Previous Section Index Home Page

13 Nov 2007 : Column 141W—continued

Compensation: Lung Diseases

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals in response to the outcome of Johnston v NEI International Combustion Limited, and related cases, to enable those with pleural plaques to receive compensation; and if he will make a statement. [162720]

Bridget Prentice: I refer the hon. Member to my reply, 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 798W. The House of Lords considered the issues very thoroughly on the basis of all the evidence put before them and reached the unanimous decision that pleural plaques do not constitute actionable or compensatable damage. Having considered the judgment very carefully, the Government have decided that it would not be appropriate to legislate on the issue.

Coroners: Armed Forces

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the dates in chronological order are of the inquests of (a) Guardsman Simon Davison, (b) Guardsman Daniel Probyn, (c) Guardsman Neil Downes, (d) Guardsman Daryl Hickey and (e) Guardsman David Atherton of the 1(st) Battalion Grenadier Guards. [162157]

Bridget Prentice: Guardsman Davison’s inquest opened on 8 November in the South Staffordshire coroner’s jurisdiction. No dates have yet been fixed for the inquests into the deaths of Guardsmen Probyn, Downes, Hickey and Atherton, who died in Afghanistan between 23 May and 26 July this year. These inquests will be held in the Black Country, the South Manchester, the Birmingham and Solihull and the Manchester city coroners’ jurisdictions respectively.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the dates in chronological order are of the inquests of (a) Private Chris Gray, (b) Lance Corporal George Russell Davey, (c) Corporal Darren Bonner, (d) Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, (e) Private Tony Rawson, (f) Captain David Hicks, (g) Private Aaron James McClure, (h) Private Robert Graham Foster and (i) Private John Thrumble of the 1(st) Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment. [162158]

Bridget Prentice: Lance Corporal Davey’s inquest was held on 2 November 2007 in the Greater Suffolk coroner’s jurisdiction, and the verdict was accidental
13 Nov 2007 : Column 142W
death. No dates have yet been fixed for the inquests into the deaths of the other service personnel mentioned in the question who died in Afghanistan between 13 April and 23 August 2007. The inquests into the deaths of Private Chris Gray, Corporal Bonner, Lance Corporal Hawkins and Private Rawson will be held in the Leicester City and South Leicestershire, North London, Greater Norfolk and East London coroners’ jurisdictions respectively. The inquests into Captain Hicks and the inquests into Privates McClure, Foster and Thrumble will be held together in the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner’s jurisdiction.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the dates in chronological order are of the inquests of (a) Private Ben Ford, (b) Private Damian Wright, (c) Private Johan Botha, (d) Sergeant Craig Brelsford, (e) Private Brian Tunnicliffe of 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment and (f) Colour Sergeant Phillip Newman of 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment. [162159]

Bridget Prentice: No dates have yet been fixed for the inquests into the deaths of these service personnel who died in Afghanistan between 5 and 20 September this year. Their inquests will all be held in the Wiltshire coroner's jurisdiction.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the dates in chronological order are of the inquests of (a) Lance Corporal Paul Sandford, (b) Drummer Thomas Wright and (c) Captain Sean Dolan of the 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters. [162160]

Bridget Prentice: No dates have yet been fixed for the inquests into the deaths of these service personnel who died in Afghanistan between 6 June and 30 June this year. Their inquests will be heard in the Nottinghamshire, Derby and South Derbyshire and the Cheshire coroners' jurisdictions respectively.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the dates in chronological order are of the inquests of (a) Corporal Mike Gilyeat of Royal Military Police, (b) Sergeant Dave Wilkinson of 19 Regiment Royal Artillery, (c) Sergeant Barry Keen of 14 Signal Regiment, (d) Corporal Ivano Violino of 36 Engineer Regiment and (e) Major Alexis Roberts of 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles. [162161]

Bridget Prentice: No dates have yet been fixed for the inquests into the deaths of these service personnel who died in Afghanistan between 30 May and 4 October this year. The inquests into the deaths of Corporal Gilyeat, Sergeant Wilkinson and Major Roberts will be heard in the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner's jurisdiction. Sergeant Keen's and Corporal Violino's inquests will be heard in the Gateshead and South Tyneside and the North West Kent coroners' jurisdictions respectively.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many military inquests have not been completed. [162644]


13 Nov 2007 : Column 143W

Bridget Prentice: As of 9 November, 122 military inquests of fatalities from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have not yet been completed. Four inquests have been completed since the written ministerial statement published in both Houses on 30 October. Full details of progress with the overseas military inquests are set out in that statement.

