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5 Jun 2006 : Column 237W—continued
Venezualan Discounted Oil
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will make a statement on the President of Venezuala's offer of subsidised oil for London; [73645]
(2) what account he has taken of the offer from the President of Venezuela to supply London with oil at a discount in the Government's review of energy policy; and if he will make a statement. [73648]
Malcolm Wicks: If Venezuela wishes to supply oil or oil products at discounted rates to the UK that is a commercial decision for Venezuela. But we are not presently aware of any firm commitment by the Government of Venezuela to do so. In the absence of this and any specific details I am unable to speculate on the potential implications for UK energy supplies.
Constitutional Affairs
Bullying/Harassment
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 43W, on harassment, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the change in (a) the number of complaints of bullying in the last year and (b) the percentage of complaints of bullying that have been upheld in the last year; what anti-bullying measures were in place in each of the last three years; and what new anti-bullying measures have been introduced following the increase in the number of upheld complaints of bullying in the last year. [65932]
Ms Harman: The information is as follows:
(a) In the last year 21 complaints of bullying were made.
(b) The percentage of those complaints that were upheld was 61 per cent.
(c) Over the last three years the Department for Constitutional Affairs has taken the following anti-bullying measures:
In 2002 the Department for Constitutional Affairs trained all staff in raising awareness of equality and diversity issues.
In 2003 the Department for Constitutional Affairs introduced a policy of zero tolerance of certain sorts of unacceptable behaviour, including bullying and all forms of discriminatory behaviour.
In 2004 Workplace Mediation was introduced across the Department. This offers an informal way to resolve disputes between people who work together, with the assistance of trained mediators.
Coroners' Inquests
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many inquests are open in each coroner's area in England. [70319]
Ms Harman: Data collected as part of coroners' regular annual statistical returns include the number of cases reported to coroners which have proceeded or will proceed to inquest, the number of inquests held, and the outcome of those inquests. Coroners are also asked to report the number of inquests outstanding at the end of the calendar year, but this figure might also include inquests not yet opened.
In order to ascertain the number of inquests currently open it would be necessary for every coroner to submit an extraordinary return, which would involve disproportionate cost.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2006, Official Report, column 1667W, on inquests, how many inquests in Oxfordshire are open; and how many of these were opened in each month from January 2000 to date. [70326]
Ms Harman: This information is not collected centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many staff from her Department attended the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-Ul-Adha event in London in 2005; and what the total cost was to her Department of their attendance. [73004]
Ms Harman: I refer the hon. Member to the letter to him by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Copies of her letter have been placed in the Library.
Electoral Registration
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what checks local electoral registration departments are required to make of individuals' (a) nationality and (b) eligibility to vote when they receive applications to go on the electoral roll from foreign nationals residing in the UK. [74084]
Bridget Prentice: Entitlement to vote in elections in the UK is based in large part on nationality but is not restricted only to those holding British citizenship. In recent years the addition of a “nationality” box in the registration form provides an opportunity for electoral registration officers (EROs), who would otherwise have no reason to know, to determine an individual’s eligibility for inclusion on the basis of their stated nationality. Electoral registers are available for public inspection and anyone who believes that an ineligible person has been included may object and notify the ERO who may then make further inquiries as to the eligibility of that individual. The Electoral Administration Bill, currently under consideration, strengthens the objection process and creates a new offence of supplying false information of any kind to an ERO, or failing to supply information, in connection with registration.
Magistrates Courts
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what her Department's policy is on local provision of magistrates courts. [74144]
Ms Harman: The Government are committed to provide through their Executive Agency, Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS), a modern high quality court service to local communities. This includes mobile court services, and the use of alternative venues for court hearings.
Postal Voting
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of the number of postal votes that did not arrive at the home of the elector in each set of local elections in England since 2000; [70686]
(2) how many postal votes in each set of local elections in England since 2000 were cast fraudulently. [70690]
Bridget Prentice: The Government do not hold this information.
Estimating the number of postal votes that did not arrive at electors' addresses would require every elector with an undelivered postal vote to report this to their local authority, who would in turn have to report a figure to central Government. Estimating how many postal votes were cast fraudulently would require a full knowledge of the nature of every postal vote cast at an election, whether fraudulently or not.
The Government take election fraud seriously, and encourage anyone who did not receive their postal vote to report this to their local authority, and if they believe that a postal vote has been cast fraudulently they should report this to the police.
