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11 Dec 2006 : Column 787W—continued
HM Land Registry does not hold such information centrally and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Website
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs why the web page of the Office of Public Sector Information relating to UK statutory instruments which apply exclusively or primarily to Northern Ireland has not been updated since 24 April 2006. [108267]
Vera Baird:
The interim navigation page for Acts of the UK Parliament and UK statutory instruments which apply exclusively or primarily to Northern Ireland (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/northernireland/ni-actsi.htm) is generally updated annually with the addition of a new year. It was updated on 24 April to reflect general changes made to the website otherwise it would not be due for updating until the first title is published during 2007. Northern Ireland
statutory instruments for the current year are listed on the page UK statutory instruments which apply exclusively or primarily to Northern Ireland for 2006 (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/northernireland/ni-si06.htm). This page was last updated on 21 November 2006.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs why the web page of the Office of Public Sector Information on 2005 statutory instruments relating exclusively or primarily to Northern Ireland has not been working; and if she will make a statement. [108268]
Vera Baird: The supplementary menu page on the OPSI website for UK statutory instruments which apply exclusively or primarily to Northern Irelandfor 2005 (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/northernireland/ni-si05.htm) contained some broken links. These have now been corrected. No other pages were affected. Despite this, all the statutory instruments listed on this page were available to the public through the main statutory instrument navigation scheme, links from external websites, via the site’s search facility and directly through deep linking from external search engines. These would be the main route used by most users of the website so few users would have been inconvenienced by the fault. On average the page concerned is being viewed less than four times per day.
DHL
Anne Milton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much her Department paid to DHL in each financial year between 1997-98 and 2005-06. [104178]
Ms Harman: Details of how much the Department has paid to DHL International (UK) Ltd. and DHL Express (UK) Ltd. in each financial year between 1997-98 and 2005-06 is tabled as follows.
| DHL International (UK) Ltd. | |
| Period | Amount (£) |
| DHL Express (UK) Ltd. | |
| Period | Amount (£) |
Information on previous years is not available.
Family Courts
Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her Department is considering proposals to give magistrates (a) the authority and (b) the training to deal directly with children within the family courts system; and if she will make a statement. [108456]
Ms Harman: Magistrates are already able to deal with children directly under Part 21(3)(e) of the Family Proceedings Court (Children Act 1989) Rules 1991. There is an onus on the court under section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 to ascertain the child’s wishes considered in light of age and understanding, in cases where a children’s guardian was appointed to act on behalf of the child or a Children and Family Reporter was requested to supply a report dealing with the child’s wishes.
It is not possible to indicate what training may be required in advance of any legislative change.
The Separate Representation of Children consultation paper published on 1 September 2006 proposes a cultural change that will achieve a more child-centred family justice system. The consultation asks whether judges (including magistrates) should speak to children as a matter of course. The consultation is now closed and the findings of the consultation paper will be published in the new year.
Separately, the “Review of the Child Care Proceedings System, in England and Wales”, published in May 2006, recommended that the judiciary should be encouraged to address families directly during care proceedings, avoiding legal jargon. This is beingtaken forward by the judiciary together with other recommendations from this review. However, consideration will be given to how judicial training and best practice guidance can support this.
Inquests: Deaths in Service Overseas
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the projected timescale is for conducting the outstanding inquests for deaths of service men and women in Iraq which occurred before 16 May; what arrangements have been made for inquests into those deaths which occurred on or after 16 May; and if she will make a statement. [105689]
Patrick Mercer:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many
military deaths from (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan remain to be dealt with by the Oxfordshire Coroners Court. [108171]
Ms Harman: I will be making a written ministerial statement shortly to update the House of progress in the Oxfordshire Coroner’s jurisdiction.
Magistrates Courts
Jenny Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent on (a) maintaining and (b) refurbishing (i) Barry, (ii) Rhondda and (iii) Aberdare magistrates courts in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [106267]
Ms Harman: The amount spent on maintenance at the courthouses in the previous five years is as follows:
| £ | |||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
Available figures for the amount spent on refurbishment at the courthouses is as follows:
| £ | |||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
The refurbishment at Aberdare includes money spent on amalgamating the magistrates and county courts into one building.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what proportion of court cases in South Wales were heard in each magistrates court in South Wales in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [106369]
Ms Harman: There are 10 magistrates courthouses in the South Wales area, which hear a variety of criminal and family cases. The following table shows the total number of cases each year and the percentage of each court of the total over the entire period.
| Number of cases in: | ||||||
| Court | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | Average case load per year | Case load over entire period | Percentage of case load for South Wales |
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many parliamentary written questions her Department received in each parliamentary session since 2001; and how many of these questions (a) were not answered because of disproportionate cost, (b) were not answered, (c) received answers referring back to a previous answer(i) asked by the hon. Member and (ii) asked by another hon. Member and (d) were grouped together for answer. [107476]
Vera Baird: This is a matter for public record and can be found in the Official Report.
Duchy of Lancaster
Departmental Costs
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on websites within the Cabinet Office’s responsibility in each year since 1997-98. [102705]
Mr. McFadden: Annual costs (including VAT) are shown in the following table. The figures include the costs for all Cabinet Office departments, including Executive agencies.
| Financial year | Cabinet Office cost (£) | Directgov cost (£ million) |
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