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23 July 2007 : Column 774W—continued


23 July 2007 : Column 775W

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people (a) applied for and (b) received legal aid for the costs of representation in care cases involving children in each of the last five years. [150650]

Maria Eagle: The number of people who applied for and received representation in public law child care cases in each of the last five years is as follows:

Applications Certificates issued( 1)

2002-03

27,556

27,084

2003-04

25,692

25,390

2004-05

27,048

26,822

2005-06

28,109

27,898

2006-07

28,744

28,497

(1)Applications granted.


Constituencies

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review the Boundary Commission’s mechanisms for co-ordinating its work on parliamentary constituencies and local government boundaries. [151690]

Bridget Prentice: Reviews of parliamentary constituency and local government boundaries in England are currently conducted by separate bodies: respectively the Boundary Commission for England, and the Boundary Committee for England (part of the Electoral Commission).

The Eleventh Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life has recommended that the Boundary Committee for England be removed from the Electoral Commission and re-established as a separate organisation. It has also recommended that a single secretariat be established to support jointly both organisations, in large part to improve the co-ordination of their work.

The Government will be responding to the CSPL recommendations shortly.

Coroners

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how the proposed non-statutory Chief Coroner would enforce decisions; whether such decisions would be subject to judicial review; and if he will make a statement. [151692]

Bridget Prentice: I am currently considering what the role and responsibilities of a non-statutory Chief Coroner might be, and whether such a post would provide a helpful addition to current arrangements at this time.

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who is responsible for providing coroners’ court facilities; and who will be responsible under his Department’s proposals for reform. [151693]

Bridget Prentice: Coroners have a statutory duty to undertake inquests and order post-mortem examinations, and the relevant local authority is responsible for meeting the costs. A number of coroners have dedicated courts provided by their local authority. Where this is not the
23 July 2007 : Column 776W
case coroners liaise with their local authorities and local HMCS court managers to secure the use of suitable court accommodation. In a reformed system these basic arrangements will not change. Where difficulties with court provision are identified we will continue to work with coroners and other stakeholders to help find local solutions.

Coroners: Armed Forces

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many coroner’s inquests arising from (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan have been completed; and how many were completed by coroners other than the Oxfordshire and Wiltshire coroner. [151638]

Bridget Prentice: 109 inquests arising from Iraq since 2003 have been completed. Four of these have been held by coroners other than the Oxfordshire or Wiltshire and Swindon coroners.

Eight inquests arising from Afghanistan since 2001 have been completed. Four of these have been completed by coroners other than the Oxfordshire and Wiltshire and Swindon coroners.

Departments: Crime

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what criminal offences have been introduced by his Department in primary legislation since October 2006. [149720]

Maria Eagle: For my Department during the period in question, the only primary legislation that introduced criminal offences was the Fraud Act 2006. That Act, owned by the Home Office until the creation of the Ministry of Justice, created a mixture of new offences and those that replaced earlier existing criminal offences. However counting all offences created by the Fraud Act including those replacing existing offences the Act created five new offences:

These are as follows:

Departments: Departmental Responsibilities

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to make a statement on discussions with the working group of the judiciary on creation of his Department. [150505]


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Mr. Straw: I have met with the Lord Chief Justice on a number of occasions since my appointment to discuss a variety of issues, including those raised in the judicial working group.

I will keep Parliament informed of any significant developments.

Departments: Early Retirement

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of his staff took early retirement in the last
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five years; at what cost; what grades of staff took early retirement; and what percentage of each grade took early retirement. [148813]

Maria Eagle: The following table sets out the proportion of staff who took early retirement between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2007, broken down by grade.

A breakdown of cost would be provided by the civil service pension payroll provider (Capita Hartshead) but could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.


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23 July 2007 : Column 780W
Financial year Leaving reason Government grade Number of staff taking retirement

1 April 2002-31 March 2003

Approved early retirement

EO

1

SEO

1

Approved early retirement total

2

Flexible early retirement limited postability

SEO

1

Flexible early retirement limited postability total

1

Total

3

1 April 2003-31 March 2004

Approved early retirement

AO

2

SCS

1

SEO

1

Approved early retirement total

4

Flexible early retirement limited efficiency

G7

2

Flexible early retirement limited efficiency total

2

Flexible early retirement limited postability

G6

1

SCS

4

Flexible early retirement limited postability total

5

Flexible early retirement structural grounds

SCS

1

Flexible early retirement structural grounds total

1

Total

12

1 April 2004-31 March 2005

Approved early retirement

EO

1

SEO

1

Approved early retirement total

2

Compulsory early retirement structural grounds

SCS

3

Compulsory early retirement structural grounds total

3

Flexible early retirement limited postability

SCS

1

Flexible early retirement limited postability total

1

Flexible early retirement structural grounds

G7

1

Flexible early retirement structural grounds total

1

Total

7

1 April 2005-31 March 2006

Flexible early retirement structural grounds

G6

1

Flexible early retirement structural grounds total

1

Total

1

1 April 2006-31 March 2007

Approved early retirement

AO

1

Unknown grade

5

Approved early retirement total

6

Early retirement compulsory redundancy

G6

3

Unknown grade

1

SCS

4

SEO

1

Early retirement compulsory redundancy total

9

Early retirement compulsory structural grounds

AO

1

HEO

1

Unknown grade

7

SEO

3

Early retirement compulsory structural grounds total

12

Flexible early retirement structural grounds

AO

3

EO

2

G7

1

HEO

8

Unknown grade

7

SEO

2

Flexible early retirement structural grounds total

23

Total

50

Grand total

73


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