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Court Bailiffs

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of court bailiffs covering (a) the Central London County Court jurisdiction and (b) England and Wales; and if she will make a statement. [59282]

Ms Harman: The responsibility for ensuring adequate resources are made available for civil enforcement by the county courts rests with Her Majesty's Court Service but I am satisfied that sufficient bailiff numbers are in place both in relation to London and nationally.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate she has made of the costs to business of delays in the court bailiff service (a) in the Central London County Court jurisdiction and (b) in England and Wales; and if she will make a statement. [59284]

Ms Harman: The responsibility for ensuring the service provided by court bailiff teams rests with Her Majesty's Courts Service and current performance is meeting agreed targets.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the extent of the waiting list is for court bailiff action in (a) the Central London County Court jurisdiction and (b) England and Wales. [59285]

Ms Harman: Information about the extent of the waiting list for court bailiff action in (a) the Central London County Court jurisdiction and (b) England and Wales, is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what funding has been allocated for 2005–06 to the court bailiff service in (a) the Central London County Court and (b) England and Wales. [59286]

Ms Harman: The information is as follows:

(a) The budget allocated in respect of court bailiff services to Central London County Court for 2005–06, was £202,000.

(b) The budget allocated in respect of court bailiff services to the civil courts across the whole of England and Wales for 2005–06, was £16.4 million.

 
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Drug Courts

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what initial assessment has been made of the drug court pilots launched in December 2005; if she will make a statement [59323]

Ms Harman: After the launch of the Dedicated Drug Courts (DDC) pilots at Leeds and West London magistrates courts in December 2005, the project team is working closely with the judiciary, court staff and partner agencies to ensure successful implementation of the processes at the courts.

The impact of the DDC can only be demonstrated, however, in the longer term and therefore an evaluation will not be completed until July 2007. These findings will be used to inform decisions about the potential for future roll out to other courts in England and Wales.

Electoral Fraud

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps the Government plan to take to ensure prosecutions are brought for electoral fraud. [58095]

Bridget Prentice: Decisions on prosecutions are for the Crown Prosecution Service to make.

The Electoral Administration Bill will introduce a number of measures that will strengthen the current offences under electoral law, and create new offences. For example, it will create a new offence of falsely applying for a postal vote, and strengthens the offence of undue influence.

Electoral Reform

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what (a) changes to past electoral practices, (b) pilots and (c) new rules on electoral fraud she expects to be ratified in (i) primary and (ii) secondary legislation and operational for the May 2006 local elections. [56085]

Bridget Prentice: The information is as follows.

(a) The Electoral Administration Bill currently before Parliament contains a number of measures that affect electoral practices and address electoral fraud. The Bill will not be in force before the May 2006 local elections. The Local Elections (Principal Areas and Parishes and Communities) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Rules 2006 change the hours of polling at local, parish and community council elections from 8am to 9 pm to 7 am to 10 pm. The rules were made on 16 February and will come into force on 24 March, and will apply at the May 2006 local elections.

(b) A number of local authorities are piloting at the May 2006 local elections provisions included in the Electoral Administration Bill. These include:

the use of ballot papers without counterfoils;

the use of a postal voting statement for postal votes signed only by the elector, instead of the traditional declaration of identity;

a marked register of returned postal votes to be made available after the close of poll; and

the signing for ballot papers at polling stations.

 
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(c) The Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 contain a range of measures that improve access to the electoral process and the security of postal voting. They were made on 9 March and will come into force on 23 March, and will apply at the May 2006 local elections. The provisions that prevent postal vote fraud are:

electoral administrators will be required to confirm in writing the outcome of postal vote applications;

postal voters will have to give a reason for the re-direction of their postal vote;

the closing date for postal vote applications will be moved from 6 to 11 days before polling day to give administrators more time to check applications;

electoral administrators may check signatures on postal vote applications against any other signatures they may hold.

(The 10 new measures in the Electoral Administration Bill that tackle electoral fraud and will come into affect after the Bill receives Royal Assent are:

there will be a new offence of falsely applying for a postal or proxy vote;

there will be new secrecy warnings on postal and proxy voting papers to deter any attempt unlawfully to influence another person's vote;

ballot papers will have a security mark and a barcode to enable quick security checks for stolen postal votes;

after every election a list of all those who voted by post will be published which will enable individuals to check that their vote was counted. And in an investigation the police will be able to check up with any individual whether they did actually vote by post or whether their vote was stolen;

there will be a new criminal offence of supplying false information or failing to supply information to the electoral registration officer at any time;

there will be a new, strengthened offence of undue influence which will make it easier to prosecute, even if the undue influence does not effect the way someone votes;

the police will be given more time to carry out investigations into electoral fraud—increased from one to two years;

voters will have to sign for their ballot paper at the polling station to deter fraudsters and allow signatures to be checked if there is suspicion of fraud;

electoral administrators will have clear new powers to cross check applications to register to vote against other information the council holds—to check whether the person trying to register does actually exist and live at that address;

there will be a pilot programme to try out a new system of making people sign and give their date of birth before they get on the electoral register.)

Energy Efficiency

Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she is taking to increase energy efficiency within her Department; and if she will make a statement. [60338]

Bridget Prentice: My Department is fully committed to reducing carbon emissions and is signed up to the Government's Energy White Paper which sets targets of reducing absolute carbon from fuel and energy efficiency used in buildings on their estate by 12.5 per cent. by 2010–11 relative to 1999–2000. My Department also fully recognises the need for Government Departments to show leadership on energy efficiency.
 
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In an effort to promote this work, my Department has invested £1 million in energy saving works over the last 12 months. Works undertaken include surveying our recently transferred magistrates court buildings. This has identified key energy saving works which, when implemented at low or no cost will contribute to the Department's energy savings. In addition, old energy inefficient equipment is being replaced. All sites on the estate are monitored on a monthly basis for energy usage.

The Department has recently joined the OGC utilities contract and all the Department's smaller sites are receiving 'green' electricity.

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