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5 Dec 2006 : Column 346W—continued
Franco-British Nuclear Forum
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the first meeting of the Franco-British nuclear forum to take place. [103226]
Mr. Darling: The first meeting of the Franco British Nuclear Forum was on 29 November 2006 in Paris.
Palm Oil: South East Asia
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what volume of palm oil was imported from (a) Indonesia, (b) Brunei and (c) Malaysia in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [107592]
Mr. McCartney: The figures requested are shown in the following table. No palm oil imports from Brunei were recorded.
| UK imports of palm oil and palm kernel oil from Indonesia and Malaysia | ||
| Thousand tonnes | ||
| Indonesia | Malaysia | |
| Source: HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics | ||
Paternity Pay
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many men in Great Britain were entitled to paternity pay in each year since 2003-04; and what estimate he has made of future take-up rates. [104737]
Jim Fitzpatrick: We estimate that around 415,000 fathers are eligible for statutory paternity pay each year.
Evidence suggests take-up is high and we expect this to continue. The Maternity and Paternity Rights and Benefits Survey 2005 found around 80 per cent. of fathers surveyed had used at least some of their statutory entitlement.
Postage Stamps: Charities
Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations his Department has
received from charities on the production of Royal Mail stamps. [107711]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department receives occasional inquiries from individuals or organisations regarding dedicated commemorative or awareness raising stamps for charities.
Stamp designs are an operational matter for which Royal Mail has the direct responsibility and all such inquiries are forwarded to the company for careful consideration under its established selection process.
Royal Mail
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings Ministers in his Department have had in the last 12 months on plans for employee share ownership of the Royal Mail. [103225]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DTI Ministers regularly meet the postal services sector to discuss the issues affecting the sector, including the Royal Mail Board’s proposal for an employee share scheme.
State Aid
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much total state aid was (a) authorised and (b) refused by the European Commission for each member state since May 1997. [107109]
Mr. McCartney: The European Commission has issued since 2001 bi-annual reports on state aid in the State Aid Scoreboard, which provides statistical information on authorised state aid in each member state—available at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/state__aid/scoreboard/
Statistical information on state aid authorised before 2001 is given in the Commission’s Surveys on state aid in the European Union—at:
http://ec.europe.eu/comm/competition/state_aid/scoreboard/previous.html
Wind Power
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the operational capacity factor of each wind power installation in the UK for which his Department has given consent under the Electricity Act 1989. [103228]
Mr. Darling: Industry figures suggest that a modern wind turbine produces electricity 70 to 85 per cent. of the time, but it generates different outputs dependent on wind speed. On average, it will generate about 30 per cent. of the theoretical maximum output over the course of a year.
Written Questions
Alan Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his Answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws), of 27 November 2006,
Official Report, column 385W, on Parliamentary Questions, whether his Department grades or classifies written Parliamentary Questions according to their political sensitivity. [106952]
Mr. Darling [holding answer 4 December 2006]: No.
Constitutional Affairs
Children: Abuse
Mr. Byers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will review the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980 in so far as they apply to victims of child sexual abuse. [104690]
Ms Harman: Under the current law, legal proceedings seeking civil damages for child abuse are usually brought as actions for trespass against the person in relation to intentionally inflicted injuries and as actions for negligence in other cases. The limitation period for trespass against the person is six years from the date on which the cause of action arose, although this period will not start to run until the child reaches the age of majority. In relation to actions for negligently inflicted injuries, the period is three years from the cause of action or from the date of knowledge (if later) of the person injured. The court has discretion to allow certain actions for negligently inflicted personal injuries to be brought even though the limitation period has expired.
In its 2001 report “Limitation of Actions” (Law Com 270), the Law Commission recommended that the general law of limitation should be reformed. Under its proposals, a child abuse claim for trespass against the person or for negligence would have to be brought within three years from the date on which the claimant knew (or ought reasonably to have known) the facts giving rise to the cause of action, the identity of the defendant, and that any injury, loss or damage was significant. As now, time would not run while the claimant was a minor. In addition, the court would have discretion to disapply the limitation period if it would be unjust not to allow the claim to proceed.
In July 2002, the Government announced their acceptance, in principle, of the Commission's recommendations, subject to further consideration of several issues. In relation to child abuse cases, as announced in the Home Office publication “Rebalancing the Criminal Justice System in Favour of the Law Abiding Majority: cutting crime, reducing re-offending and protecting the public” (July 2006), we intend to consult on whether limitation periods are fair to people who have been injured as a result of crime. When the work on the outstanding issues is complete, we will seek an opportunity to introduce a Bill to reform the law.
