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11 May 2009 : Column 546W—continued
Electoral Register: Overseas Residence
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many expatriate British electors are registered to vote in general and European elections. [273467]
Mr. Wills: A British citizen who is not resident in the UK is able to vote in UK and European parliamentary elections for up to 15 years after leaving the UK provided that they were included in a register of parliamentary electors where they were last resident. In addition, a British citizen who was resident in the UK within the last 15 years but who was too young to be included in a register of parliamentary electors before they left is also able to vote.
Eligible overseas electors wishing to register for such elections must complete an application and declaration to be included in the category of ‘overseas elector’ in the electoral register. This category might include, for example, British citizens who may be studying or working abroad and those on working holidays. According to ONS figures, as of 1 December 2008 13,632 electors can register at any time up to 11 days before a poll this figure may increase in the run up to an election.
Electoral Register: Standards
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Electoral Commission on underperforming electoral registration departments, as referred to in the Electoral Commission's recent report, Performance Standards for electoral registration officers in Great Britain; and if he will make it his policy directly to inform each hon. Member representing a constituency in an underperforming local authority area that their local authority is underperforming. [272731]
Mr. Wills: On 22 April 2009 the Electoral Commission published its first set of results in respect of its performance standards regime for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in Great Britain.
Each ERO self assessed themselves against the 10 standards grouped into four broad subject areas:
Completeness and accuracy of electoral registration records
integrity of the registration process
encouraging participation in the registration process and
planning and organisation.
The aim of the performance standards is to identify best practice by those EROs meeting or exceeding the standards and to allow steps to be taken to improve the performance of those who have not meet the standards. We want all EROs to perform at the level of the best.
I intend to discuss the result of performance standards for EROs when I next meet with the Commission. I do not intend to make it my policy to inform each hon. Member representing a constituency in an underperforming local authority area that their local authority is underperforming. It is the Electoral Commission’s role under the performance standards regime to monitor and analyse the performance of EROs and we do no wish to duplicate that.
I understand that the Electoral Commission has published comprehensive detailed information about the 2008 assessment of performance by each ERO in Great Britain against the performance standards on its website. I would urge all Members to take the time to examine the results for their respective areas.
European Court of Human Rights
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which legal firms have received public money in support of an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in which the Government is a party since May 1997; and how much each has received. [274033]
Mr. Wills: The Council of Europe has its own legal aid scheme to support applicants at the European Court of Human Rights. The Government do not hold statistics on the specific disbursement of money from this scheme to applicants and their representatives. UK public funding is not available for proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights.
Land Registry
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to box 3.E of the final report of the Operational Efficiency programme, by what means the Land Registry will develop opportunities for the provision of wider commercial services and products. [274199]
Mr. Wills: Land Registry currently provides add value products and services under the following headings; consultancy services, data services, electronic and online services and register services.
Land Registry is embarking upon the implementation of an organisational strategy under the heading of ‘Customer Engagement Management’. Central to this strategy will be the implementation of an internal framework to bring together people process and systems capable of identifying, developing and delivery appropriate products and services that meet current and future customer needs through gaining increased customer knowledge.
Land Registry will proactively use this approach to identify opportunities that deliver added value products and services to their customers; this will further harness the power of customer knowledge to align Land Registry’s core business around the changing needs of its customers.
Legal Profession: Honours
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which members of legal firms who have acted for those bringing cases against the Government in the European Court of Human Rights since May 1997 have received an honour. [274286]
Mr. Wills: The Government do not keep a central record of which legal firms have acted for applicants in cases against the United Kingdom at the European Court of Human Rights. Where an application has resulted in an admissibility decision or judgment by the Court—these are available publicly on the Court's website at:
the applicant's representatives may be named in the decision or judgment. The names of individuals who have received honours are published in the London Gazette.
Probation: Wales
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many trainee probation officers he expects to qualify in the South Wales probation area in 2009; and how many permanent posts for such trainees there will be in that year; [273756]
(2) how many trainee probation officers he expects to qualify in (a) Wales and (b) England in 2009; [273828]
(3) how many trainee probation officers he expects to qualify in Dyfed Powys probation area in 2009; and how many posts there will be for newly-qualified officers in that area of qualification; [273829]
(4) how many trainee probation officers he expects to qualify in Gwent probation area in 2009; and how many posts there will be for newly-qualified officers in that area of qualification; [273830]
(5) how many trainee probation officers he expects to qualify in North Wales probation area in 2009; and how many posts there will be for newly-qualified officers in that area of qualification; [273831]
(6) what estimate he has made of the cost of training a probation officer. [273832]
Mr. Hanson: The number of trainee probation officers (TPOs) due to qualify in each area requested is shown in the table.
| Area | Number of TPOs due to qualify in 2009 |
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