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Constitutional Affairs

Courts

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost to the public purse resulting from non-attendance at court was in each of the last five years. [115547]

Ms Harman: Non-attendance in a civil court will not generally give rise to a cost to the public purse. The cost of the hearing will have been paid for in advance by the litigants through the fee charging system.

The cost of the “non-attendance” of defendants in criminal prosecutions in the Crown Court for Her Majesty’s Courts Service in 2005-06 is estimated at £5.4 million. Other agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service and the Legal Services Commission will also incur costs as a consequence.

Information prior to 1 April 2005 and information relating to magistrates courts is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost was of (a)
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failed cases and (b) cases where the jury had to be changed in 2005-06. [115664]

Ms Harman: Information in the format requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Engagements

Mr. Galloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs on what dates Ministers in her Department and its predecessors made official visits to the London boroughs of (a) Tower Hamlets, (b) Newham and (c) Waltham Forest in each year since 1997. [115731]

Bridget Prentice: The most recent visit made by a Minister from this Department involved a speech given by the Minister of State in Bethnal Green on 14 September 2005. Information on visits made prior to the 2005 general election is not held centrally and would not be available without the incurring of disproportionate costs.

Judicial Pensions

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost of changes to payments to judicial pensions schemes due to changes in pension taxation in 1997 has been. [115663]

Ms Harman: The estimated cost to the Department of the changes following the non-registration of the judicial pensions scheme for the purposes of the Finance Act 2004 is £9.6 million for 2007-08.

Legal Aid

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the 10 highest awards, by value, of legal aid were in 2005-06. [115548]

Vera Baird: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Fraser: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what changes have been made to the draft unified legal services contract as a result of the consultation on legal aid reform; [115643]

(2) when the payment annex to the new unified contract will be published by the Legal Services Commission. [115749]

Vera Baird: The unified contract will be introduced from April 2007 for all civil, family and immigration providers, including the not-for-profit sector. The LSC published draft new contract documents in October 2006 and is still in discussion with representative bodies about contract terms.

The payment annex will reflect new rates of remuneration to be introduced from October 2007. The new rates have not yet been finalised, but the LSC is expecting to publish the payment annexe in the summer.


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Magistrates Courts

Mr. Beith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether it is Government policy to withdraw facilities for the payment of fines on magistrates court premises. [115487]

Ms Harman: The Government’s objective is to provide a standardised set of payment methods that are both flexible and accessible for all court users, including fine payers. My Department will achieve this through the Modernising Money Handling programme, which is currently reviewing the methods of payment available.

Parliamentary Questions

Mrs. May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) how many written parliamentary questions to her Department in the 2005-06 Session were answered with a referral back to previous answers; [112952]

(2) how many written parliamentary questions to her Department in the 2005-06 session were not answered (a) wholly and (b) in part on disproportionate cost grounds. [112954]

Vera Baird: All parliamentary questions to my Department in the 2005-06 Session received an answer. To break this information down into answers on referral and disproportionate cost grounds would involve officials checking every parliamentary question received during the 2005-06 Session. This in itself would incur disproportionate cost.

Mrs. May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) how many written parliamentary questions to her Department in the 2005-06 session did not receive an answer; [113581]

(2) how many written parliamentary questions to her Department in the 2005-06 session were answered with a reply that it had not been possible to reply before Prorogation. [112953]

Vera Baird: All parliamentary questions to my Department in the 2005-06 Session received an answer. No parliamentary questions were answered with a reply stating that it had not been possible to reply before Prorogation.

Public Appointments

Mr. Pope: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the (a) salary scale and (b) term of appointment are for (i) a local government boundary commissioner for England and (ii) a parliamentary boundary commissioner for England. [116033]

Bridget Prentice: In respect of a parliamentary boundary commissioner for England, these positions are not salaried. Normal commissioners are remunerated at a daily fee rate agreed with the Treasury. The current rate is £475 per day, plus reimbursement of reasonable travel and subsistence incurred on Boundary Commission business. The
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deputy chair receives only reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs. The term of appointment of parliamentary boundary commissioners will vary depending on the circumstances, but any appointment will generally not exceed four years, and consecutive appointments of the same individual will not exceed a total of 10 years’ service on the Commission.

Appointment of local government boundary commissioners in England is a matter for the Electoral Commission.

Mr. Pope: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what percentage of (a) the parliamentary boundary commissioners for England and (b) the local government boundary commissioners for England are qualified lawyers. [116035]

Bridget Prentice: In respect of parliamentary boundary commissioners for England, excluding the ex officio post of chair held by the Speaker of the House of Commons, two of the three other members of the commission are qualified lawyers.

Appointment of local government boundary commissioners in England is a matter for the Electoral Commission.

Health

Abortion

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were carried out in the Lincolnshire health authority area on girls aged (a) under 16 and (b) under 18 in each year since 1999. [115311]

Caroline Flint: The available information is set out in the following table.

Number of abortions to women under 18, resident in Lincolnshire( 1) PCT, 2002( 2) - 2005
Lincolnshire Age under 16 Age under 18

2002

44

182

2003

38

203

2004

48

205

2005

30

179

(1) Information by PCT is not available prior to 2002 (2) Lincolnshire PCT is made up of East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire South West Teaching and West Lincolnshire PCTs as published between 2002 and 2005

Berkshire West PCT

Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many females in the Berkshire West primary care trust (a) under the age of 15 and (b) aged between 15 and 18 (i) had abortions and (ii) gave birth in each year since 1999. [114059]

Caroline Flint: Figures are provided on number of conceptions leading to maternities and abortions for girls aged under 16 and girls aged under 18 from 1999 to 2004 (latest year for which figures are available) so that meaningful comparisons can be made on number of abortions and maternities that occur each year by
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age of woman. Figures for girls aged under 15 and 15 to 18 are not readily available and can be provided only at a disproportionate cost. In addition, figures for girls aged under 15 are likely to be very small at primary care trust level and hence would not be provided to preserve individuals’ confidentiality.

Conceptions leading to maternities and abortions by age to residents of West Berkshire PCT, 1999 to 2004
Conceptions leading to maternity Conceptions leading to abortion Total conceptions

Girls aged under 16

1999

28

45

73

2000

30

36

66

2001

31

27

58

2002

18

31

49

2003

31

29

60

2004

21

42

63

Girls aged under 18

1999

158

138

296

2000

165

144

309

2001

146

139

285

2002

138

133

271

2003

141

132

273

2004

137

154

291


Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many females in the Berkshire West primary care trust (a) under the age of 15 and (b) aged between 15 and 18 were diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections in each year since 1999. [114060]

Caroline Flint: Diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections in the NHS South Central area for females under the age of 15 and aged between 15 to 19 in each year since 1999 are shown in the table.

Number of diagnoses at primary care trust level is not released in order to reduce the risk of deductive disclosure where numbers of diagnoses are small.

Females under 15 Females 15 to 19

1999

33

1,704

2000

25

1,861

2001

30

1,845

2002

40

1,974

2003

46

2,276

2004

27

2,314

2005

36

2,425

Source:
STI KC60 statutory returns from 1999 to 2005, Health Protection Agency. Selected STIs include: infectious syphilis, uncomplicated gonorrhoea, anogenital herpes simplex (first attack), anogenital warts (first attack) and uncomplicated chlamydial infection.

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