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27 Feb 2007 : Column 1248W—continued
Table 2 details the number of individual suspensions for physical attacks on pupils, in each education and library board, in the 2003-04 to 2004-05 school years:
| Table 2: Physical attacks on pupils | |||
| Education and library board | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 |
Reasons for expulsion were first collected in 2003-04. The numbers involved are relatively small and are not disaggregated between education and library boards because of the risk that a school/pupil may be identifiable.
Table 3 shows the total number of pupils expelled for physical attacks on staff and pupils for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years:
| Table 3 | ||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | |
The suspension and expulsions statistics for 2005-06 school year are currently being analysed by our statistics branch and will be placed on the DE website when this has been completed.
Road Traffic: Coleraine
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vehicles per day on average use the Lodge Road roundabout in Coleraine in the last period for which figures are available. [123565]
David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbon, 23 February 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a parliamentary Question regarding, how many vehicles on average use the Lodge Road roundabout in Coleraine per day. As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
By way of background, I should explain that Roads Service collects traffic volume data by means of 270 automatic census points strategically located throughout the Northern Ireland road network. The information is recorded for one week in each quarter during the year and an annual average calculated. The results are published in Roads Service's annual Traffic and Travel Information Report, which presents the traffic volumes in a variety of formats for each site. The figures quoted are based on the latest available report, which is the 2005 census.
I should, however, explain that in relation to the Lodge Road roundabout, unfortunately there are census points on only three of the five approach roads. While I have detailed the average daily number of vehicles entering the roundabout from these roads in the table, I am unable to provide you with the full information requested.
| Lodge Road Roundabout | Average Daily Flow |
| n/a = not available | |
Water Supply
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of rateable premises are without a mains water supply in each (a) Parliamentary constituency and (b) district council area in Northern Ireland. [123611]
David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has written to the hon. Lady in response to this question.
Letter from Mrs. Katharine Bryan, dated 27 February 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how many and what proportion of rateable premises are without a mains water supply in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) district council area in Northern Ireland (123611). I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Water Service.
It is estimated that less than 1 per cent. of domestic properties in Northern Ireland are not connected to the mains water supply. Water Service does not, at present, hold records of unconnected properties but is currently developing a comprehensive customer database in preparation for the introduction of domestic charging from April this year. The database will identify any domestic properties not connected to the mains water supply. It will be able to report by district council area but not by parliamentary constituency.
Constitutional Affairs
Absent Voting: Fraud
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether she plans to take steps to amend electoral law following the comments of Election Commissioner Judge Richard Mawrey on signs of postal voting fraud in the May 2006 local elections in Tower Hamlets. [123897]
Bridget Prentice: We are introducing a range of new measures at the May 2007 local elections that are designed to strengthen the security of postal voting. These build on the measures successfully introduced in May 2006, which helped to detect the alleged fraud in Tower Hamlets. The new measures include: the use of personal identifiers by postal voters; the new offence of falsely applying for a postal vote; the requirement in all cases for a reason to be given if postal ballot papers are to be sent to a different address to that at which the postal voter is registered; a marked register of returned postal votes; and new secrecy warnings on postal voting documents.
It would be premature at this stage to amend electoral law further. We will wish to consider the effectiveness of these new measures in light of the experience of postal voting at the May 2007 elections, and whether further measures are necessary.
Elections: Pilot Schemes
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2007, Official Report, column 878W, on elections: pilot schemes, for what reasons local authorities with past histories of holding pilot schemes have been funded to repeat the pilot schemes. [123761]
Bridget Prentice: The Government continue to support the funding of pilot schemes from authorities that have previously held e-voting pilots in order to refine the systems and processes that we wish to test and to establish evidence about the longer-term impact of innovations.
