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2 Nov 2009 : Column 623W—continued
There were also 47 education applications for funding from pot 4 of the 2009-10 Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Programme in the first funding round. These correspond to the following projects:
| Organisation | Project name |
|
Modernising outdoor swimming pools-St. Johns Primary Sch, Knapp Hill, Goldsworth | |
Swimming: West Yorkshire
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people resident in (a) Leeds and (b) West Yorkshire have participated in the scheme for free swimming for people over 60 years. [296483]
Mr. Bradshaw: The table shows the total number of free swims that have taken place under the free swimming scheme by people aged 60 and over in Leeds and Yorkshire since the programme launched in April. This is not a measure of the total number of individual participants taking part in free swimming, as the Department does not hold these figures.
The Department holds figures by local authority; county and region. Accordingly, figures for West Yorkshire are included within those for Yorkshire as a whole.
| Leeds | Yorkshire | |
Prime Minister
Members: Correspondence
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister if he will send a substantive response to the letter dated 24 August 2009 sent to him by Dr. Jim Swire requesting a full public inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing; and if he will make a statement. [296065]
The Prime Minister: A reply has been sent.
Tony Blair
Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on proposals to nominate Tony Blair to the position of President of the European Council; what the outcome of such discussions has been; and if he will make a statement; [296567]
(2) what recent discussions he has had with (a) hon. and right hon. Members and (b) members of the House of Lords of each party on proposals to nominate Tony Blair to the position of President of the European Council; and if he will make a statement. [296568]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the press briefing given by my spokesman on 27 October. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website at:
A copy of the transcript has been placed in the Library of the House.
Solicitor-General
Criminal Proceedings
Philip Davies: To ask the Solicitor-General what period of time on average elapsed between the passing of a case file on an arrested individual to the Crown Prosecution Service and the notification to a police force on whether charges would be brought in each category of crime in the latest period for which figures are available. [296336]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution service (CPS) case management system (CMS) reports the average number of calendar days that has elapsed since the first decision was sought from the police, to the date in which the last decision made was to charge. Data reported on CMS show that for the 12-month period from November 2008 to October 2009, the average number of calendar days taken to reach this decision was 8.6 days. This includes cases where a decision to charge was made: on the same day as the request from the police, either by CPS Direct, an out of hours telephone service; by way of face to face advice; or local telephone advice. It also includes those cases where the police were required to submit further evidence prior to a decision to charge being made; and those more complex cases where detailed written advice was provided to the police.
It is not possible to provide a breakdown of this information by category of offence.
Prosecutions: Shoplifting
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what recent representations she has received from small businesses on the rate of prosecutions brought by the Crown Prosecution Service for shoplifting offences. [276122]
The Solicitor-General: As far as I know neither the Attorney-General's Office nor the Crown Prosecution Service has received representations from small businesses. The Government take very seriously the need for the whole criminal justice system to be as effective as possible in tackling crime against shopkeepers and small businesses.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General when she plans to respond to Question (1) 276122, on Crown Prosecution Service rates of prosecution, tabled on 13 May 2009; [292029]
(2) 292029, on the response to a parliamentary question, tabled on 9 October 2009; [297491]
(3) 276122, on rates of prosecution in the Crown Prosecution Service, tabled on 13 May 2009. [297492]
The Solicitor-General: The information is set out in the answer to question 276122 answered today.
Scotland
Departmental Visits Abroad
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on overnight accommodation for (a) Ministers and (b) officials while overseas in each of the last three years. [294690]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not separately record expenditure on overnight accommodation. Lists of the overseas visits made by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 in 2006-07 and of the overseas visits made by all Ministers costing in excess of £500 in 2007-08 and 2008-09 are published at:
All travel is undertaken by the most efficient and costs effective way, in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Northern Ireland
Children: Prosecutions
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children under the age of 17 were subject to legal proceedings following their role in criminal activity in Northern Ireland in (a) 2003 and (b) 2008. [297125]
Paul Goggins: The number of persons under the age of 17 prosecuted at court for an offence in 2003 was 1,068. In 2006 (the latest year for which figures are available), 923 persons were prosecuted.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which companies are under contract to his Department to provide mail services; and when each such contract expires. [296083]
Mr. Woodward: Royal Mail provides external mail services to my Department. This is not a tendered service and therefore there is no formal expiry date.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many helplines his Department operates; and how much his Department has received from the operation of such helplines in each of the last three years. [294984]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) operates two helplines:
1. Mentally disordered offenders victim information scheme; and
2. AccessNI-a criminal records disclosure and vetting service for statutory, community and voluntary bodies.
The NIO does not receive any payment from the operation of these helplines.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will consider the merits of securing accreditation of his Department's helplines to the Helplines Association's quality standard; and if he will make a statement. [295720]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office aims to provide a high-quality service, which reflects best practice, through the current operating procedures used for its two helplines (Access NI and the mentally disordered offenders victim information scheme). While there may be benefits to be gained from securing accreditation to The Helplines Association's quality standard I do not consider that, at current user levels, the resource implications involved in seeking accreditation would be justified on value-for-money grounds.
Departmental Visits Abroad
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on overnight accommodation for (a) Ministers and (b) officials while overseas in each of the last three years. [294698]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and Executive NDPBs, spent £2,728.56 on overnight accommodation for Ministers and £11,145.37 for officials while overseas in 2008-09.
Due to the way this expenditure is recorded on the NIO financial system, figures for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08 would be available only at disproportionate cost.
The following link to the Cabinet Office website provides costs for Ministers' travel overseas, but only provides a total cost of the visit and does not separate the various areas of expenditure;
Devolution
Mr. Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by what date he expects devolution of powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly to have been completed. [296836]
Paul Goggins: The Government believe that the time is right for the Northern Ireland Assembly to complete the process of devolution by requesting the transfer of policing and justice powers. However, the actual timing of devolution remains for the Assembly itself to decide upon, as set out in section 4 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Good progress continues to be made towards the completion of devolution and I believe that the financial package set out by the Prime Minister should enable the parties to move forward with the process.
Northern Ireland Policing Board: Finance
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what proportion of the administration budget of the Northern Ireland Policing Board was spent on the operation of district policing partnerships in the latest period for which figures are available; [297416]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of district policing partnerships in Northern Ireland; [297417]
(3) who the members of each district policing partnership in Northern Ireland are; and what the declared political affiliation of each is; [297447]
(4) how many meetings of each district policing partnership in Northern Ireland have taken place in each of the last two years. [297448]
Paul Goggins: These are operational matters for the Northern Ireland Policing Board, which is independent of Government. The hon. Gentleman may wish to write to the Chief Executive of the Policing Board.
Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff there are in the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland; and how much it spent on (a) administration and (b) public relations in the latest period for which figures are available. [297412]
Paul Goggins: These are operational matters relating to the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. I have asked the Chief Executive to reply to the hon. Member directly, and will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library of the House.
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