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23 Feb 2007 : Column 961W—continued
The DPP is consulted about, or informed of, a substantial number of cases, on a regular basis. These include cases of importance, complexity, or sensitivity; cases of high media interest; and cases that otherwise involve issues of significant public interest.
The nature and extent of the DPP’s involvement varies from case to case. In some instances, he will simply be informed of key developments in a case; in some instances he will be consulted as to key decisions in a case; and in some instances, he will assume personal responsibility for the decision whether or not to prosecute. His involvement may include reading written briefing material submitted to him; it may include reading the case papers; it may include oral discussion of the case by him with others; and it may include the provision by him of written advice or instructions.
No central record is maintained of the cases that are drawn to the DPP’s attention.
Crown Prosecution Service: Official Cars
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Solicitor-General what rules are in place on the use of officially-provided chauffeur-driven vehicles by senior officials of the Crown Prosecution Service. [121919]
The Solicitor-General: As the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) falls within the remit of the Law Officers, this question has been transferred to me for reply.
The Ministerial Code of Conduct, published by the Cabinet Office, provides the rules for the use of officially-provided, chauffeur-driven vehicles by all senior government officials, including those within the CPS.
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance his Department provides on the use of vehicles at public expense by senior Crown Prosecution Service officials. [122047]
The Solicitor-General: As the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) falls within the remit of the Law Officers, this question has been transferred to me for reply.
Guidance on the use of vehicles at public expense by all CPS officials is provided in the department’s travel and subsistence guide. The Ministerial Code of Conduct, published by the Cabinet Office, provides the rules for the use of officially provided, chauffeur-driven vehicles by all senior government officials, including those within the CPS.
Leader of the House
House of Lords: Reform
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Leader of the House what range of numbers of electors an elected Member of the Lords will represent under his proposals for reform of the House of Lords; what the range is of the number of electors represented by hon. Members; whether elected Members would have the same freedom as hon. Members to make representations on behalf of their constituents; and whether those elected would have parliamentary expenses to enable them to employ staff to help them with constituency work. [122773]
Mr. Straw: We must await the decision of the House on 7 March before providing detailed analysis. Nor should we speculate on the issue of remuneration. Paragraphs 9.9 to 9.15 of the White Paper explain that the Government will seek the advice of the senior salaries review body on remuneration once the composition of any reformed House is much firmer.
By way of illustration and on the basis of the proposals outlined in the White Paper—The House of Lords: Reform (Cm 7027), using a model of a 50 per cent. appointed and 50 per cent. elected House—the assumption is that an elected Member would represent an average of 165,834 electors. This is calculated on the basis of a reformed House consisting of 270 elected Members, using the parliamentary electorate of 44,775,185 (ONS figures: published 22 February 2007). By way of comparison the number of electors represented by hon. Members ranges from 21,873 (Na-H-Eileanan ar lar) to 108,715 (Isle of Wight).
Work and Pensions
Departmental Statistics
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on statistics relating to the work of his Department in each of the last five years. [107265]
Mr. Plaskitt: There is no consistent definition of the term “statistics relating to the work of the department” and no centrally held information on either the volume or costs of statistics published each year on this basis.
Estimates for the annual costs of National Statistics are contained in the relevant National Statistics annual report and accounts, which are available on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1051
The last year these were produced was 2004-05.
Housing Benefit
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received on methods of calculating income in assessing eligibility for housing benefit. [119787]
Mr. Plaskitt: In the past year, the Department has received a number of representations from Members, various organisations and bodies, and members of the public about housing benefit. Some of these representations have concerned the method of calculating income.
Housing Benefit: Child Benefit
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what factors underlay the decision not to disregard child benefit when assessing eligibility for housing benefit; [119788]
(2) if he will disregard child benefit when assessing eligibility for housing benefit. [121058]
Mr. Plaskitt: Housing benefit is an income-related benefit and as child benefit is an income, it has always been taken into account when deciding claims for housing benefit.
However, when pension credit was introduced in October 2003, it was decided to disregard child benefit as income in claims for housing benefit for people who had attained the qualifying age for state pension credit. This was to mirror the state pension credit income rules.
We will keep the treatment of child benefit under review as we take forward further reform of the benefit system.
Written Questions
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to answer question 109530, tabled on 12 December 2006 by the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South. [121195]
Mr. Plaskitt: I replied to the hon. Member’s question on 19 February 2007, Official Report, column 295W.
