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3 Mar 2006 : Column 1003W—continued
Malicious Vehicle Fires
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many malicious vehicle fires there were in England in each year since 1997. [54542]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The table shows the number of deliberate road vehicle primary fires attended by the fire and rescue service in England since 1997.
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| Number of deliberate road vehicle primary fires | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 35,162 |
| 1998 | 40,090 |
| 1999 | 41,888 |
| 2000 | 58,979 |
| 2001 | 67,158 |
| 2002(20) | 68,153 |
| 2003(20) | 61,958 |
| 2004 | 46,660 |
(20) Including estimates for incidents not recorded during periods of industrial action in 2002 and 2003.
Source:
Fire & Rescue Service FDR1 returns to ODPM.
National Parks
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how much National Parks received via (a) council tax, (b) district and (c) county precepts in 2004–05. [54543]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
The English National Park Authorities and the Broads Authority receive their core funding direct from Defra through the National Park Grant (NPG). For 2005–06 the NPG is £42.13 million in total. The level of NPG has increased by 51 per cent. since 2001–02. National Parks can also receive other Government funding, such as the performance related Planning Delivery Grant from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Prior to 2004–05, Defra paid 75 per cent. of the NPG directly to the Parks, and routed 25 per cent. via the local authorities. Although the Parks have retained their levying powers they are not currently used.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
1911 Census
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will place in the Library the correspondence exchanged in the period June to September 2004 between Susan Healy, Head of Information Policy and Legislation Unit, National Archives, and (a) Graham Smith, Deputy Information Commissioner and (b) Phil Boyd, Assistant Information Commissioner, on the subject of (i) access to Census records under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and (ii) 1911 Census records. [56518]
Bridget Prentice: The National Archives will make arrangements to place a copy of the relevant correspondence in the Library. An explanatory note will also be provided.
Criminal Court (Salaried Defenders)
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether PKF prepared a report to inform her policy on salaried defenders for the criminal court; if she will make a statement; and if she will place a copy in the Library. [55435]
Bridget Prentice:
PKF has not prepared a report for my Department to inform policy on salaried defenders in the criminal courts.
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Lord Carter of Coles, as part of his independent review of legal aid procurement, commissioned PKF to analyse the expenditure, income, efficiency and productivity of the legal professions in delivering legal aid services. Lord Carter will produce his final report later this spring.
Crown Courts
Robert Key: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many people were (a) tried, (b) found guilty and (c) acquitted by Crown courts in each calendar year between 2000 and 2005. [53479]
Bridget Prentice: Figures relating to the number of defendants (a) tried, (b) found guilty and (c) acquitted in the Crown Court are provided in the following table:
Departmental IT
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many computer projects are being developed by her Department. [55294]
Bridget Prentice: In common with any large organisation, IT based change projects in my Department range in scale from the very small, involving just a small number of new PCs, to those supporting major strategic business developments for the Department. For the strategic group, there have been three change programmes: the Courts and Tribunals Modernisation Programme (CTMP) covering the Crown and County Courts; Libra, covering the Magistrates' Courts; and ARAMIS, covering our Headquarters areas.
Ecovet FM
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost was to her Department of employing Ecovet FM in (a) 2002–03, (b) 2003–04 and (c) 2004–05. [55293]
Bridget Prentice: Ecovert FM have not been employed by my department in the financial years 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05. As such there has been no cost to the department.
Electoral Reform
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what representations she has received since the May 2005 General Election from the Electoral Commission concerning (a) voter turnout and (b) strategies to reduce voter abstention. [53730]
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Bridget Prentice: The Electoral Commission published its report 'Election 2005: turnout how many, who and Why?' Last October. The report provides a comprehensive analysis breakdown of data on turnout at the May 2006 General Election.
The Electoral Commission have not made any representation concerning strategies to reduce voter abstention.
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the factors affecting levels of voter turnout; and if she will make a statement. [53732]
Bridget Prentice: The Government are concerned with the level of voter turnout and is taking steps to increase access to registration as the gateway to voting.
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what representations she has received on the use of electronic methods of counting votes cast in electoral processes; what assessment she has made of such methods; and if she will make a statement. [53888]
Bridget Prentice: In October 2005 the DCA issued a prospectus calling for applications to conduct pilots at the May 2005 elections. Eight local authorities applied to electronically count votes cast in their elections. Lord Falconer approved four applications, which were announced by Written Ministerial Statement to this House on 14 February 2006 with associated explanatory material placed in the House Library.
These applications were approved as they are expected to provide additional learning to pilots of electronic counting conducted in previous years and its use at elections for the Greater London assembly and London Members of the European Parliament in 2004. It is the role of the Electoral Commission to evaluate these pilots and we are working closely with the Commission to ensure that the evaluation process provides useful learning. The Commission's evaluations of previous pilots using e-counting are available on its website and I understand their report on this May's pilots will be due in August 2006.
Jewish Festivals
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what her Department did to (a) celebrate Hanukkah and (b) mark Yom Kippur in 2005. [46752]
Bridget Prentice: The Department for Constitutional Affairs did not host any specific events to mark Hanukkah or Yom Kippur.
The events were included in the calendar of religious festivals, which are distributed to members of staff at the commencement of every year.
The Department does encourage managers to be flexible in allowing individuals to take annual leave to celebrate religious festivals.
The Department will be circulating a religion and belief toolkit by June 2006 to all members of staff, which will outline the practices and beliefs of the major faith communities in this country.
3 Mar 2006 : Column 1007W
The first Faith Forum in Whitehall will be launched by this Department on 21 February 2006. The Forum is a corporate body that includes members of staff and members of the judiciary. The objective is to develop a better, shared understanding of how faith relates to daily life, particularly in the workplace. Faiths represented include Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and other faith communities. It is also open to those belonging to no faith but are interested in faith issues.
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