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23 May 2006 : Column 1730W—continued
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in the Ribble Valley have been taught at home in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [73208]
Jim Knight: Parents may exercise their right to educate their children at home on a temporary or permanent basis. We do not collect information about the numbers of children whose parents provide education at home, and it would be impractical to do so given the transient nature of some of this type of provision.
Constitutional Affairs
Access to Justice
Anne Milton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to improve access to justice for those who (a) are not eligible for legal aid and (b) are unable to find a solicitor who will take on their case via legal aid. [71567]
Vera Baird: The information is as follows: (a) Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) enable solicitors to undertake cases on the basis that they will only charge their fee in the event of success and nothing in the event of failure. The Government have extended the use of CFAs so that they are now available for all civil proceedings, except family proceedings. We recently completed a major simplification of the regulation of CFAs to make the process easier for consumers to understand. In January this year the Government launched a straightforward guide for consumers to help them to get the information they need to make an informed choice about the most appropriate legal adviser for them. My Department is working closely with Community Legal Service Direct to develop this guidance further to ensure that those consumers that are not eligible for legal aid have the confidence to shop effectively for their legal services. The Government's proposals for legal service reform will also improve access to justice by promoting competition within the legal profession and building consumer confidence in the sector.
(b) The Legal Services Commission (LSC) continues to work with suppliers to fill potential gaps where possible through outreach services and telephone advice. The LSC consulted last year on its strategy for
the Community Legal Service (CLS), Making Legal Rights a Reality. The Commission's final strategy for the CLS was launched on 23 March 2006. One of the proposals is the development of Community Legal Advice Networks which will be particularly beneficial in less densely populated and larger geographical areas, as they will operate to ensure that services are joined up so as to provide a wider range of services to the client than previously available. Clients can find a local legal adviser through the Community Legal Service (CLS) Direct telephone helpline. Their telephone number is: 0845 345 4345 or alternatively their website is www.clsdirect.org.uk
Advertising
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent on advertising by her Department in each of the last three years. [70513]
Vera Baird: Since its inception in June 2003, my Department, the Department for Constitutional Affairs has conducted the following advertising on:
A regional poster campaign on buses to promote recruitment to the lay magistracy
A national campaign to promote recruitment to the lay magistracy
Radio and press adverts to target court fine defaulters (under the title Operation Payback)
Press adverts to promote voting fraud prevention
Lord Carter's Review of Legal Aid Procurement
| Project | Expenditure on advertising (£) | |
Departmental Consultations
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many public consultations her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was (a) in total and (b) of each consultation. [70511]
Vera Baird: During the calendar year 2005, the Department for Constitutional Affairs undertook 16 formal public consultations in order to inform the department's policy development. Information on the cost of all consultations could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Credit Cards
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what facility is
available for senior civil servants in her Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department. [70516]
Bridget Prentice: The Department for Constitutional Affairs has adopted the OGCbuying.solutions National Framework for the Government Procurement Card (GPC) and Government Fuel Card (GFC) facilities in line with best practice. These are available to identified staff in the Department including senior civil servants.
Unlike a consumer credit card, which offers consumers extended credit facilities, both GPC and Fuel Cards were introduced to consolidate high-occurrence small value purchases, with Procurement Card invoices to be settled in full at the end of each billing period.
There are no other credit cards supplied by the Department for use by staff.
Departmental Estate
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what (a) land and (b) property her Department (i) leases and (ii) leased in (A) 1979, (B) 1983, (C) 1987, (D) 1992 and (E) 1997 in (1) the Southend West constituency, (2) Essex, (3) Hertfordshire and (4) the Metropolitan Police area of London. [72110]
Vera Baird: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information Technology
Chris Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside her Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in her Department; and what IT (a) expertise and (b) qualifications they possess. [71804]
Bridget Prentice: For my Department, the expenditure on IT systems since 2001 is contained within three main areas; Crown and county courts, magistrates courts and headquarters. These three areas which are sourced from outside the Department, are covered by separate contracts: LOCCS, ARAMIS and the LIBRA contracts.
The total IT spend under these contracts over the last five years is as follows:
| £ million | |
The Chief Information Officer, Annette Vernon CBE, advises the Permanent secretary on IT matters for the Department. She has more than 20 years experience in public sector IT based change. She has successfully delivered important and award-winning projects such as LINK (supplying infrastructure to the
courts), XHIBIT (exchanging Hearing Information By Internet Technology), and MCOL (Money Claim OnLine). She has formal qualifications in programme and project management.
Legal Aid
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total cost of legal aid for supporting prisoners appealing parole board decisions was in each of the last five years. [69743]
Vera Baird [pursuant to the reply, 18 May 2006, Official Report c. 1185W]: The figures in my answer of 18 May related to the cost of legal aid only for parole board hearings. They did not include the costs of judicial reviews of parole board hearings.
The Legal Services Commission is not able to readily provide specifically the cost of legal aid for supporting prisoners seeking judicial reviews of parole board decisions as judicial reviews are not centrally recorded to that level of specification.
Ministerial Travel (Accommodation)
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for Ministers of State in her Department on foreign visits in each of the last three years. [69023]
Vera Baird: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year, this information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Library.
I am unable to provide the requested information for Minister of State without incurring disproportionate costs.
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) on how many occasions Ministers of State in her Department stayed overnight in (a) five-star, (b) four-star and (c) three-star hotels on foreign visits in each of the last three years; [69024]
(2) on how many occasions (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in her Department have stayed overnight in (i) five-star, (ii) four-star and (iii) three-star hotels in each of the last three years. [69025]
Vera Baird: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year, this information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Library.
I am unable to provide the requested information for Minister of State, special advisors or civil servants without incurring disproportionate costs.
Postal Voting Fraud
Mr. Evans: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many incidents of postal vote fraud were recorded in the Limehouse ward of Tower Hamlets on 4 May. [70530]
Bridget Prentice: The Government are aware that a number of allegations have been made concerning the conduct of the May 2006 local elections in the Limehouse ward of Tower Hamlets.
The Government are also aware that these allegations are the subject of an ongoing police investigation, and that any comment on these particular allegations cannot be made until the investigation has reached a conclusion.
Staff Surveys
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many staff surveys have been conducted in her Department in each of the last three years. [70515]
Vera Baird: My Department has an established policy of surveying staff satisfaction. Such surveys are by questionnaire, which are sent to all staff on an annual basis. However, 2004-05 was a transitional year leading up to the DCA’s merger with the 42 magistrates courts committees in April 2005 and no survey took place that year.
In the last three years, two surveys have been conducted: one in 2003-04 one in 2005-06.
Health
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were performed on pregnancies of 18 weeks or more gestation in England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available; what the (a) age of mother, (b) residency of mother, (c) grounds for abortion, (d) marital status of mother, (e) number of previous children and (f) number of previous abortions were in each case; and how many and what percentage of those abortions were performed in the (i) public and (ii) private sector. [70882]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
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