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4 Mar 2008 : Column 2369W—continued
Monarchy: Marriage
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) whether the opinion in respect of royal marriages, prepared by the Attorney General and dated 28 October 1955, at the request of the Lord Chancellor, Viscount Kilmuir is still extant; and if he will make a statement; [188413]
(2) what guidance he holds on who comes within the scope of section (a) 1 and (b) 2 of the Royal Marriage Act 1772; and on how many occasions the process in section 2 has been implemented in the last 30 years. [188412]
Mr. Straw: Any amendment to the Royal Marriages Act 1772 that touched on Succession to the Crown would engage the Statute of Westminster 1931. The opinion that the Attorney-General provided in 1955 to the then Lord Chancellor, is publicly available on the Ministry of Justice website:
The Department holds no guidance on the scope of section 1 beyond the requirement on the face of the Act that it applies to the descendants of George II except those who are the issue of princesses married into foreign families. There is no record of the process in section 2 having been implemented in the last 30 years.
Polygamy
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what (a) research he has commissioned and (b) representations he has received on the recognition of polygamous marriages. [190488]
Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice has not commissioned research or received any official representations on the recognition of polygamous marriages.
A person domiciled in a country where polygamous marriage is permitted, is free to enter into such a marriage in that country. Provided the parties follow the necessary requirements under the law of the country in question, the marriage would be recognised in England and Wales as a valid and polygamous marriage.
Prisoners: Health
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners detained in Essex have been classified as in need of assistance for mental health problems; and if he will make a statement. [190704]
Maria Eagle: This information is not held centrally.
Investment in prison mental health in-reach services has been nearly £20 million each year since 2004-05. In total, the Government are investing around £200 million on prison health services in 2006-07—a substantial increase on the £118 million spent in 2002-03.
All prisoners, both new prisoners and those transferred from one prison to another, benefit from a new health screening process that is designed to detect physical and mental health problems.
Prisoners who are identified as needing further help can be referred to a mental health in-reach team, who will arrange further assessment and follow up referral.
Prisons
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has spent on feasibility studies of the proposed titan prisons; and if he will make a statement. [188156]
Mr. Straw: The Government announced on 5 December that it had accepted Lord Carter of Coles’ recommendation to build up to three Titan prisons. Lord Carter had access to a range of expertise and advice in drawing up his report and consulted a variety of stakeholders. The cost of work to date to examine the feasibility of Titan prisons is not separately identifiable.
Prisons: Scotland
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether there have been discussions between his Department and the Scottish Executive on the provision of high security facilities within the Scottish Prison Service for the imprisonment of terrorists convicted under the Scottish judicial system. [190851]
Mr. Hanson: I am not aware of any discussions with the Scottish Executive on this subject. However, HM Prison Service liaises with the Scottish Prison Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service on a range of issues of mutual interest.
Speed Limits: Fines
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fines arising from speed cameras in London were (a) unpaid after exhaustion of the legal process and (b) overdue at the most recent date for which figures are available. [190525]
Maria Eagle: Information on unpaid and overdue fines from speed camera convictions is not collected centrally.
The information collected by my Department identifies the number of fixed penalties ordered to be paid and the number and amounts of court fines issued for such offences within each police force area. Fixed penalties that remain unpaid after the statutory period (28 days in the case of a fixed penalty resulting from unattended camera operation) are registered as fines at one and a half times the original fixed penalty amount.
The overall payment rate for fines in general for the period to January 2008 is 92 per cent. It is not possible to breakdown the total of unpaid fines for individual offences.
Suicide: Internet
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to give young people greater protection from suicide-related web sites. [188281]
Maria Eagle:
I understand concerns about these websites and the influence they may have over vulnerable people, particularly young people. As part of its review of the law relating to assisting and encouraging crime, the Law
Commission examined the issue of suicide websites and made some recommendations which the Government are considering. Those recommendations, if implemented, would update but not substantively change the law. The Law Commission were absolutely clear in their conclusion that existing law is capable of dealing with the contemporary problem posed by suicide websites.
We have looked again at this area of law in the light of recent tragic events in Bridgend but we believe that the offences of assisting and attempting to assist suicide should together be sufficient to respond to any behaviour that ought to be unlawful.
Trials: Measurement
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases are (a) under investigation and (b) awaiting court proceedings in respect of the use of imperial weights and measures; and if he will make a statement; [190478]
(2) what cases in which legal proceedings have been completed have been prosecuted in relation to preventing the use of imperial weights and measures in each of the last three years. [190479]
Maria Eagle: The available information on prosecutions under the Weights and Measures act 1985 for offences related to weights and measures provisions is provided in the following table:
| Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts under the Weights and Measures Act 1985 for offences related to weights and measures provisions, England and Wales 2004-06 ( 1 2) | |
| Proceeded against | |
| (1 )These data are provided on the principal offence basis. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. Notes: However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. 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. Source: Court Proceedings Database—Office For Criminal Justice Reform | |
It is not possible to identify the number of these prosecutions relating solely to the use of imperial weights and measures from other prosecutions under the Weights and Measurement Act 1985.
