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15 Jan 2007 : Column 784W—continued
Racially Aggravated Offences
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were charged with racially aggravated offences in each English region in each of the last five years. [109040]
Mr. Coaker: The requested data are not collected centrally. Prosecutions for racially aggravated offences by local area have been included in successive annual releases of the Section 95 publication ‘Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System’, which are available on the Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/section951.html
Rape
Lynda Waltho:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of how the effectiveness of written warnings to young
offenders in combating rape; in what circumstances young offenders who have committed (a) rape and (b) sexual assault may be issued with written warnings; and what assessment has been made of the views of victims of those crimes of the use of written warnings. [112738]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The decision to give a warning for a rape or sexual offence is dependent on the facts of each case and, since three April 2006, will be made by a specialist rape prosecutor and referred to a second specialist prosecutor for a second opinion before a warning is delivered. The prosecutor will have access to the full facts of the case, something that is rarely in the public domain.
In general warnings are not appropriate for a rape or other serious sexual offence. But the police and CPS must have the flexibility to act in the best interests of the victim in exceptional situations. When deciding whether to issue a warning the views of the victim will be taken into account.
Translation Costs
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of translating departmental publications into languages other than English was in 2005-06. [110205]
Mr. Byrne: The cost for translating Home Office publications into languages other than English between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 was £148,582.18.
Prime Minister
Agricultural Sector
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of brigading Government responsibilities for the agricultural industry and the environment within one Department; and if he will move responsibility for the agricultural sector to the Department of Trade and Industry. [114782]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 21 February 2005, Official Report, column 192W.
Annual Reports
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects the Annual Reports for 2005 of (a) the Interception of Communications Commissioner and (b) the Intelligence Service Commissioners to be published. [114029]
The Prime Minister: The reports will be published in due course.
Correspondence
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Prime Minister how many letters to his Department sent from hon. Members during Session 2005-06 remain unanswered, broken down by those which are (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) over six months old. [114618]
The Prime Minister: I received over 2,070,000 items of post during the 2005-06 parliamentary session, including a number of campaign cards and letters, and over 14,200 letters from Members of Parliament: these included invitations and requests about constituency matters, which were dealt with as appropriate.
My Office deals with all correspondence as efficiently as possible. Information regarding the dates on which individual pieces of correspondence were answered is not held in the format requested.
Donated Asset Reserve
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Prime Minister where the register of items held by his Office which belong to the Donated Asset Reserve is (a) held and (b) maintained. [115670]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. member to the answer I gave him on 27 November 2006, Official Report, column 330W.
Downing Street Staff
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister what the job titles are of each staff member employed at public expense at No. 10 Downing street. [113962]
The Prime Minister: Details of key officials in my Office can be found in “Vacher's Quarterly” and “Dod's Civil Service Companion”. Copies of each can be found in the Libraries of the House. Details can also be found on the No. 10 website.
Engagements
Mr. Galloway: To ask the Prime Minister on what dates he has made official visits to the London boroughs of (a) Tower Hamlets, (b) Newham and (c) Waltham Forest in each year since 1997. [115747]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) on 9 October 2006, Official Report, column 4W.
EU Constitution
Mr. Brady: To ask the Prime Minister if he will appoint an adviser to take part in talks on the EU constitution and on agreeing a new political declaration of the EU’s purpose, as requested by the Chancellor of Germany. [115134]
The Prime Minister: At the request of the German presidency, we have appointed two senior officials to liaise with the presidency in their consultations in preparation for the Political Declaration and over possible ways to take the constitutional process forward. These are currently Mr. Kim Darroch (my EU adviser and head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat) and Ms Nicola Brewer (Europe director general in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office).
Honours
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister for which jobs people are given honours automatically by convention; and if he will make a statement. [114230]
The Prime Minister: Since the 1993 review of honours by the then Prime Minister (John Major) there has been no assumption that honours will automatically be attached to particular posts in either the public or the private sectors, with the exception of High Court judicial appointments.
Iraq
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Prime Minister which officials from his Office were seconded to the political party of former Prime Minister Alawi in the period leading up to the most recent elections in Iraq. [113104]
Miami Trip Costs
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) hospitality for the staff who accompanied him to his recent trip to Miami. [113969]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the Register of Members Interests. As was the practice under previous Administrations, I was accompanied by essential communications and security staff.
Ministerial Residences
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister what residences have been made available to Ministers in the course of their duties; where each is; what the council tax banding of each is; and to which Minister each residence is allocated. [113972]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 23 October 2006, Official Report, column 1625W.
In addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has been allocated 1 Carlton Gardens. The flats in Downing street, Admiralty house and the Carlton gardens residence are in council tax Band H. Council tax for Chequers, Chevening and Dorneywood is a matter for the trustees.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent on each residence made available to a Minister on (a) council tax, (b) rent, (c) repairs and maintenance, (d) redecoration and (e) other running costs in 2005-06. [113973]
The Prime Minister:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1808W. I pay my own council tax on
my official residence. Expenditure on other official residences is a matter for the relevant Minister’s Department.
Parliamentary Questions
Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister how many parliamentary questions were tabled to his Office in 2006, broken down by (a) ordinary written and (b) named day; what percentage of ordinary written questions were answered within 10 working days; and what percentage of named day questions were answered by the specific date. [115328]
The Prime Minister: My Office aims to answer all ordinary written parliamentary questions within five working days, and named day written parliamentary questions on the day named.
In the period from January 2006 to December 2006, 479 ordinary written and 156 named day parliamentary questions were tabled to my Office. Of these, 98 per cent. of ordinary written parliamentary questions were answered within 10 working days and 99 per cent. of named day questions were answered on the day named.
Policy Review
Mrs. May: To ask the Prime Minister which Cabinet committees are involved in the Prime Minister's policy review. [113075]
Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what the terms of reference are of the Policy Review Working Groups on (a) Great Britain and the world and (b) the role of the state. [114874]
The Prime Minister: I refer the right hon. Member to the press briefing given by my official spokesman on 19 October 2006. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website (http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Pagel0244.asp) and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Details of the Policy Review Working Groups and related Cabinet Committee business are also available on the Cabinet Office website (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/secretariats/economic_and_domestic/policy_review/index.asp).
Mrs. May: To ask the Prime Minister how many staff in (a) No. 10 Downing street and (b) the Cabinet Office are involved in work on the Prime Minister's policy review. [113092]
The Prime Minister: The policy review is a high priority for the whole of Government, including Cabinet Office and No. 10, and staff are involved as and when appropriate.
Russia
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with his Russian counterpart on UK trade. [115363]
The Prime Minister: I have not had any recent discussions on UK trade with President Putin.
Special Advisers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister whether special advisers in No. 10 Downing street have made use of an official car in the last 12 months, excluding travel, when accompanying a Minister. [114095]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Transport on 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 1063W.
WMD Review
Harry Cohen: To ask the Prime Minister who the (a) sources and (b) alleged sub-source were on the sourcing chain referred to in paragraph 405 of the Review of Intelligence of Weapons of Mass Destruction; if he will place in the Library the two reports received from that sourcing chain; and if he will make a statement. [115507]
The Prime Minister: It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence matters. Lord Butler’s Review placed all relevant information on this topic in the public domain insofar as that could be done without prejudicing national security. I have nothing further to add.
Electoral Commission Committee
5th Avenue Partners Ltd.
Mr. Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission if the Electoral Commission will re-commence its investigation into the admissibility of 5th Avenue Partners Ltd.’s donations following the conviction of Mr. Michael Brown. [113956]
Peter Viggers: The Commission informs me that it continues to liaise with the City of London Police, whose investigation into the activities and status of 5th Avenue Partners Ltd. is ongoing, and it will consider carefully any information that has a bearing on the permissibility of donations made by the company.
Advertising
Mr. Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how much the Electoral Commission spent on advertising with The Guardian newspaper (including online) in the last year for which figures are available. [113958]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that in the financial year 2005-06 it spent £44,437 on advertising in The Guardian newspaper.
Political Party Expenditure
Mr. Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what research the Electoral Commission undertook into political party expenditure in the last three Parliaments. [113959]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me it has included analysis of campaign spending by political parties in its statutory reports on elections since 2001.
In addition, its report, “The Funding of Political Parties”, published in 2004, examined the expenditure of the main political parties that won seats at the 2001 United Kingdom parliamentary general election based on their 2002 and 2003 statements of accounts.
These reports are available on the Commission’s website, along with the statements of accounts submitted by the political parties to the Commission.
Mr. Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what research the Electoral Commission has undertaken into the total current level of direct and indirect state funding to political parties in (a) cash and (b) non-cash terms. [113960]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that its 2004 report “The Funding of Political Parties”, and the related background paper published by the Commission in 2003, examined methods and levels of public funding of political parties in the United Kingdom, including both direct and indirect sources. The report and the background paper are available on the Commission’s website.
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