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13 Jun 2007 : Column 1129W—continued
Departments: Signs
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) how many (a) signs and (b) business cards have been purchased for the Ministry of Justice; [141707]
(2) how much has been spent on new signage for the Ministry of Justice. [141708]
Vera Baird: The number of signs purchased for the Ministry of Justice totals 62 as at 7 June 2007. We are unable to determine precisely how many business cards have been purchased for the Ministry of Justice.
Costs incurred by the Department for Constitutional Affairs up to 9 May 2007 in relation to the setting up of the Ministry of Justice are estimated at £1.5 million. These costs mainly relate to IT and estate changes to ensure the new Ministry can operate effectively. The costs relating to signage are included in the £1.5 million. Additional costs arising from the integration of the various activities that constitute the new Ministry will be incurred after 9 May.
Electoral Register: Fraud
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what steps the Government are taking to tackle false electoral registration. [141718]
Bridget Prentice: The Electoral Administration Act 2006 introduced new measures to help tackle false electoral registration. The measures introduced in the Act are:
Making it an offence to provide false or incorrect information to an electoral registration officer;
Allowing an elector to object to a person’s registration at any time;
Allowing an ERO to remove ineligible people from the electoral register;
Imposing a duty on a registration officer to take all necessary steps to maintain the register. This includes inspecting any records held by any person which he is permitted to inspect such as council tax records.
A requirement for electors to provide additional personal identifiers (signature and date of birth) if they wish to have a postal vote.
A requirement for electors to provide personal identifier (signature and date of birth) if they wish to have a postal vote.
The Government and the Electoral Commission continue to work with the electoral community and the police to address issues to improve the security of the registration system.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when the code of practice on the discharge of public authorities' functions under Part I of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was last updated or revised. [141703]
Vera Baird: The code of practice on the discharge of public authorities' functions under Part I of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was published on November 2004. It has not subsequently been updated or revised, however we consider that it is working well.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what guidance her Department has given to public authorities, in relation to freedom of information, on signing contracts with external organisations that have clauses stating that the contract itself cannot be made public. [141714]
Vera Baird: Guidance to public authorities is contained in the code of practice on the discharge of public authorities' functions under Part I of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Advice about freedom of information and confidentiality obligations when entering into contracts is set out in part V of the code.
Freedom of Information: Regional Government
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will take steps to bring within the ambit of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 English regional chambers as public authorities. [141811]
Vera Baird: Organisations such as the English regional chambers will be considered in the context of any review of extending the coverage of the Freedom of Information Act. We have no plans to review the coverage of the Act at present.
Hayden Phillips
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what fees, expenses and payments Sir Hayden Phillips will receive in relation to (a) his review of party funding and (b) the discussions on party funding in which she is involved. [141705]
Bridget Prentice: From the commencement of his review of party funding in March 2006 to the end of April 2007, Sir Hayden Phillips has received £48,768 in fees, expenses and payments.
This figure covers both Sir Hayden’s review of party funding which ended in March 2007 and the continuing cross-party talks for the calendar month of April 2007.
Information Commissioner: Appeals
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the average time was for an appeal to the Information Commissioner to be considered in the last 12 months. [141712]
Vera Baird: In the 12 months up to May 2007 the average was 151 days.
This figure does not include Data Protection Act cases, as they are “assessments”, not “appeals”.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many appeals to the Information Commissioner have been waiting to be considered for more than six months. [141717]
Vera Baird: At the end of May 2007 there were a total of 784 complaints under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations aged over 180 days.
This figure does not include Data Protection Act cases, as they are “assessments”, not “appeals”.
Legal Aid Scheme
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction in October 2007 of a fixed fee system for legal aid on access to justice; and if she will make a statement; [141695]
(2) how many solicitors she expects to participate in the new fixed fee system of legal aid when it is introduced in October 2007; [141696]
(3) what assessment she has made of the effect on the demand for legal aid of the introduction of a fixed fee system in October 2007; and if she will make a statement; [141697]
(4) what contingency plans she has put in place to deal with any delays in access to justice which may result following the introduction of a fixed fee system for legal aid in October 2007; [141698]
(5) what recent representations she has received from (a) solicitors and (b) representative organisations on access to justice following the introduction of a fixed fee system for legal aid in October 2007; and if she will make a statement. [141699]
Vera Baird: Fixed and graduated fees have been operating in many areas of legal aid for many years and have been shown to control costs and encourage efficiency, and hence to improve access to justice. The Legal Services Commission (LSC) currently expects to extend the application of these fees to nearly all areas of legal aid from October 2007 as a precursor to best value tendering, which is expected to be rolled out from October 2008.
