| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 Jan 2007 : Column 1494W—continued
Vehicle Excise Duty
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether penalty charge notices for failure to renew vehicle tax discs have been sent out only in certain postcodes or regions. [116931]
Dr. Ladyman: The issue of penalty charge notices is a fully automatic process and they are issued to all registered keepers of vehicles who are liable to prosecution for failing to licence or SORN their vehicles. It is not technically possible to issue these notices to specific postcodes or regions.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many penalty charge notices have been automatically issued for failure to have an up-to-date vehicle tax disc to recipients in each (a) constituency and (b) county in England and Wales since November 2006. [116932]
Dr. Ladyman: The information is available only at disproportionate cost.
Constitutional Affairs
Armed Forces Personnel
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many inquests remain to be heard in relation to members of the armed forces who lost their lives as a result of military duties in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan (i) since 2003 in total, (ii) in 2004, (iii) in 2005 and (iv) in 2006; and in how many cases an inquest has not been concluded a year after death. [116781]
Ms Harman: The information requested is in the following table.
| Iraq and Afghanistan: outstanding inquests | ||
| Iraq | Afghanistan | |
|
Subtotal—the total number of inquests outstanding one year after death | ||
Criminal Procedure Rules
Mr. Malins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the criminal procedure rules will be amended to take account of the ruling regarding ECHR Article 8 in the case of R. (TB) v. Stafford combined court (2006) 2 CAR 505. [116625]
Ms Harman: The rules were amended by the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee on 20 December 2006. The amendments are under consideration by the Lord Chancellor. The amended rules take account of the judgments of the Administrative Court in R (TB) v. Stafford combined court (2006) 2 CAR 505 and in R. (Cunliffe) v. West London magistrates court and Others [2006] EWHC 2081 Admin. They take account also of other responses to the Rule Committee’s consultation on new rules, to which the court referred in the Stafford Court case.
Designated Drugs Courts
Mr. Malins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to extend the operation of designated drugs courts. [116611]
Ms Harman: Dedicated drug courts are being piloted at Leeds and West London magistrates courts and an independent evaluation of the pilots will be complete by summer 2007. This will determine if this drug court model delivers benefits and will inform the potential for extended operation.
Judicial Pension Schemes
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total liability is of judicial pension schemes. [117098]
Ms Harman: As at 31 March 2006, the value of the liabilities of the Judicial Pensions Scheme was estimated by the Government Actuary’s Department at £1,352 million.
Legal Aid
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what representations she has received on legal aid provision in cases before the Magistrates Courts; and if she will make a statement. [116512]
Vera Baird: Since 2 October 2006, the issue of legal aid provision for defendants appearing before the magistrates courts has been raised in 17 pieces of correspondence addressed to my Department.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the Carter review on the provision of legal aid. [116939]
Vera Baird: “Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead”, published on 28 November 2006, sets out the Government’s proposals to reform legal aid. The reform programme flows from Lord Carter of Coles’ Review of Legal Aid Procurement, with a number of adjustments to take account of points raised during the subsequent public consultation on Lord Carter’s final report and the Joint DCA/LSC Consultation paper “Legal Aid: a Sustainable Future”. A Regulatory Impact Assessment covering the proposals in “The Way Ahead” was published on 18 December 2006. Copies are available on the LSC and DCA websites and in the House of Commons Library.
Magistrates Courts
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate she has made of the cost per hour of running the magistrates courts system in England. [117211]
Ms Harman: Based on standard full cost pricing methodologies for 2005-06 the cost to HMCS of an hour in a magistrates court in England and Wales was £415.
The cumulative cost for running the magistrates courts system in England and Wales was £527,880 per hour.
Mental Health
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what representations her Department has received from mental health lawyers on the reform of legal aid. [117053]
Vera Baird: I held national meetings last summer to hear the views of practitioners, including mental health lawyers, on our proposals, and attended the Mental Health Lawyers Association conference on 3 November 2006 to hear the views of mental health specialists. We also received 95 responses to our consultation “Legal Aid: a sustainable future” on mental health, and these are summarised in “Legal Aid: a sustainable future—an analysis of responses”. In response to representations received, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is reviewing the mental health scheme and will be publishing details of the final scheme in due course.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of proposed legal aid reforms on lawyers specialising in mental health law; and if she will make a statement. [117054]
Vera Baird: The Legal Services Commission published a draft impact assessment alongside our joint consultation, “Legal Aid: a sustainable future”, in July 2006. A full impact assessment looking at the impact of the fee schemes on all specialist legal aid providers is being carried out as the schemes are finalised. The full impact assessment will be published alongside details of the schemes.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the Department of Health on the effect of legal aid reforms on lawyers specialising in mental health law. [117055]
Vera Baird: Both my Department and the Legal Services Commission have had discussions with the Department of Health on the ramifications of new mental health legislation, and the new fee schemes, to ensure that assessment of the impact of both mental health remuneration and wider legal aid reform takes into account potential changes in the law.
Northern Ireland
Board of Inter-trade Ireland
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the perceived religious background is of each member of the Board of Inter-trade Ireland. [110566]
Mr. Hanson: Information on the community background of the InterTradeIreland Board is not held.
Care Home Costs
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average weekly cost of caring for a resident in (a) public sector and (b) publicly-funded private sector residential care in Northern Ireland was in the last period for which figures are available. [110470]
Paul Goggins: The average weekly cost of caring for a resident in public sector ‘statutory’ residential care in Northern Ireland and the average weekly cost of caring for a resident in publicly-funded independent residential care in Northern Ireland for the financial year 2004-05 was as follows:
| 2004-05 | |
| Client group | Mean average weekly cost (£) |
These unit costs take no account of the client group to which residents belong or of individual case complexity.
Departmental Assets
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the 10 most valuable (a) movable and (b) immovable assets owned by his Department. [115675]
Mr. Hain: The following information refers to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) only. It does not include information for its agencies, NDPBs or the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.
The NIO’s 10 most valuable assets are:
(a) Movable
CCTV system
Security Platform hardware
Milestone hardware
Tandberg 8000 (video conferencing equipment)
Traveller unit and server laptop
Tissue Tek processor
Holland tractor
Internet publishing web server
Analogue multi channel CCTV
Air conditioning unit
(b) Immovable
Hillsborough Castle
Police Retraining and Rehabilitation Trust accommodation and land
Eight other NIO properties (details not provided for security reasons).
Departmental Staff
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) marketing officers, (b) communications officers and (c) press officers are employed in his Department; and what the total expenditure on communications for his 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. [104356]
Mr. Hain: The information is as follows:
| Categories of staff | Number |
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) employs 14 press officers in its communications division, the Northern Ireland Information Service. This includes all staff from the director of the communications to information officers.
There are no marketing officers employed within the NIO.
The NIO does not yet have complete figures for external communication spend for 2006-07, so, as recommended by the Cabinet Office guidance, expenditure figures for the last full financial year 2005-06 have been provided.
External Communications 2005-06
The NIO does not hold the information in the format requested. It is not possible to break down expenditure by types of communication staff. Listed in the following table is the Department’s expenditure on external communications for 2005-06.
| 2005-06 | Total amount (£) |
Down Lisburn Trust
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average time is to obtain an appointment for an interview and assessment with a clinical psychologist in the Down Lisburn Trust; what the reasons are for delays in obtaining appointments; and if he will make a statement. [117354]
Paul Goggins: There are different waiting times for different specialties. Average waiting times are:
Learning Disability—6 months
Brain Injury—4 months
Older Adults—6 months
Paediatrics—5 months
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services—12 months
Specialist assessment clinic for autism—15 months
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |