Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 5 June 2007
Church Commissioners
Cemeteries
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what recent discussions the Commissioners have had with English Heritage over the staking of gravestones for safety reasons in listed church graveyards. [140508]
Sir Stuart Bell: None, but the Council for the Care of Churches has issued guidance on possible approaches to the inspection of memorials and the Justice Minister has written to local authorities urging a proportionate response to the question of memorial safety. Councils need to balance the (often slight) risk of injury against the certainty of distress if memorials were laid down.
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many church graveyards have gravestones supported by temporary fittings. [140509]
Sir Stuart Bell: These figures are not available. Where gravestones are temporarily supported, this is likely to be in churchyards where responsibility for maintenance has been transferred to the local authority.
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many cases of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful litigation there have been from injuries and deaths caused by falling gravestones and memorials in church cemeteries in the last 20 years. [140510]
Sir Stuart Bell: Statistics are not available for the last 20 years but Ecclesiastical Insurance, which insures the majority of Church of England churches, has handled less than 20 claims relating to gravestones in the last 10 years.
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many complaints have been received by the Commissioners of unsafe gravestones and memorials in church cemeteries in the last 20 years. [140513]
Sir Stuart Bell: None, as far as I am aware.
Northern Ireland
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
David Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents of underage drinking in public places were reported to the Police
Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last three years (a) in total and (b) broken down by district command unit. [119506]
Paul Goggins: As underage drinking is not a notifiable offence it is not included in recorded crime statistics. The information is therefore not readily accessible and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
PSNI Community Safety Branch are currently adopting a statistical return that will, in future, capture such information.
Criminal Records
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people resident in Northern Ireland have criminal convictions in foreign jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement. [140110]
Paul Goggins: It is impossible to determine an exact figure relating to offences committed abroad, since there is no general requirement for foreign police forces to notify the PSNI of offences committed by residents of Northern Ireland while overseas. Nor are foreign nationals migrating to Northern Ireland required to declare convictions for offences committed in another jurisdiction. However, in the case of serious offences committed within Europe, the Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance applies, in which case notification is given to the host country of the offender in question. Via this mechanism, 519 people resident within Northern Ireland have so far been identified as having committed criminal offences abroad.
Prisons: Drugs
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons responsibility for the drugs rehabilitation of prisoners in Northern Ireland was not transferred to the Department of Health in April when responsibility for all other aspects of prisoners' healthcare was duly transferred; and if he will make a statement. [140111]
Paul Goggins: The Prison Service's strategy toward drug and alcohol misuse is based on the twin pillars of security, in terms of reducing supply, and on working with prisoners to reduce their addiction, principally through the input of voluntary community support organisations in each establishment.
To have transferred part of the budget at this stage could have jeopardised the implementation of the strategy, though the Service intends to review the position as the partnership with HPSS more widely develops.
Solicitor-General
Prosecutions: Costs
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Solicitor-General what the average cost was of a prosecution within the former Director of Public Prosecutions' system of prosecutions in (a) magistrates' courts and (b) the Crown Court in each of the last five years. [140237]
The Solicitor-General: The former Department of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland did not hold information on the average cost of prosecutions. While some unit costs may be identifiable, the overall cost to the Department of any case it prosecuted, as a percentage of the overall cost of its total workload, is not.
Public Prosecution Service: Consultants
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Solicitor-General how much has been spent on the employment of consultants by the (a) Public Prosecution Service and (b) Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission in the last three financial years; and what payments were made to each consultant or consultancy. [140234]
The Solicitor-General: The figures for the Public Prosecution Service are as follows:
For the financial year 2006-07 the following consultants were paid the shown amounts:
| £ | |
For the financial year 2005-06 the following consultants were paid the shown amounts:
| £ | |
For the financial year 2004-05 the following consultants were paid the shown amounts:
| £ | |
I have been informed by the Ministry of Justice that the figures for the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission are as follows:
For the financial year 2006-07 the following consultants were paid the shown amounts:
| £ | |
For the financial year 2005-06 the following consultants were paid the shown amounts:
| £ | |
For the financial year 2004-05 the following consultants were paid the shown amounts:
| £ | |
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