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24 July 2006 : Column 940W—continued


Information Commissioner

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she plans to make an announcement on the budget for the Information Commissioner's Office. [88294]

Ms Harman: I have no plans to make an announcement on the budget for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The Commissioner's budget is derived from two sources. His data protection work is funded by notification fees payable under the Data Protection Act 1998. His freedom of information work is funded by grant in aid. On 18 April 2006, Baroness Ashton announced to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee that an additional £550,000 in funding would be provided to the ICO. This means that the total grant in aid for the ICO for 2006-07 is £5,550,000.

Legal Aid

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Consitutional Affairs how much in legal aid has been provided to Mr. Nabeel Sami Fathallah; and if she will make a statement.[67393]

Vera Baird: I am not able to disclose this information. The Department can only disclose legal aid details where individuals have received legal aid in connection with litigation, and where that litigation has ceased.

Magistrates

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many magistrates there are in courts in each London borough, broken down by (a) age, (b) ethnicity and (c) sex. [87713]

Ms Harman: Magistrates are assigned to 28 Local Justice Areas in London. The following table provides a breakdown of the average age, ethnicity and gender of magistrates for each area, as of 20 July 2006.

Ethnicity Gender
Local justice area Total Average age White BME Unknown Female Male

Barking and Dagenham

88

56

71

17

(1)

42

46

Barnet

111

57

93

17

(1)

69

42

Bexley

105

57

93

10

(1)

49

56

Brent

142

57

98

44

(1)

82

60

Bromley

110

57

100

9

(1)

53

57

Camden and Islington

79

56

63

14

(1)

46

33

City of London

136

55

111

25

(1)

75

61

City of Westminster

108

56

90

18

(1)

63

45

Croydon

175

55

143

31

(1)

83

92

Ealing

133

55

95

37

(1)

72

61

Enfield

111

55

85

25

(1)

56

55

Greenwich and Lewisham

71

56

55

14

(1)

45

26

Hackney and Tower Hamlets

62

54

47

15

(1)

30

32

Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea

56

54

43

10

(1)

33

23

Haringey

158

57

135

22

(1)

93

65

Harrow Gore

96

57

76

19

(1)

52

44

Havering

87

57

80

6

(1)

35

52

Hillingdon

115

57

92

20

(1)

57

58

Hounslow

141

55

92

43

6

60

81

Kingston-Upon-Thames

84

56

77

(1)

(1)

49

35

Lambeth and Southwark

72

55

60

11

(1)

44

28

Merton

101

55

88

12

(1)

60

41

Newham

112

54

70

41

(1)

52

60

Redbridge

112

54

80

32

(1)

62

50

Richmond-Upon-Thames

85

58

82

(1)

(1)

49

36

Sutton

91

58

84

5

(1)

41

50

Waltham Forest

106

55

74

32

(1)

48

58

Wandsworth

65

56

49

10

6

38

27

Grand total

2,912

56

2,326

546

40

1,538

1,374

(1) Figures less than five are not quoted following established government statistics guidelines for protecting the confidentiality of data subjects.

24 July 2006 : Column 941W

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to encourage magistrates from ethnic minority backgrounds; and if she will make a statement. [87717]

Ms Harman: We have put in place a range of measures to attract magistrates from ethnic minority backgrounds including:

Progress has been made in increasing diversity among magistrates.


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