Separating Couples
Mr. Oaten:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make early
intervention and mediation mandatory for separating couples; and if she will make a statement. [74846]
Ms Harman: The Government believe that family mediation has significant advantages in resolving disputes, particularly in relation to children. The Government are taking forward a number of measures to give the strongest possible encouragement to mediation as an alternative to contested court proceedings. However, for mediation to be successful both parties have to enter into it freely and without constraint, and therefore the Government do not believe mediation should be made compulsory.
Under the provisions of the Children and Adoption Bill the courts will be able to direct people in disputes over contact with children to attend contact activities, which will provide a range of interventions including programmes, counselling and classes to facilitate contact and also meetings to receive information about mediation. The court will be able to direct people to the most appropriate intervention for the dispute concerned.
Special Advisers
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been paid in (a) salary, (b) travelling expenses, (c) subsistence allowances and (d) removal expenses to special advisers in her private office in each of the last five years. [69028]
Bridget Prentice: Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and overall cost of special advisers and the number in each payband. For information relating to the last financial year I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 21 July 2005, Official Report, columns 158-61WS. Information on special advisers for this financial year is currently being collected and will be published in the normal way when it is ready.
All official travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
Travel and subsistence claims by special advisers are extremely rare. During 2005-06, one travel claim of £13 was made by a special adviser in respect of a taxi journey. Examining previous financial records for any similar claims would have to be done manually and this would incur disproportionate costs.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs has not paid any removal expenses to special advisers.
Victims Advocate
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether there are any plans to extend the Victims Advocate pilot schemes for murder and manslaughter cases to other types of cases. [73917]
Ms Harman: No. Decisions will be taken about the future of Victims' Advocates scheme when we have assessed the pilot schemes.
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Victims Advocate pilot schemes for murder and manslaughter cases. [73981]
Ms Harman: The pilot schemes have only started recently so I cannot make an assessment of their effectiveness at this stage. The pilots will be independently evaluated.
Victims of Crime
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether (a) judges and (b) magistrates are required to meet victims of crime as part of their training process. [73974]
Ms Harman: There is no current requirement on either judges or magistrates to meet victims of crime as part of their training. However, they will be aware of local victim support schemes and local magistrates training often provides an opportunity to groups such as Victim Support, to give information and input as part of a general induction process.
Victims of crime must be informed of their option to submit a ‘Victim Personal Statement’ to be read by the judge/magistrates before sentencing. The statement focuses the Court's attention on the effect of the crime upon the victim. Given the number of judges and magistrates that there are nationally, it is quite likely that a number of them, or those personally known to them, have been victims of some form of crime at some point in time.
Cabinet Office
Cabinet Committees
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when a list of members of the Cabinet Committee on Post Offices will be deposited in the Library. [74561]
Hilary Armstrong: My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, placed an updated list of Cabinet Committees, including their membership, in the Library on Thursday 25 May.
Committee on Standards in Public Life
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the expenditure was of the Committee on Standards in Public Life in each financial year since its creation; and what the Committee's budget is for (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [73933]
Hilary Armstrong: Resource expenditure incurred by the Committee on Standards in Public Life since its creation to 2005-06 and forward budget is shown in the table.
| Expenditure (£) | |
| (1) October 1994 to March 1995. (2) This increase in spend reflected the fact that the Committee carried out two parallel inquiries in this particular year. (3) Budget figure. Final outturn figures are not yet available. (4) Budget figure. | |
Cabinet Office budget allocations for 2007-08 have not yet been finalised.
Merseyrail
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether Merseyrail is classed as a Category 2 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. [72943]
Edward Miliband: Merseyrail operates under Section 8 of the Railways Act 1993 and is therefore classed as a Category 2 responder under Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. A list of the types of organisations given Category 1 and 2 status can be found in Schedule 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act.
The roles and responsibilities of Category 1 and 2 responders are described in the Act's supporting guidance “Emergency Preparedness”. Copies of this document are available in the Library.
Private Sector Fund Recipients
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from her Department in each of the last five years. [71785]
Edward Miliband: The 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from the Department in each of the last five years are shown as follows:
Chessington Computer Services
Balfour Beatty Refurbishment
Atos Origin IT Services UK Ltd.
Computacenter (UK) Ltd.
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