Electoral Register: Databases
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Government have to use the Government Connect network for CORE data transactions. [123668]
Bridget Prentice: The Government are considering different options for the transmission of data between electoral registration officers and the CORE keeper, dependent on an analysis of the available options. The Government Connect network is one of the options under consideration.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the CORE database will have the functionality to support individual electoral registration. [123669]
Bridget Prentice:
The CORE information system will be built to support the current, household-based registration electoral system. It will not, as currently
envisaged, have specific functionality for individual registration; however it will be built with flexibility to support it if required.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the CORE information system will have the flexibility to allow linkages to other databases and data-matching should future Government policy and legislation allow. [123671]
Bridget Prentice: The CORE information system is intended to be flexible enough to allow new functionality, such as linkages to other databases and data matching, to be added as legislation and policy allow in the future.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which central Government Departments and agencies will have access to the CORE database. [123672]
Bridget Prentice: The list of bodies permitted access to electoral registration information is set out in existing legislation. Access to information from the CORE information system will be subject to the same legislation.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether CORE will be able to cross-match data to identify duplicate registrations. [123673]
Bridget Prentice: The CORE information system will not be able to cross-match data to identify duplicate registrations, as it is not currently possible to differentiate individual electors. It will remain the responsibility of the electoral registration officers to do so within their own local authority area.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications of the recent report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life on the Electoral Commission on her Department’s plans to designate the Electoral Commission as the CORE keeper. [123674]
Bridget Prentice: The Government are currently considering the recent report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life on the Electoral Commission and will respond in due course.
Freedom of Information
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what percentage of requests received by central Government in 2006 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 were refused on the grounds of disproportionate cost; and how many and what percentage she estimates would have been refused had the fee structure changes presently proposed been in force throughout 2006. [123794]
Vera Baird: The 2006 annual statistics on implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in central Government have not yet been published. The most recent statistics available are for Q1, Q2 and Q3 2006.
Central Government received 18,500 resolvable requests during Q1, Q2 and Q3 2006 of which 816 (4.4 per cent.) were refused on the grounds that they exceeded the appropriate cost limit.
Table 3 of the Frontier Economics report published on 16 October 2006 estimates that including reading, consideration and consultation time in calculating the appropriate limit would result in a 4 per cent. volume reduction of requests processed within the appropriate limit across central Government. If the aggregation of non-similar requests is introduced the report estimates an 8 per cent. volume reduction of requests processed within the appropriate limit across central Government.
These figures are the estimated volume reductions for introducing each option on its own and are not additive.
Under the Act authorities are not obliged to answer a request if it is estimated to exceed the appropriate limit, but may still choose to do so. The request volume reduction figures in the Frontier Economics report are upper-band figures and assume that government bodies apply the provisions in all cases where possible and do not exercise discretion in application.
Where authorities refuse on cost grounds they are under a statutory obligation to provide advice and assistance to enable the requestor to refine their request so that it can be processed within the appropriate cost limit.
The independent review showed that a small minority of requests and requestors account for disproportionate amounts of the cost of answering FOI requests. Our proposals are designed to address this issue by targeting the 5 per cent. of requests that account for 45 per cent. of the time spent dealing with initial requests, as detailed at figure 5 of the Frontier Economics report.
Legal Aid: Applications
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many applications for legal aid were (a) received and (b) granted by the Legal Services Commission in each year since 2000. [121603]
Vera Baird: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) receives applications for civil representation only. All other applications for legal aid are made to the courts or to service providers.
The following table shows the number of applications received by the LSC and the number of certificates issued during each year from 2000-01.
| Civil representations | ||
| Applications received by the LSC | Certificates issued by the LSC( 1) | |
| (1) Certificates issued in any particular year include ones where the application was made in previous years. | ||
Applications for legal help, which includes advice and assistance, are made directly to service providers who under contract with the LSC assess the applications. In successful applications the service provider commences the work and reports it to the LSC as a matter start.
Service providers do not report applications for legal help that are unsuccessful. The following table shows the number of matter starts reported by service providers during each year since 2000-01.
| Civil legal help matter starts( 1) | Number |
| (1) These include matters started in asylum and immigration and also matters started under Community Legal Service Direct | |
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