County Courts: Wandsworth
Justine Greening:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much funding has been allocated to Wandsworth county court for (a) headcount-related costs,
(b) administrative costs and (c) maintenance costs in each of the last five years. [104800]
Ms Harman: Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) was formed on 1 April 2005 by the merger of the Court Service and 42 magistrates Areas. Wandsworth county court was a constituent part of the Court Service.
Following the creation of HMCS the accounting records of the Court Service were archived and accessing them to provide a 5-year history would be disproportionately expensive for the Department. Full records are available since the inception of HMCS and are in the table.
| Wandsworth county court | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | Change (Percentage) |
Court Service
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many cases were handled in each court in England and Wales in each of the last 12 months; and how many (a) convictions and (b) postponed trials there were in each court in this period. [107502]
Ms Harman: Centrally held information is not collected at magistrates court level but at area level and is collected on a quarterly basis.
Figures showing the number of disposals and ineffective trials for each area and Crown court centre have been placed in both libraries of the House. Also provided are the numbers of convictions in each Crown court centre—this information is not held centrally for the lower courts.
Courts: Salisbury
Robert Key: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what her most recent estimate is of the cost of the proposed new Court House in Salisbury. [104769]
Ms Harman: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the response given last week on 29 November 2006, Official Report, column 762W, in which I said that I expect the capital cost of the project to the developer to be approximately £14.5 million. This is the most recent estimate for the proposed new Court House in Salisbury.
Data Protection
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans (a) her Department and (b) the Information Commissioner has to review guidance on the secondary use of personal information held for the collection and administration of council tax. [103912]
Vera Baird: The Department for Constitutional Affairs has no plans to produce any guidance on the secondary use of personal information held for the collection and administration of council tax. The Information Commissioner is reviewing his existing guidance on the use of personal information held for the collection and administration of the council tax. He anticipates that amended guidance will be published by the end of January 2007.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) marketing officers, (b) communications officers and (c) press officers are employed in her Department; and what the total expenditure on communications for her Department was on (i) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (ii) other (A) press officers, (B) special advisers and (C) staff in the last year for which figures are available. [104366]
Vera Baird: The central communications team in DCA HQ includes 16 press officers and seven marketing officers. The Government Communication Network does not identify separate specialisms as communications or promotional officers.
While this team does not hold a centralised budget for communications programmes, it managed expenditure on external communications of around £2,450,000 between August 2005 and July 2006 on behalf of DCA HQ colleagues. It is not yet possible to provide annual figures for 2006-07.
The GICS has been replaced by the GCN.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what procedure is followed in respect of complaints against (a) her Department's (i) Permanent Secretary, (ii) ministerial correspondence unit staff, (iii) staff handling complaints, (iv) other staff and (v) consultants, (b) the Director of Judicial Offices for England and Wales, (c) other staff of the Judicial Offices for England and Wales, (d) the Chief Executive of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, (e) other staff in the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, (f) the Chairman of the Legal Services Commission, (g) Board members of the Legal Services Commission, (h) other staff at the Legal Services Commission, (i) the Chief Executive of HM Courts Service and (j) other staff at HM Courts Service; what the timescale is for dealing with each such complaint; and what the grade should be of the staff dealing with complaints in each case. [104722]
Ms Harman: The information about these procedures is not held centrally. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many temporary employees were contracted to work for her Department in 2005-06; and what the total cost of such employees was in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 1997-98. [106697]
Vera Baird: My Department has contracted with Kelly Services Ltd. for the provision of agency staff since 2001. In 2005-06, the average number of agency staff supplied by Kelly Services Ltd. to my Department was 722.
(a) Expenditure with Kelly Services Ltd. in 2005-06 was £10,465,205.
(b) Prior to 2001, expenditure relating to agency staff was not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information relating to agency staff supplied through employment agencies other than Kelly Services Ltd. is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Family Courts
Helen Goodman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to ensure family courts take better account of children’s interests. [100916]
Ms Harman: We want to improve outcomes for children involved in court cases by ensuring that their wishes and interests are at the heart of the family justice system. The DCA commissioned research from Cardiff university which suggests that children involved in family court proceedings often feel excluded and unheard in the process. Our aim is to ensure that:
Young people in proceedings feel that the information given to them is clear;
They are able to understand what is happening and why;
They are told about the decisions made about them in a way which is in keeping with their age and level of understanding;
They felt that the right choices had been given to them regarding their participation in the proceedings etc. in keeping with their age and understanding; and
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