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18 Feb 2008 : Column 185W—continued
Western Sahara: Human Rights
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects the report to the UN Human Rights Council on the Western Sahara and refugee camps at Tindouf, completed in September 2006, to be published. [186732]
Dr. Howells: The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) visited Morocco, Western Sahara and Algeria in May to June 2006 to gather information on the human rights situation. The OHCHR shared its report privately with Morocco, Algeria and the Polisario in September 2006. The UN maintains its decision not to make the report public and we do not therefore expect the report to be published more widely.
Zimbabwe: Sanctions
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the sanctions against President Mugabe of Zimbabwe and other members of the Zimbabwean Government are intended to apply to access to educational opportunities in the UK for Zimbabwean nationals; and if he will make a statement. [185801]
Meg Munn: The EU Common Position’s targeted measures comprise a travel ban and assets freeze on Robert Mugabe and 130 other Zimbabweans. All members of Mugabe’s Cabinet and ZANU-PF’s Politburo are included, together with governors, heads of security forces, election officials and others associated with abuses. Other Zimbabwean nationals who are not subject to these targeted measures and who intend to come to the UK in order to study must meet the relevant requirements of the immigration rules.
Justice
A v. Hoare
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what implications the House of Lords' ruling in A v . Hoare has on the lapse of time after which cases may not be brought for battery and common assault (a) under common law and (b) under military law; and if he will make a statement. [186873]
Bridget Prentice: The recent ruling by the House of Lords in the cases of A v. Hoare, C(FC) v. Middlesbrough council, X(FC) and another (FC) v. London borough of Wandsworth, H(FC) v. Suffolk county council and Young (FC) v. Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) considered the limitation periods for bringing an action for damages for personal injury in the civil courts.
These periods, which are set out in the Limitation Act 1980, do not relate to the prosecution of criminal offences under criminal or military law such as battery and common assault.
The Government are carefully considering the implications of the ruling for civil claims.
ClearSprings
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what process was followed by which ClearSprings was given authority to operate on a site in Kemsley; and if he will make a statement. [186833]
Mr. Hanson: The Ministry of Justice awarded a contract for the Bail Accommodation and Support Service in England and Wales to ClearSprings Management Ltd. in June 2007. The contract is managed in each region by the Regional Offender Manager, who determines the requirement for property based on the distribution of prisoner origins in the region. ClearSprings consult the police and the local authority in the acquisition of all properties. No objections were raised in relation to the house in Kemsley.
Coroners
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to reform the coroner service in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [185468]
Bridget Prentice:
The Government remain committed to reform of the coroner system and a Bill will be brought before Parliament as soon as time allows. We will introduce measures ahead of legislation which will help to achieve one of the fundamental aims of the Bill in providing a better service for bereaved families. These
include strengthening Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules 1984 to help prevent future deaths, revising the Charter for the Bereaved for a reformed service, and working with the Press Complaints Commission to establish whether their code of practice for editors could be refined for the benefit of bereaved families.
Cross-Party Committee
Sir Patrick Cormack: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times the Cross-Party Committee on the House of Lords has met since November 2007; and if he will publish the minutes of those meetings. [185380]
Mr. Straw: The cross-party working group on House of Lords reform has met three times since November 2007. The Government have no plans to publish the minutes of the Group's meetings. It is important that that the members of the cross-party group are able to debate the policy options for reform vigorously in order to expose the advantages and disadvantages of these options and to fully understand their implications. It is in the public interest that these discussions can take place away from public scrutiny.
Departmental ICT
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) mobile telephones, (b) personal digital assistants and (c) laptop computers issued to his Department's staff have been reported (i) lost, (ii) missing and (iii) stolen in each year since 2001. [184487]
Mr. Wills: The information requested on laptops reported lost, stolen and missing, is as follows:
| Lost | Missing | Stolen | |
The losses were from a variety of locations across England and Wales.
The Department does not hold a comprehensive central record for mobile telephones and personal digital assistants. Details taken from available records are as follows:
| Mobile phones | ||
| Stolen | Lost | |
| Personal digital assistants | ||
| Stolen | Lost | |
Departmental Reorganisation
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how responsibility for property costs was allocated between his Department and the Home Office after the restructuring of the Department's responsibilities. [181942]
Mr. Hanson: Responsibility for property costs for the National Offender Management Service and the Prison and Probation Estates rests with the Ministry of Justice and those for the Home Office estate with the Home Office.
Driving Under Influence
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there were for drink driving offences in (a) Romford, (b) Essex and (c) Greater London in 2007. [186918]
Maria Eagle: Available information held on convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs for the year 2005 (latest available) is provided in the following table. Information is available at police force area level only. 2006 data will be available later this year. 2007 data will be available next year.
The data provided covers both drink and drugs offences combined, as volumes of convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs cannot be accurately established.
| Findings of guilt at all courts for offences of driving etc after consuming alcohol or taking drugs( 1) , within Essex and Greater London( 2) , 2005 | |
| Number of offences | |
| (1) Data provided covers summary offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs (which cannot be distinguished separately). (2) City of London and Metropolitan police forces combined. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |
Drugs: Driving Under Influence
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions for drug-driving took place (a) in England and (b) in each police authority area in each year since 1997. [186023]
Maria Eagle: Available information held on convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from 1997 to 2005 (latest available) is provided in the following table. 2006 data will be available later this year.
The data provided cover both drink and drugs offences combined, as volumes of convictions and
custodial sentences for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs cannot be accurately established.
| Findings of guilt at all courts for offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs( 1) , England and by police force are a , 1997 to 2005 | |||||||||
| Number of offences | |||||||||
| Findings of guilt | |||||||||
| Police force area | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| n/a = Not available (1) Data provided cover summary offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs (which cannot reliably be distinguished separately). (2) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used. | |||||||||
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