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2 Mar 2006 : Column 929W—continued
Tarceva
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS patients have received the cancer drug Tarceva; [53996]
(2) if she will list the NHS trusts which have prescribed the cancer drug Tarceva. [54101]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 27 February 2006]: Erlotinib (Tarceva) for non-small cell lung cancer was granted a licence by the European Medicines Agency, in September 2005. The Department does not hold data on the number of people prescribed particular drugs but does hold data on the number of national health service prescriptions dispensed. There is no record of the drug having been issued in hospitals up to June 2005, though our information is not comprehensive and might not capture the use of the drug in clinical trials where it has not been dispensed at the NHS's expense. More recent data is not available due to the contractual restrictions on how data on drugs issued in hospitals can be used. The drug has not been prescribed in primary care up to September 2005. More recent data is currently not available due to National Statistics protocols.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Court Services (Gloucestershire)
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what her assessment is of (a) the requirement for and (b) the performance of the magistrates court in Coleford, Gloucestershire. [55607]
Bridget Prentice: The requirement for Coleford magistrates court is currently under review and no decision on its future has been made at this time.
The performance figures for Gloucester are collected on a regional basis and individual figures for Coleford magistrates court are not available.
Mr. Harper:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what savings have been sought by her Department from the Courts Service in
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Gloucestershire; and what assessment she has made of the impact of these savings on court services in Gloucestershire. [55608]
Bridget Prentice: Gloucestershire have identified £109,000 of savings and to date have reported that they have achieved these savings as a result of management reorganisation which does not impact on court business.
Electoral Systems
Mr. Davey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what work is being undertaken to review electoral systems within the UK. [54666]
Bridget Prentice: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 16 January 2006, Official Report, column 1054W. The Government's internal review is desk based, examining a range of existing publications and materials. These include, for example, the reports of the Independent Commission on the Voting Systems (the Jenkins report"), the Independent Commission on Proportional Representation (ICPR), and the Arbuthnott Commission's report on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers are informed of Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests made to their Department. [53808]
Bridget Prentice: The decision as to whether to inform ministers about a FOI request is made on a case by case basis in each Department. Ministers are not informed of every individual FOI request.
Where section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies, all requests are submitted to Ministers because this exemption can only be used if, in the Minister's reasonable opinion, disclosure would 'prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs'.
It is usually departmental policy that Special Advisers are copied advice to Ministers.
Information Commissioner
Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the target time for the Information Commissioner's Office to process a case from receipt to completion; and what the average time taken was in 2005. [55409]
Bridget Prentice: The Information Commissioner is an independent body created by statute. He has responsibilities for handling complaints made to him under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998.
For FOI cases, the ICO target for the business year 2005–06 is to resolve 50 per cent. within 60 working days. In the calendar year 2005, 50.3 per cent. of cases closed were closed within 60 working days of receipt. The average time taken from receipt to closure for all FOI cases closed during 2005 was 94 working days.
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For DP cases, the ICO target for the business year 2005–06 is to resolve 90 per cent. of cases within 90 calendar days. In 2005, 88.5 per cent. of cases closed were closed within 90 calendar days of receipt. The average time taken from receipt to closure for all Data Protection cases in the same period was 50 calendar days.
Judiciary
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of judges in the North East are from the North East; and if she will make a statement. [54580]
Bridget Prentice: The Department for Constitutional Affairs does not record the place of birth of applicants for Judicial post, therefore I am unable to provide this information.
Legal Aid
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many applications for legal aid were (a) made and (b) approved in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years, broken down by constituency. [54509]
Bridget Prentice: The number of applications for legal aid made and approved in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years are as follows:
Notes:
1. Legal Advice and Assistance cases are recorded as claims, not applications.
2. Data for criminal cases is collected for calendar years and the figures in the table relate to the period 1995–2004.
3. To provide the information by constituency would involve a manual review of records. Given the large number of cases involved this would incur a disproportionate cost.
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Legal Services Commisson
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the Legal Services Commission decision to cease funding specialist support and legal advice in complex cases; and if she will make a statement. [54723]
Bridget Prentice: Specialist support services form part of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) special projects budget. Research undertaken by the LSC which underpins their consultation paper Making legal rights a reality" points to an increasing demand for front line advice for the most needy.
Given the pressure on the limited legal aid budget and the number of clients needing legal advice, the LSC has concluded that the £2.3 million will be redirected to fund direct legal advice in the next financial year. This will increase access to legal aid services for vulnerable people.
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