Member concerning the performance of the Crown
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Prosecution Service (CPS) in Essex during the last nine years. I am told that three letters have been received from members of the public during this period making complaints about CPS performance in Essex, none of which appear to relate to Southend.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) has recently conducted an Overall Performance Assessment" of CPS Essex. The report is anticipated to be published during March.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Director of the Crown Prosecution Service has received in bonuses in each of the last two financial years for which figures are available. [48111]
The Solicitor-General: The salary arrangements for the Director of Public Prosecutions do not provide for bonus payments.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General on how many occasions the Crown Prosecution Service was (a) one day and (b) one week too late in taking action against a defendant in each of the last five years for which information is available. [48116]
The Solicitor-General: Generally speaking, there are no limitations on the time for taking criminal proceedings for indictable offences. In summary proceedings, the Justices will not try information alleging an offence unless the information was laid within six months from the time the offence was committed. However, the Crown Prosecution Service maintains no central records of occasions when this limitation is breached.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General how many complaints have been made about the Crown Prosecution Service since 1997; how many of those complaints have been upheld in each year; and what action was taken to redress each successful complaint. [48874]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a record of the number of responses sent to members of the public who make a complaint.
The figures for each year since records began are as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1998(11) | 2,423 |
| 1999 | 2,192 |
| 2000 | 2,793 |
| 2001 | 2,815 |
| 2002 | 3,080 |
| 2003 | 3,624 |
| 2004 | 3,915 |
| 2005 | 4,338 |
(11) April to December only.
A complaint may be made by any party in a criminal case or by a member of the public with no direct involvement in proceedings. Complaints may relate to a range of issues including the performance of one or more of the agencies involved or to matters of general policy. Therefore, it is not possible for the CPS to divide complaints into those upheld, those rejected, and those where redress was offered.
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When responding to complainants, the CPS seeks to explain its role in criminal proceedings, the principles on which its decisions are based and, where there has been an admitted error, what steps it will take to ensure that the error will not happen again. However, it may not be appropriate to enter into a discussion of the evidence in particular cases, particularly with complainants who are not directly involved in a case.
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