Coroners: Heathrow Airport

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many bodies of UK citizens were returned to the UK via Heathrow Airport in each year from 2000 to 2006; and which coroner's jurisdictions received them. [163842]

Bridget Prentice: This information is not held centrally and following inquiries with coroners and international funeral directors I can confirm that this information is not available from other sources. I will write to the hon. Member to explain the reasons for this and place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.

Coroners: London

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many out of England certificates have been signed by the coroner, deputy coroner and assistant deputy coroner in each London jurisdiction in each year from 2000 to 2006. [163841]

Bridget Prentice: This information is not held centrally. I am making inquiries with the coroners concerned and will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible. I will place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.

Crown Courts: Aylesbury

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases Aylesbury Crown Court dealt with in each of the last five years; and from which unitary authority each case came. [162824]


13 Nov 2007 : Column 144W

Maria Eagle: Information on the number of court cases dealt with by the unitary authority each case came from is not available.

The following table shows the number of cases committed and sent for trial dealt with by Aylesbury Crown Court in each of the last five years by the name of the committing magistrates’ court.

Number of trial cases dealt with by Aylesbury Crown Court 2002 - 06, by committing magistrates court
Name of magistrates court 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total

Milton Keynes

210

166

153

189

240

958

Wycombe and Beaconsfield

93

151

157

143

170

714

Central Buckinghamshire (Aylesbury)

128

95

115

128

134

600

Other

3

0

2

3

1

9

Transfer Certificate(1)

11

2

0

0

0

13

Voluntary Bill1

1

0

0

0

0

1

(1) A transfer certificate or voluntary bill do not have a committing magistrates' court.

Custodial Treatment: Children

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children of age (a) 10, (b) 11, (c) 12 and (d) 13 were held in custody (i) on remand and (ii) after being convicted of an offence in (A) 2004, (B) 2005 and (C) 2006; and what the average length of detention was in each of those years. [162058]

Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of young people in custody on remand or under sentence as at 30 June in the three years in question. Young people in this age range are accommodated in either a secure children’s home or secure training centre. The data has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board.

Age 10 Age 11 Age 12 Age 13
Sentenced Remanded Sentenced Remanded Sentenced Remanded Sentenced Remanded

2004

0

0

1

0

9

4

43

6

2005

0

0

1

0

10

2

35

6

2006

0

0

0

0

12

1

25

7


The following table shows the average length of detention in days of young people in custody on remand or under sentence as at 30 June in the three years in question, The data has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board.

Age 10 Age 11 Age 12 Age 13
Sentenced Remanded Sentenced Remanded Sentenced Remanded Sentenced Remanded

2004

0

0

264

0

211

34

129

40

2005

0

0

547

0

168

75

164

38

2006

0

0

0

0

130

10

174

26


13 Nov 2007 : Column 145W

Custodial Treatment: Military Bases

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Government plan to introduce mobile holding cells or short-term jails on or near to defence bases. [162413]

Mr. Hanson: The Government are looking at a range of options to ensure demand for prison places is met in the short term. Lord Carter of Coles has been appointed to review a range of issues on prison capacity and is due to report later this autumn.

Departments: Official Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will break down the figures referred to in the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 804W, on Departments: official hospitality, to give the amounts spent on each function at which hospitality expenses were incurred. [162192]

Maria Eagle: The amount of hospitality expenditure incurred by the former Department for Constitutional Affairs, which covers costs for Her Majesty’s Courts Service, Tribunals Service, Public Guardianship Office and DCA Headquarters, for 2006-07 was £46,002 made up of a large number of high volume, low value transactions.

Of the £46,002 spent, just over £41,000 related to Her Majesty’s Courts Service and was made up of 800 individual transactions which, with the exception of five, were all below £1,000.

Expenditure by the Department on the more formal official functions is not accounted for under ‘Hospitality’.

All hospitality expenditure incurred by the Department is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, which are based on the principles set out in Government Accounting and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.


Next Section Index Home Page