Treasury
Departmental Overspend
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department is required to make up from its near-cash allocation in 2006-07 its overspend of near-cash in 2005-06. [117240]
Mr. Timms: The Chancellor's Departments did not overspend their near-cash allocation in 2005-06.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 841W, on departmental overspend, what measures he (a) had in place in 2005-06 and (b) has in place in 2006-07 to prevent Departments overspending their near-cash resource budgets. [117265]
Mr. Timms: HM Treasury regularly monitors departmental spending against all control totals and discusses management of spending pressures with departments as a matter of course.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 841W, on departmental overspend, what the Department of Health's near-cash resource spending limit was in 2005-06; and what his latest estimate is of the Department of Health's near-cash resource spending in 2005-06. [117266]
Mr. Timms: Provisional near-cash spending estimates are published in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses and the Public Expenditure Outturns White Paper, and are updated alongside the Budget and pre-Budget report.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 841W, on departmental overspend, whether he authorised the Department of Health to switch funds from non-cash to near-cash in 2005-06. [117402]
Mr. Timms: As set out in the Budget 2006, there was a re-profiling of the Department of Health's resource budget in the 2004 spending review years along with a number of routine and technical changes.
Financial Reporting Advisory Board
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the report by the Financial Reporting Advisory Board on assumptions used in his Department's accounting standards, including Technical Note 1. [123027]
Mr. Timms: The Financial Reporting Advisory Board is an independent body and it (not the Treasury) is responsible for the publication of all papers and reports produced by, or for, the Board. All papers and reports can be found on the FRAB website (www.frab.gov.uk) in line with the Board's publication policy.
Minister for Women
Human Trafficking: Prostitution
Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what discussions she has had on the trafficking of women into the UK for the purpose of sexual exploitation since the Government's decision to sign the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Trafficking. [122515]
Meg Munn: I have regular conversations with fellow Ministers on these matters and as a member of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking I will be attending the next meeting scheduled for March.
Communities and Local Government
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local authorities record the (a) ethnicity, (b) criminal record and (c) educational attainment of each person subject to an antisocial behaviour order in their area. [121757]
Mr. Woolas: Communities and Local Government does not hold information on whether local authorities record ethnicity, criminal record and educational attainment of each person subject to an antisocial behaviour order in their area.
Blue Badge Scheme: Fraud
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many successful prosecutions for blue badge fraud were recorded by local authorities in England and Wales in 2006. [122203]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish the findings of the discrimination law review; and if she will make a statement. [121898]
Mr. Woolas: The proposals emerging from the Discrimination Law Review will be published in a Green Paper for public consultation, shortly.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish proposals for a Single Equalities Bill; and if she will make a statement. [121901]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have given a manifesto commitment to introduce a Single Equality Bill during the lifetime of this Parliament. Proposals for the Single Equality Bill will be published in a Green Paper for public consultation, shortly.
Electoral Commission Committee
Elections: Fraud
Mr. Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Electoral Commission is taking to collate information from the Crown Prosecution Service on the level of electoral fraud and the number of investigations into alleged fraud. [119594]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it works with the Crown Prosecution Service to collate data on instances and allegations of electoral malpractice. It is currently considering whether this data could usefully be disaggregated by specific categories of actual or alleged electoral offences. A decision on this will be reached shortly.
Local Government: Voting Methods
Mr. Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission whether the Electoral Commission has considered the use of remote electronic voting in local elections. [119972]
Peter Viggers: The Commission informs me that it has done so in the context of its statutory evaluation of electoral pilot schemes. It evaluated remote electronic voting pilots at elections to 19 English local authorities in 2002 and 2003, and its findings have been made publicly available. In 2007, the Commission will evaluate five further remote electronic voting pilots which have been accepted by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs for the English local government elections on 3 May. The Commission’s evaluations must be published no later than three months after the election.
Political Parties: Finance
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 commissioning MORI to conduct a review into attitudes to party funding in 2006. [119595]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that the research it commissioned through Ipsos MORI into public attitudes into party funding in the United Kingdom, which concluded in November 2006, cost £158,000. The intention of the research was to provide a better understanding of public attitudes to party political funding in order to inform current policy discussion in this area, and in particular Sir Hayden Phillips’ Review of the Funding of Political Parties.
Northern Ireland
Educational Psychologists
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time to see an educational psychologist was in each education and library board area in the Province in the last period for which figures are available; and what the longest time is for which an individual has been waiting to see an educational psychologist in each area. [119153]
Maria Eagle: In the last period for which figures are available the average waiting time to see an educational psychologist within each Education and Library Board is as follows:
| Education and Library Board | Period | Times |
| (1) Average time given is the combined waiting time for assessment by educational psychologists at both stages 3, non-statutory assessments, and 4, statutory assessments, of the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs. | ||
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