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8 Mar 2006 : Column 1578W—continued
Electoral Reform
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility to voters of polling stations. [53705]
Ms Harman:
The Electoral Administration Bill will extend the current provisions for voters' accessibility to polling stations. It includes a duty on local authorities to
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undertake a review of polling places at least every four years to ensure that, as far as possible, polling stations are both convenient and accessible to the local community.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the efficiency of the Information Commissioner's Office. [51134]
Ms Harman: 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.
The Commissioner is responsible for drawing up his corporate plan and business plan and for managing his resources to meet the targets in his plans. He is required to lay annually before each House of Parliament a general report on the exercise of his functions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998. The Commissioner is also required for each financial year to prepare a statement of account which is examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General and laid before each House of Parliament. The Commissioner as accounting officer is answerable to Parliament for the monies allocated to him. The ICO provides regular reports to my Department on its progress against targets in its business plan, and this provides a mechanism for regular reviews of the Office's efficiency.
Magistrates (Lancashire)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many magistrates in Lancashire are under (a) 30 and (b) 25 years, broken down by sex. [53364]
Ms Harman: Out of a total of 1,116, the number of serving magistrates in Lancashire under (a) 30 and (b) 25 years, and broken down by sex are set out in the following table:
| Lancashire | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30 | 2 | 2 |
| Under 25 | 0 | 0 |
Supreme Court
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what contingency plans there are for the site of the new Supreme Court should Westminster council refuse the planning application for the re-modelling of Middlesex Guildhall; and if she will make a statement. [56800]
Ms Harman: It would be premature to anticipate a future planning decision by Westminster city council when the application for planning and listed building consent has not yet been submitted.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the
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dates of the meetings held since 1st January 2005 between (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department and representatives of the Information Commissioner's Office; where each meeting was held; who attended on each occasion; and if she will make a statement. [56519]
Ms Harman: Since 1 January 2005 there have been numerous and recurrent meetings between both DCA Ministers and DCA officials and representatives from the Information Commissioner's Office. No central record is kept of these meetings and to create such a record would incur disproportionate cost.
Rape Trials
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many defendants to allegations of rape in the criminal courts were allowed personally to cross-examine the complainant in England in 2005. [51342]
Fiona Mactaggart: I have been asked to reply.
Section 34 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA"), which came into force on four September 2000, prohibits a person charged with rape and other sexual offences from cross-examining the complainant (whether adult or child) in any criminal proceedings. Owing to this, no statistics are collected centrally, and the Government are not aware of any cases in which this prohibition has been breached.
Legislative provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 1991 introduced a prohibition on unrepresented defendants personally cross-examining child witnesses in sexual offence cases (including rape) and cases of violence or cruelty. They came into force on one October 1992 (section 55(7)). This ban was extended to cases where the defendant was charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment or abduction by section 35 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA"), which came into force on four September 2000.
Social Exclusion
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what funding streams her Department plans to finance in 2006–07 to tackle social exclusion. [56084]
Ms Harman: Many of the Department's programmes will have some relevance to tackling social exclusion.
In particular, a substantial part of the £195 million that will be spent on legal help through the community legal service in 2006–07 will fund advice services for those facing legal problems. Research over the past few years has shown that such services are very important in combating social exclusion.
Torture
Dr. Evan Harris:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reasons the final report of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was not published until 9 June 2005; to whom the report was circulated
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(a) within and (b) outside the Government prior to publication between July 2004 and June 2005; and what approval process applies to the publication of such reports under the European Convention. [54587]
Ms Harman: The Committee's report dealt with its visit to the UK from 14 to 19 March 2004, to examine the treatment of detainees held under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. At the end of its visit, the Committee made an initial statement, to which the Government replied on 9 June 2004. The Committee presented its confidential formal report to the Government on 23 July 2004, and asked for a response by 22 October 2004. However, work on the response was interrupted by appeals by the detainees to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, and by the subsequent introduction of the Terrorism Act 2005. The report was considered by Ministers in the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office and by officials engaged in the preparation of the Government's response. The Government submitted its response to the Committee on 3 June 2005, with a request for immediate publication along with the Committee's report. This was in accordance with Article 11 of the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture, under which the Committee's reports are published at the request of states party to the Convention.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Coleraine Rail and Bus Station
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of trains arriving at and leaving from Coleraine Rail and Bus Station during 2005 did so within five minutes of the timetabled time. [56680]
Mr. Woodward: Information is not readily available to directly answer the question as punctuality data is held only in respect of end of line" stations, and only in respect of whether or not trains arrive within 10 minutes of their timetabled arrival times. However punctuality information for the closest end of line" stations at Londonderry and Portrush could be used as a proxy for times at Coleraine station.
The percentage of trains arriving at the Londonderry and Portrush stations with 10 minutes of the timetabled time in 2005 was 68 per cent. and 90 per cent. respectively.
Cycling
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the change in the extent of cycling as a result of the various cycling initiatives undertaken in Northern Ireland since 2000. [56143]
Mr. Woodward:
The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
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Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 8 March 2006:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what has been the change in the extent of cycling as a result of the various cycling initiatives undertaken in Northern Ireland since 2000.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
As you may be aware, the Department for Regional Development, in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Cycling Forum, published a Northern Ireland Cycling Strategy in June 2000. The strategy identified a range of measures to seek to improve conditions for cyclists with a view to establishing a pro-cycling culture. It set two challenging targets:
To monitor progress, Roads Service introduced a Northern Ireland-wide cycle usage survey in 2000. Since then, automatic cycle counters have been monitoring cycle usage on a daily basis at 33 strategic sites, fourteen of which are located on the National Cycle Network throughout Northern Ireland. A further nine sites are located around the Greater Belfast area.
The resulting figures, up to the end of 2004, are provided below and expressed as a percentage change in total average daily cycle flow at the sites indicated. Figures for 2005 are not yet available.
| Period | All sites (33) | National cycle network sites (14) | Greater Belfast sites (9) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | -0.9 | + 11.5 | +7.0 |
| 2001–02 | -9.7 | -6.3 | +9.3 |
| 2002–03 | -3.2 | +3.7 | +17.8 |
| 2003–04 | +13.8 | +34.4 | +45.5 |
The Travel Survey of Northern Ireland, which is based on face-to-face interviews and personal travel diaries in around 1,000 households per year, also gives an indication of cycle usage. Using the information available from the survey the average mileage travelled by bicycle per person per year in Northern Ireland was estimated to be as follows:
| Period | Average mileage per person (Miles) |
|---|---|
| 1999–2001 | 19 |
| 2000–02 | 17 |
| 2001–03 | 14 |
| 2002–04 | 17 |
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