While greater efficiency will allow us to help more people within a limited budget, the new fee schemes will not impact directly on demand for legal aid. Full regulatory impact assessments have accompanied each of the new fee schemes as they have been announced.
We expect the long-term trend of fewer legal aid providers helping more people to continue. Nevertheless, 94 per cent. of civil providers signed the new unified contract in April this year. The LSC will closely monitor the state of the supplier base as the reform programme progresses. The LSC is also working closely with Her Majesty's Courts Service and other justice agencies to ensure that the reforms are implemented smoothly.
We do not expect any delays to follow the implementation of fixed fees.
My Department and the LSC regularly meet solicitors, other providers and their representative bodies to discuss issues of concern.
Legal Aid Scheme: Kent
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many legal practitioners in the Kent criminal justice area have not signed up to the new legal aid contract. [140806]
Vera Baird: The unified contract for civil work was issued to 79 solicitors' offices in Kent. 75 contracts have been returned signed. 23 out of the 75 contracted offices undertake crime legal aid work as well as civil legal aid work.
Eight contracts were issued to not-for-profit organisations in Kent and all have been returned signed.
Local Child Curfew Schemes: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many child curfew orders were issued in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in each year since their creation. [141829]
Bridget Prentice: The number of curfew orders received by young people aged 10 to 17 in East Sussex is as follows. Separate figures for Eastbourne are not collected.
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Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when the Secretary of State expects to answer the letter transferred to him from the Home Office dated 16 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. M. Aslam. [141075]
Ms Harman: I apologise that the reply has been delayed beyond our normal target date on this occasion. My right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor replied on 6 June.
Personal Injury
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what assessment she has made of the levels of referral to mediation of disputes involving personal injury claims. [141624]
Vera Baird: As mediation services are provided by a number of local and national commercial mediation organisations, it is not possible to assess the true level of referral to mediation involving personal injury claims across England and Wales. However, the Ministry has recently conducted evaluations of our court-based mediation schemes based at central London, Birmingham, Guildford and Exeter. The results show that, although personal injury claims represent over half of the cases allocated to the fast and multi-track, these claims make up less than 6 per cent. of the cases that undertake the mediation process.
Police Custody
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many (a) female prisoners, (b) prisoners under the age of 18, (c) prisoners who are undergoing a Crown Court trial, (d) prisoners at risk of self-harm, (e) prisoners remanded for serious offences who are potentially Category A and (f) prisoners who have a history of either escape attempts or disruptive behaviour have been housed in police cells under Operation Safeguard in the last 12 months. [142468]
Mr. Sutcliffe: No female prisoners, prisoners under the age of 18 or potential Category A prisoners have been held in police cells under operation safeguard in the last 12 months.
We assess all prisoners considered for accommodation in police cells under operation safeguard for risk of self harm, potential to escape and disruptive behaviour with a view to excluding those who demonstrate a high level of risk of these behaviours.
The number of prisoners held in police cells under operation safeguard while undergoing a Crown court trial is not available.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what provisions are in place to provide (a) purposeful activity, (b) behavioural treatment, (c) drug and alcohol dependency rehabilitation, (d) contact with friends and family and (e) resettlement preparation to prisoners held under Operation Safeguard. [142469]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We aim to hold individual prisoners in police cells under Operation Safeguard for the minimum period, normally overnight and for no longer than 48 hours. As prisoners are only held in police cells for a short time, the police will do everything possible to meet prisoners’ basic needs but it is not possible to offer a prison regime.
Police cells will not normally be used to accommodate prisoners with an identified health care need or vulnerable prisoners.
Political Parties: Finance
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the total cost to date to the public purse has been of (a) Sir Hayden Phillips’ review and (b) the discussions on party funding. [141706]
Bridget Prentice: The total cost to date is as follows:
£278,072.31 for Sir Hayden Phillips’ review of the funding of political parties, which ended in March 2007;
£15,937.80 for the cross-party talks on the funding of political parties, chaired by Sir Hayden Phillips.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many staff are working on (a) the Sir Hayden Phillips review and (b) discussions on party funding. [141709]
Bridget Prentice: Sir Hayden Phillips’ review of the funding of political parties began in March 2006 and ended in March 2007. During this phase of Sir Hayden’s work, four full-time civil servants on secondment and one part-time civil servant worked on Sir Hayden’s review, assisted by two external consultants providing specialist skills.
Sir Hayden Phillips has been chairing cross-party talks on the funding of political parties since his review ended in March 2007. Four full-time civil servants on secondment and one part-time civil servant, led by an external part-time consultant, are working on the cross-party talks. Sir Hayden Phillips is also being assisted by two external consultants providing specialist skills.
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