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South West Trains
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account was taken of plans for future housing and infrastructure in the formulation of the new South West Trains franchise; and if he will make a statement. [78365]
Derek Twigg: The specification for the new South Western franchise has been developed to build upon the current franchise operation. The future levels of forecast demand have been based on standard rail industry modelling assumptions.
A new and improved service will operate between Salisbury and Romsey via Southampton Central and Southampton Airport Parkway, replacing the Romsey-Totton service via Eastleigh. The new service will create a regular half-hourly Salisbury-Southampton service, create new travel opportunities between Salisbury and Southampton airport, and allow stops to be made at Dunbridge and Dean.
In addition, services in South Hampshire and Dorset have been enhanced to provide a second train each hour through to Weymouth from London, and cross-Bournemouth services to be improved. It is also proposed that an hourly semi-fast Southampton-Brighton service be introduced to connect these major urban areas.
Franchise replacements are not vehicles for significant infrastructure investment. However, they do need to consider infrastructure schemes that have committed funds to enable their delivery, and the South Western franchise process has adhered to this approach.
Vandalism
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of vandalism were reported to the British Transport Police in the last 12 months, broken down by (a) Government office region and (b) constituency. [77784]
Derek Twigg: The British Transport Police do not record vandalism offences by either Government office region or constituency and therefore this data can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Constitutional Affairs
Coroners (Northern Ireland)
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) coroners and (b) deputy coroners there have been in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [80058]
Ms Harman: The number of coroners and deputy coroners in Northern Ireland since 1997 is set out in the following table:
| Presiding judge | Full-time coroners | Part-time coroners | Deputy coroners | |
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the (a) legal background and (b) practitioner experience is of each (i) coroner in Northern Ireland, (ii) deputy coroner who served between 1997 and 2006 and (iii) newly appointed (A) coroner and (B) deputy coroner. [80059]
Ms Harman: With the exception of one part-time coroner who was a barrister, all coroners and deputy coroners who served between 1997 and 2006 were solicitors. Of the two full-time coroners appointed in April 2006, one was a barrister and the other was a solicitor. In addition a High Court judge was appointed to the office of coroner in May 2006 to be the presiding judge for the Coroners Service.
With effect from 15 October 2002 in order to be eligible for appointment to the position of coroner or deputy coroner in Northern Ireland a person must be a barrister or a solicitor of at least five years standing.
The professional standing of coroners appointed since 15 October 2002 is as follows:
| Date appointed | Barrister/solicitor | Number of years standing |
Prior to 15 October 2002 eligibility for appointment as a coroner or deputy coroner in Northern Ireland was based on having practised for not less then five years as a barrister or solicitor. Details of the number of years in practice of individual coroners appointed prior to 15 October 2002 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Court Service (Suffolk)
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the recent performance of the Court Service in Suffolk. [79392]
Ms Harman: Figures are provided to cover performance against key targets over financial year 2005-06 compared with the previous year. The information is as follows:
2005-06 Crown—4 per cent. Improved from 10 per cent. last year. Target 15 per cent.
2005-06 Magistrates—12 per cent. Improved from 15 per cent. last year. Target 16 per cent.
2005-06—84 per cent. of cases dealt with within target (Trials 16 weeks, Section 51 26 weeks, Committals for Sentence 10 weeks, Appeals 14 weeks). Up from 81 per cent. last year. Target 78 per cent.
Persistent Young Offenders (Magistrates Court)
2005-06—37 days arrest to sentence. Down from 25 days last year. Target 71 days or less.
Payment rate (Magistrates Courts)
2005-06—109 per cent. Up from 102 per cent. last year. Target 89 per cent.
Percentage cases completed within 40 weeks.
2005-06 County Court—64 per cent. Up from 61 per cent. last year. Target 70 per cent.
2005-06 Magistrates—73 per cent. Down from 77 per cent. last year. Target 70 per cent.
2005-06—90 per cent. of cases dealt with within 15 weeks. Up from 73 per cent. last year. Target 80.5 per cent.
2005-06—79 per cent. of cases dealt with within 30 weeks. Down from 91 per cent. last year. Target 78 per cent.
2005-06—100 per cent. of cases dealt with within 50 weeks as last year. Target 78 per cent.
Community Penalty Breach Warrants
Percentage of proceedings resolved within 25 days.
2005-06—72 per cent. Up from 41 per cent. last year. Target 50 per cent.
Departmental Pensions
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will estimate the pension liability of her Department over the next 30 years. [75279]
Bridget Prentice: The Member is referred to a technical Note by HM Treasury which was placed in the Library of the House on 2 March 2006, O fficial Report, columns 388-90, following an oral statement in Parliament by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Pension liabilities are not estimated for individual departments, they are estimated for individual pension schemes, as shown in the breakdown of liabilities per pension scheme given in Table 1 of the technical Note.
Dr. David Kelly
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2006, Official Report, columns 1255-67W, on Dr. David Kelly, what discussions took place between (a) the coroner, (b) the deputy coroner, (c) the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire and (d) anyone else responsible to the Oxfordshire coroner and (i) her Department and (ii) Lord Hutton before the local registrar’s decision to issue a certified copy of entry in the register of deaths for Dr. David Kelly. [81212]
Ms Harman: Dr. Kelly’s death was registered on 18 August 2003 following the adjournment of the inquest at the request of the Lord Chancellor under Section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988. My officials met the coroner on 11 August 2003. At the outset of Lord Hutton’s inquiry the coroner was in contact with the inquiry secretariat to explore the boundaries of their respective jurisdictions and to provide the inquiry with information relating to Dr. Kelly’s death. No other discussions took place between the coroner, the deputy coroner, the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire and anyone else responsible to the Oxfordshire coroner and either my Department or Lord Hutton.
