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6 Oct 2008 : Column 173W—continued
Dorneywood
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 19 June 2008, Official Report, column 1187W, on Dorneywood: official hospitality, what use his Department has made of Dorneywood for official engagements in the last 12 months. [221962]
Mr. Wills: My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has the use of Dorneywood as an official residence. The Chancellor and the Trustees have made Dorneywood available to other Ministers to use for official engagements. Since September 2007, the Commons Chief Whip, the Leader of the House of Lords and Treasury Ministers have made use of Dorneywood for official engagements.
The Ministry of Justice has not used Dorneywood for any official engagements in the last 12 months.
Driving Offences: Greater London
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) cautioned and (b) fined for speeding in each London borough in each year since 2000; and what proportion of those offences were detected using speed cameras. [221892]
Maria Eagle: Available information on speed limit offences within the Metropolitan and City of London police force areas combined from 2000 to 2006 (latest available) is provided in the following tables. 2007 data should be available later in the autumn of this year.
Data is only available data at police force area level.
| Number of written warnings issued( 1) , court imposed fines( 2) at magistrates courts( 3) and fixed penalty notices issued( 4) for speed limit offence( 5) , within London( 6) , 2000-06 | ||||||||||||
| Number of offences | ||||||||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |||||||||
| Offence type | Court imposed fine | Fixed penalty notices issued | Written warnings | Court imposed fine | Fixed penalty notices issued | Written warnings | Court imposed fine | Fixed penalty notices issued | Written warnings | Court imposed fine | Fixed penalty notices issued | Written warnings |
EDF Energy
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what contracts (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have with EDF; and how much (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies paid to EDF in each of the last 10 years, broken down by the purpose of the payment. [221839]
Mr. Wills: The information requested to give a complete answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost as it is not held centrally nor in common format.
The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007. Contracts held with EDF for the former parts of the Department for Constitutional Affairs were for supply of gas prior to November 2005, post November 2005 expenditure was for the supply of electricity on sites with a maximum demand greater than 100 kVA (kilovolt amp (one thousand volt amperes)). From 2005 figures shown include HM Courts Service and from 2006 figures also include the Tribunals Service. The amount paid to EDF (including VAT) is:
| Amount paid to EDF (£) | |
| (1)( )Contract started in 2002 | |
Contracts held with EDF for HM Prison Service (HMPS) were for the supply of electricity on sites with a maximum demand greater than 100 kVA (kilovolt amp (one thousand volt amperes)). The amount paid to EDF (including VAT) by HMPS for each of the last three financial years is:
| Amount paid to EDF (£) | |
The accounting practices changed for the financial year of 2005-06, therefore HMPS will only be able to provide prior year data at a disproportionate cost.
Contracts held with EDF for The National Archives were for the supply of electricity. The amount paid to EDF (including VAT) by The National Archives is:
| Amount paid to EDF (£) | |
| (1)( )Contract began June 2005. | |
Elections: Fraud
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 24 June 2008, Official Report, columns 9-11WS, on consultation on weekend voting, what the evidential basis is for the statement that there is no evidence that overall levels of fraud are increasing in elections. [223070]
Mr. Wills: The Electoral Commission's report “Allegations of electoral malpractice in England and Wales 2000 to 2006”, gives details of allegations of electoral malpractice. The report found that between 2000 and 2006 there were 402 allegations of offences under the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1983 (RPA offences include tampering with nomination papers, making false declarations as to election expenses, bribery, treating, undue influence and personation offences). A breakdown of the figures is set out as follows:
| Number of allegations | |
The figures show that the number of allegations reached a peak in 2003 and has since declined.
Further, the Electoral Commission's report “Further analysis of CPS files on allegations of electoral malpractice in England and Wales, 2000 to 2006”, gives details of prosecutions for electoral malpractice. The report found that there were 23 convictions for RPA offences between 2000 and 2006. Though convictions do not necessarily occur in the same year that proceedings are initiated, the information published with the report shows that the number of convictions relating to RPA offences in the period 2000 to 2006 peaked at 11 in 2001, and the number of convictions has since declined.
The Electoral Commission's separate reports on the introduction of absent voting personal identifiers in England and Wales and on the May 2007 local government elections note that the introduction of personal identifiers for postal voters has had a positive impact on the safety and security of the electoral system, and that at the 2007 elections the scale and volume of allegations of offences were both considerably down on 2006. More recently, the Electoral Commission concluded in its report on the May 2008 local elections in England that the available information suggests that the scale and volume of allegations of offences during the elections in May 2008 were down on 2007.
Elections: Parish Councils
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what dispensations are granted to parish and town councils to enable them to hold elections without issuing polling cards to the electorate. [222663]
Bridget Prentice: Parish and town councils have the discretion to decide whether or not a poll card should be issued for an election when the poll is not combined with the poll at another election. A parish or town council’s decision may be based on a number of local factors such as the size of the electorate, the anticipated turnout and whether an election is likely to be contested.
If poll cards are required, parish or town councils must request the returning officer to issue official poll cards for that election nineteen days prior to the date of the poll.
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