Enforcement of weights and measures legislation is undertaken by local authority Trading Standards Departments. Local authorities do not report the number of cases under investigations or awaiting trial under weights and measures legislation to my Department.
Health
Abortion
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) second and (b) third abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2007. [189982]
Dawn Primarolo: The Annual Abortion Statistics for England and Wales 2007 will be published in June this year. Statistics for repeat abortions for 2006 and previous years are available in the “Annual Statistics, England and Wales”, statistical bulletin copies of which are available in the Library.
Adult Audiology Services
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts purchased additional adult audiology services in each of the last two years. [191216]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 3 March 2008]: This information is not held centrally.
Air Pollution: Health Hazards
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the levels of respiratory diseases in areas which are subjected to air quality management orders in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [189478]
Ann Keen: The Department has made no assessment of the levels of respiratory diseases in areas which are subjected to air quality management orders.
Alcohol Health Alliance
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent meetings he has had with representatives of the Alcohol Health Alliance. [190129]
Dawn Primarolo: On 12 December 2007, I met with Professor Ian Gilmore, who is President of the Royal College of Physicians and Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance. The meeting was to discuss the newly established Alliance and the action the Government are taking under its strategy “Safe, Sensible, Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy”.
On 21 November 2007, the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and I, met with alcohol retailers, alcohol manufacturers, enforcement agencies, representatives of local councils and doctors and academics specialising in alcohol issues, to discuss the problems of under-age drinking and binge-drinking. Professor Gilmore and other representatives of Alliance member organisations took part in this meeting.
Alcoholic Drinks: Death
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of deaths were alcohol-related for (a) men and (b) women in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [190130]
Dawn Primarolo: In 2006 the male death rate was 18.3 deaths per 100,000 population, and the female death rate was 8.8 deaths per 100,000 population.
These latest figures for alcohol-related deaths show that much more needs to be done to address the
chronic and acute harms that are caused by alcohol misuse. It is vital that we ensure that everyone understands the sensible drinking message and that the public drinks within the low risk levels.
That is why “Safe. Sensible. Social.?the next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy”, seeks to implement key actions to raise awareness, by:
promoting a culture of sensible drinking;
raising unit awareness—the Department of Health and the Home Office will jointly launch a much expanded, £10 million sustained national communications campaign in spring that will raise the public’s knowledge of units of alcohol and ensure that everyone has the information they need to estimate how much they really do drink;
providing more help for those who want to drink less, through a £3.2 million investment to establish a series of intervention and brief advice ‘Trailblazer’ projects in health and criminal justice settings to identify people who are drinking at harmful or potentially harmful levels and to offer them help and advice; and
supporting harmful drinkers—the Government will support the development of a range of new kinds of information and advice aimed at people who drink at harmful levels and their families and friends. These will run alongside other kinds of support and advice from the national health service.
We have put in place a new NHS indicator to measure the change in the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol related harm (Hospital Episode Statistics data)—the first ever national commitment to monitor how the NHS is tackling alcohol health harms. This indicator is expected to encourage primary care trusts to invest in earlier identification of people who drink too much linked to advice and support from general practitioners or hospitals—shown to be the best way of reducing the kind of ‘everyday’ drinking which over time leads to liver disease and other problems.
Notes:
The ONS definition of alcohol-related deaths (which includes causes regarded as most directly due to alcohol consumption) was revised in 2006. Details can be found at: www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=14496 and link on this page to ‘Alcohol-related deaths in the UK’. ONS has agreed with the GROS and NISRA that this definition will be used to report alcohol-related deaths for the United Kingdom.
Sources:
Office for National Statistics (ONS), General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (published on 25 January 2008).
The introduction of the Tenth Revision of the “International Classification of Diseases” (ICD-10) for coding cause of death means that data following its implementation are not completely comparable with earlier years. Mortality data for England and Wales show that the introduction of ICD-10 resulted in a difference in the number of alcohol-related deaths below one per cent.
Rates are based on deaths registered in each calendar year and are directly age-standardised using the European Standard Population.
Allergies: Health Services
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were referred on for diagnosis of a suspected allergy to (a) allergy specialists, (b) paediatricians, (c) pathologists and (d) dermatologists by GPs in 2007. [189765]
Ann Keen: Information on the number of people referred on by general practitioners for diagnosis of a suspected allergy is not collected.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work his Department has undertaken with Skills for Health to develop national occupational standards for staff involved in allergy services. [189766]
Ann Keen: The Department has commissioned Skills for Health to work with stakeholders to develop national occupational standards (NOS) for staff working with allergy. The NOS will be:
informed by best practice in delivery of health care with allergy;
based on patient-led standards ensuring high standards; and
a relevant resource for the four countries of the United Kingdom and encompass the expressed need of the voluntary, independent and public sector health care services.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has designated a lead strategic health authority for allergy services. [189768]
Ann Keen: The Department is currently exploring the feasibility of designating a lead strategic health authority (SHA) for allergy services with interested parties, including SHAs and specialised commissioning groups.
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