Electoral Fraud
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many incidents of (a) postal vote fraud and (b) other electoral fraud there were in (i) European elections, (ii) parliamentary elections and (ii) local elections in each of the last 30 years. [79077]
Bridget Prentice: Information in this detail is not collected centrally. However, I refer my hon. Friend to the previous answer on 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 181W, for information on electoral fraud convictions. Since then, I am aware that in Halton, in May 2006 a former Labour councillor was convicted and fined for electoral fraud offences relating to the local and European parliamentary elections in 2004.
Judges (Part-time)
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2006, Official Report, columns 151-52W, on judges (part-time), if she will maintain and publish a central list of part-time judges. [79756]
Ms Harman: Following the implementation of the Constitutional Reform Act in April 2006, the Judicial Communications Office, in supporting the Lord Chief Justice, has taken over responsibility for maintaining and publishing lists of the judiciary from my Department. On the Judicial website, there are currently lists of full-time judiciary down to and including circuit judges (www.judiciary.gov.uk). I understand that they are considering what further information can be included and whether in due course these lists can be extended to include all salaried or fee-paid holders of judicial office.
Magistrates
David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total funding allocated for the training of magistrates was in each of the last eight years. [79956]
Ms Harman: The management information currently available within DCA and HM Courts Service is not able to easily extract the data for the periods requested. Therefore, this information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. With the inception of HMCS last year, consistent systems and processes to merge magistrate courts are being established to ensure that the data is easily captured and will be available for the future period.
MMR Vaccine
Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much legal aid has been spent on (a) solicitors’, (b) barristers’ and (c) experts’ fees in respect of the MMR vaccine litigation cases in which all proceedings are complete; which firms of solicitors, barristers and experts have received payments for these cases; and how much has been paid to each firm. [73868]
Vera Baird: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is still awaiting confirmation of the outcome of the final detailed assessment by the court. Once this has been completed, and the LSC has settled the claims, I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which barrister was paid (a) £463,782, (b) £445,601 and (c) £424,659 in legal aid fees in the MMR vaccine litigation, as referred to in the answers to House of Lords questions HL 3418 and HL 3419; what hourly rate was paid to each barrister; and whether these payments represent risk rates paid because the service providers would be unlikely to profit from a case which was not successful. [74076]
Vera Baird: Final assessment for the advocates involved with this litigation have yet to be made by the courts. I will therefore write to the hon. Member with the information requested, when the final payments have been settled.
Personal Protection (Judiciary)
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent on providing personal protection to members of the judiciary in each year since 1997. [81001]
Ms Harman: It is the policy of this Department not to disclose details or the cost of security provided to individuals as to do so may compromise their security.
Post-mortem Reports
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the recommended time is within which a family should be sent a copy of a post-mortem report; and in how many cases such reports were written and sent (a) within the recommended time and (b) after the recommended time in the most recent period for which figures are available. [79829]
Ms Harman: There is no recommended time within which a family should be sent a copy of a coroner’s post-mortem report, although good practice recommends that a copy should be sent on request to the immediate next of kin in advance of the inquest. There are accordingly no central records kept relating to the post-mortem reports sent by coroners.
Private Members' Bills
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what Private Members’ Bills were drafted by her Department in each Session since 1997; and which of those received Royal Assent. [77509]
Vera Baird: Members will consider a range of possible subjects before introducing their Private Members’ Bills.
Government draftsmen do draft some Bills in advance which are available as one of the options for Members to consider before they make their selection.
However, Members may make subsequent amendments or revisions to a Government drafted Bill, or use it as the basis for a Private Members’ Bill in the future.
The information requested is therefore not collected.
Queens's Counsel (Northern Ireland)
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many Queen’s Counsel have been appointed to the Bar in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997; what the community background was of the appointees; and whether there were any declared family relationships between members of the appointing panel and any of the appointees. [80064]
Bridget Prentice: Queen’s Counsel have been appointed in Northern Ireland since 1997 as follows:
| Number of Queen’s Counsel appointed | |
Prior to the 2006 Silk round the community background on appointees was not recorded.
Of the 16 Queen’s Counsel appointed this year, seven are Protestant, six are Roman Catholic, and three did not indicate their community background.
During the recent selection process one member of the panel absented himself from the panel’s deliberations in respect of one applicant who was his daughter-in-law.
Special Advisers
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what role is played by special advisers in answering parliamentary questions asked of her Department. [80645]
Bridget Prentice: Special advisers conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the ‘Code of Conduct for Special Advisers’.
Culture, Media and Sport
European Sports Review
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she is making in implementing the recommendations of the Independent European Sports Review. [81004]
Mr. Caborn: The first step following publication of the Review is for all interested parties to consider its recommendations very carefully before deciding whether these should be implemented and, if so, how.
My officials and legal advisers are consulting with other Government Departments, the football authorities and other interested sporting bodies. I intend to respond formally to the review in September.
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