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30 Jan 2008 : Column 480W—continued
Justice
Cambridgeshire Probation Service
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals were accommodated in the Peterborough city council area under the auspices of the Cambridgeshire Probation Service MAPPA arrangements at (a) level 1, (b) level 2 and (c) level 3 as at 31 December in each year since 2001. [178644]
Maria Eagle: The available data is not collated by council area or by parliamentary constituency. Data on offenders in the three levels of the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) are collated geographically by MAPPA area. MAPPA areas are coterminous with police force and probation areas. This data is published in (MAPPA) annual reports which are available in the House Libraries and at
The Peterborough city council area is not coterminous with any area, but is covered by the data relating to Cambridgeshire area as published in its MAPPA annual report. MAPPA data are collected on 31 March each year, for the period covering the previous year.
Figures relating to MAPPA level 3 were not collected until the period covering 2002-03; figures relating to other MAPPA levels were not collected separately until 2004-05.
| Cambridgeshire MAPPA statistics (broken down by level/year) | |||||
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| (1) Although level 1 and 2 data was not collected, figures on offenders were collected via MAPPA Category during 2002-03 and 2003-04. | |||||
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service: Data Protection
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will make a statement on the action progressed against the United Kingdom by the European Union for failing to implement European Directive 95/46/EU on the basis that there is no lex forum for a Children and Family Courts Advisory Support Service report to be rectified; and if he will make a statement; [182143]
(2) what mechanisms exist to allow litigants to correct inaccuracies in a Children and Family Courts Advisory Support Service report when a family court judge does not order rectification and assertion remains disputed; and if he will make a statement; [182144]
(3) what assessment he has made of the impact of European Directive 95/46/EU on the ability of an individual to correct inaccurate information contained in a Children and Family Courts Advisory Support Service report; and if he will make a statement. [182145]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
It is the practice of CAFCASS to ensure that the parties to proceedings in which a CAFCASS officer has been appointed have access to the CAFCASS report before it is presented to the court. Where factual inaccuracies are brought to the attention of the CAFCASS officer, the correct information is included in the report and the error noted in the file. It is also the case that differences of opinion or judgment are routinely reflected in CAFCASS reports. In addition, concerns about the factual accuracy or other aspects of the report (for example, the extent of the inquiries, the opinions expressed in it or matters disputed by the parties) may be raised in court during the course of the proceedings. It is for the court to make findings of fact, based on the evidence before it, including the contents of the CAFCASS report, and to determine the outcome of applications based on those findings. CAFCASS’ records include details of the findings and determinations made by the courts.
Compliance with Article 22 of Directive 95/46/EC is achieved through the Data Protection Act 1998 section 14(1), under the terms of which a data subject can apply to court for rectification, blocking, erasure or destruction of personal data relating to him or her. If the personal data are inaccurate, the court can make an order not only in relation to those data but also any other personal data relating to the applicant containing an expression of opinion which appears to the court to be based on the inaccurate data.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Winter Supplementary Estimates (HC 29), if he will break down his Department’s (a) main estimate and (b) winter supplementary estimate provision by subhead in (i) near-cash and (ii) non-cash terms. [174991]
Maria Eagle: Near-cash and non-cash are essentially used as departmental expenditure limit (DEL) budgetary control concepts and are not specifically identified with voted resources in estimates. However, we have been able to break down net total resources for each section in the ‘Part II: Subhead’ detail table of our main and winter supplementary estimates as follows.
| £000 | ||||||
| Section | Main estimate | Winter supplementary estimate | ||||
| Spending in (voted) DEL | Near- cash | Non-cash | Total | Near- cash | Non-cash | Total |
The following table relates to cash grants to the relevant bodies.
| £000 | ||
| Non-budget | Main estimate | Winter supplementary estimate |
In addition, the Department provided £2,000 (000s) in capital grants for local authorities in the winter supplementary estimate. Capital grants are treated as resource in the estimate and capital in terms of departmental expenditure limit (DEL).
In line with the creation of the Ministry of Justice and owing to the machinery of Government changes, a transfer of a number of business areas with funding from the Home Office took effect in the winter supplementary estimate.
House of Lords: Reform
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to publish a further White Paper on House of Lords reform. [182616]
Mr. Straw: The Government will publish the White Paper before the summer recess. I am chairing a cross-party group, working to gain consensus from parliamentarians of all parties and of none. We want the White Paper to reflect the results of this group’s conclusions.
Law Society: Complaints
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he is investigating complaints made to the Law Society’s Legal Complaints Service by miners and their families relating to solicitors making inappropriate deductions from miners’ compensation awards, with reference to the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner’s report “Investigation into the Handling of Coal Health Compensation Scheme Complaints by The Legal Complaints Service and Solicitors Regulation Authority,” dated 15 January 2008; whether he plans to take other steps in response to that report; and if he will make a statement. [178831]
Bridget Prentice: The legal profession is independent, and complaints about solicitors are therefore a matter for the Law Society rather than Government. However, the Government believe that it is important that miners who complain to the Law Society about their claims under the Coal Health Compensation Scheme get the level of service and compensation that they deserve. The Government therefore seek regular updates from the Law Society to ensure that progress is being made in continually improving the service, and are awaiting a detailed response from the Law Society to the LSCC Special Report.
The Government have legislated in the Legal Services Act 2007 to create an independent Office for Legal Complaints which will remove complaints handling from the legal professional bodies. It will also enable approved regulators to deal more effectively with cases of widespread wrongdoing in the future.
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to (a) retrain Legal Complaints Service caseworkers on the various options open to miners and (b) assess the financial implications of each option with reference to the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner’s report “Investigation into the Handling of Coal Health Compensation Scheme Complaints by The Legal Complaints Service and Solicitors Regulation Authority,” of 15 January 2008. [178832]
Bridget Prentice: The legal profession is independent and complaints about solicitors are therefore a matter for the Law Society rather than Government. The Legal Complaints Service has informed the Ministry of Justice that its staff receive regular ongoing training taking into account feedback from all quarters including the LSCC. The LCS is currently investigating the financial implications of case handling options.
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