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18 Apr 2006 : Column 46W—continued
Parliamentary Candidates (Interests)
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will bring forward proposals to require declaration of parliamentary candidates' interests. [63540]
Bridget Prentice: The Government have no plans to bring forward proposals to require candidates at a parliamentary election to declare their interests.
Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in her Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old. [62003]
Bridget Prentice: The Pension records for the Department are not maintained in a format which enables this data to be easily extracted. The information requested can therefore only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the current employer contribution rates to the Principal Civil
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Service pension scheme are; what assumed rate of return underlies those contribution rates; and what the contribution rate would be if the assumed rate of return was in line with current redemption yield on index-linked gilts. [62004]
Bridget Prentice: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 29 March 2006, Official Report, column 1031W.
Sexual Offences
Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of adverse publicity on defendants who are subsequently acquitted in sex offence cases. [62026]
Paul Goggins: I have been asked to reply.
No such assessment had been made as defendants in sex offence cases and other defendants are treated equally, in accordance with the principle of open justice.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the human rights implications for people accused of sex offences and subsequently acquitted who suffer adverse publicity as a result of media identification. [62173]
Paul Goggins: I have been asked to reply.
Article 6(1) of The European Convention of Human Rights does not confer a right of anonymity on defendants. The Government regards open justice as a fundamental principle of our Criminal Justice System.
Summary Trials
Lady Hermon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what percentage of (a) trials on indictment and (b) summary trials in (i)Northern Ireland and (ii) England and Wales that collapsed did so because (A) the defendant changed his plea, (B) witnesses did not attend and (C) the defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser offence in the latest period for which figures are available. [63387]
Ms Harman: Figures showing the number and percentage of cases listed for trial in the Crown court and magistrates courts in England and Wales where the trial cracked on the day for the reasons requested are provided in the following table. The figures cover the six-month period September 2005 to February 2006.
Note:
Percentage figure is percentage of total cracked trials.
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Relative figures for Crown trials listed in Northern Ireland in the same period are detailed in the table. This information is not collected centrally for magistrates court trials and can be provided only at disproportionate cost to the Department.
| Trials on indictment (Crown court)(4) | |
|---|---|
| (A) Change of plea | |
| Number | 166 |
| Percentage | 31 |
| (B) Prosecution witness non-attendance | |
| Number | 15 |
| Percentage | 3 |
| (C) Guilty plea to lesser offence | |
| Number | 30 |
| Percentage | 6 |
(4)Total number of trials = 533.
Note:
Percentage figure is percentage all cases listed.
Woolwich Crown Court
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the (a) use of and (b) available capacity at Woolwich Crown court. [62775]
Ms Harman: Woolwich Crown court has available seven courtrooms one of which has recently been upgraded to accommodate high security trials bringing the number suitable to hear high security cases to three.
Increasingly, Woolwich is the preferred site in SE England to hear high security cases, which often require the deployment of armed police protection. Additionally it has the capacity to hear cases committed to the Crown from neighbouring magistrates courts.
One courtroom is also suitable to hear magistrates cases as and when required.
There are five permanent circuit judges based at the courthouse with visiting district judges and magistrates. Woolwich's sitting day profile—the number of days available for judges to sit and hear cases—was 1,271 days for the year 2005–06.
The sitting day profile schedule for 2006–07 is 1,481 days.
TRANSPORT
A21
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what status the A21 upgrade has under the South East England Regional Assembly's recommendations on regional priorities; and if he will make a statement. [62575]
Dr. Ladyman:
We are currently considering the South East region's advice on their priorities for major transport schemes including improvement schemes on the A21. We are planning to announce our response to
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the region's advice later this year. The advice can be viewed at: http://www.southeast-ra.gov.uk/our-work/advocacy/rfa.html
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from the Highways Agency on public consultations on the proposed A21 upgrade between Flimwell and Robertsbridge. [62577]
Dr. Ladyman: I wrote to the hon. Member on 27 January 2006. Attached to that letter was a summary from the Highways Agency, of the main proposals from those attending the A21 Flimwell to Hurst Green interest group 'surgery' which was held on 7 December 2005.
The Highways Agency will continue to meet and have discussions with individuals, key stakeholders and local interest groups, as requested.
Aerotoxic Syndrome
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the Porton Down report on engine oil and Aerotoxic Syndrome affecting pilots during flight. [59354]
Derek Twigg: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has two research reports from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down on the subject of engine oil contamination of cabin air. These are:
The toxicity of aircraft lubricant pyrolysis products related to Cabin Air Quality Incidents", by J Jenner, B Jugg, J Scawin, NOsmond and P Rice, dated December 2001, and,
These reports contributed to the CAA paper 2004/04 Cabin Air Quality" which was published on the CAA's website in 2004. I am informed by the CAA that the technical content of these two reports appears in its entirety in the CAA's paper. The CAA, which has copyright, has no plans to publish these reports separately.
In addition to these two research reports the CAA has a review document:
A Review of Three Reports on the Toxicology of Aviation Lubricant Constituents", by J Jenner, B Jugg and J Scawin, dated May 2002"
I am informed by the CAA that this paper is a critique of other scientific work, and was prepared for CAA internal use only. The CAA has no plans to publish this paper and the Department does not have a copy of it.
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