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Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they intend to publish an analysis of responses to the consultation paper on proposals for regulations on draft guidance to local highway authorities on the preparation of the rights of way improvement plans, which was published on 21 December 2001 and for which comments were sought by 28 March 2002; and when they intend to issue draft regulations.[HL3483]
Lord Whitty: We envisage that final guidance, incorporating responses to the consultation paper, will be published in the summer, with a commencement order bringing into force Sections 60 to 62 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. We have no plans to make any regulations relating to this provision, but that is subject to the responses to consultation.
Used Tyres
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How they intend that used tyres and chipped tyres shall be disposed of when they are banned from landfill sites in 2003 and 2006 respectively.[HL3530]
Lord Whitty: Over 400,000 tonnes of used tyres are disposed of annually in the UK. Seventy per cent of these are already beneficially treated through a variety of processes rather than being sent to landfill. Examples include retreading, granulating the tyre for inclusion in sports and safety surfaces and the use of tyres as a substitute fuel. Capacity to treat used tyres continues to grow in anticipation of the forthcoming ban on their disposal to landfill.
The Department of Trade and Industry has recently issued a discussion paper on a possible producer responsibility model to deal with used tyres, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Canals: Freight Traffic
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have for the use of the canals for freight as part of British Waterways recently announced regeneration initiative Unlocked and Unlimited.[HL3608]
Lord Whitty: The Government appointed the Freight Study Group in November 2000 to examine the scope for increasing freight traffic on the canals and other inland waterways of England and Wales. I am considering the group's report with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (David Jamieson) and will make an announcement in due course.
Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund
Baroness Gale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How they intend to implement the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.[HL3689]
Lord Whitty: Last year we consulted on proposals for funding work on minimising the demand for primary aggregates; promoting environmentally friendly aggregates extraction and transport; and reducing the local effects of aggregate extraction through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. Copies of the consultation document are available in the House of Commons Library.
In response to the consultation we have decided to distribute the fund broadly in line with these proposals. However, we also will support with £800,000 per annum additional work under the category "reducing the local effects of aggregates
extraction". This will be a local authority led pilot project run by Leicestershire, Somerset and Derbyshire County Councils—the three areas of greatest aggregates extraction.To ensure that existing programmes provide additionality, project criteria will state that projects will be additional to activity in existing programmes.
Mr Anthony Gerald Dickinson
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they consider that the police and the Crown Prosecution Service acted properly and promptly as regards releasing to his solicitor unused material from the prosecution of Mr Anthony Gerald Dickinson, now serving a long sentence in HM Prison Wakefield. [HL3466]
The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith): Mr Anthony Gerald Dickinson was unanimously convicted by a jury at Leeds Crown Court in June 1991 on two counts of murder. He received a sentence of life imprisonment.
It is now some considerable time since the case was originally heard and many of the key participants in the original investigation and prosecution have retired or left their respective organisations rendering specific detailed inquiry as to detailed case handling issues impracticable.
So far as can be ascertained, the solicitors representing Mr Dickinson at that time were provided with full disclosure, prior to the trial, of all relevant material arising in the case to enable the proper conduct of the defence on Mr Dickinson's behalf.
Following Mr Dickinson's conviction, his application for leave to appeal against that conviction was considered and rejected by the Court of Appeal.
The Home Office was also asked to consider the case and it commissioned two further police investigations into the background of the case.
In addition to this, the case has been considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission and has been the subject of proceedings before the High Court.
These procedures have not resulted in the case being referred back to the Court of Appeal for its further consideration as to whether the conviction was unsafe.
From the information available it can be ascertained that the Crown Prosecution Service and the police have, throughout each of these reviews, co-operated fully with the appropriate authority considering the case when they have been requested to do so, and it appears that the Crown Prosecution Service has ensured that the relevant material has been available to allow a comprehensive review of the evidence to take place.
There is no information on the Crown Prosecution Service's files to suggest that it or the police have done otherwise than to act properly and promptly in the release to Mr Dickinson's solicitor of unused or any other material where it has been appropriate to do so.
Throughout this case the conduct of the police and the Crown Prosecution Service has been the subject of regular and intense scrutiny at each stage of the review process.
London Courts: Discontinued Proceedings
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the most recent figures (total and percentage) for the number of cases in the London magistrates' courts and London youth courts in which no evidence had been offered by the Crown Prosecution Service; and how many and what percentage of those are cases in which no evidence has been offered after an adjournment has been refused. [HL3533]
The Attorney-General: Proceedings were discontinued in respect of 15,514 defendants in London magistrates' courts and youth courts during the period 1 April to 31 December 2001, representing 12.7 per cent of completed cases; 12,227 of these were dropped at court before evidence was heard (10 per cent of completed cases) and 3,287 (2.7 per cent) were discontinued in advance of the hearing. These figures represent cases referred to the CPS following charges made by the police.
The 12,227 cases dropped in court included 372 cases where the defence produced documents showing the defendant's innocence at court. In these cases, the prosecution had no opportunity of discontinuing proceedings before the hearing.
Information on those cases discontinued at court due to no evidence being offered or as a result of an adjournment being refused is not collated centrally. This information could only be captured by inspection of the actual case files, which would incur disproportionate costs.
CPS London
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the shortfall in the London Area Crown Prosecution Service of in-house lawyers; and how many have been recruited in the last six months. [HL3534]
The Attorney-General: Each CPS area has a budget allocated to it each year to meet its basic running costs needs, excluding accommodation costs. Its use is not prescribed and areas are empowered to apportion the budget between staffing and other costs in accordance with their judgment of local circumstances.
As at 31 March 2002, there were 290 lawyers in post within CPS London. In the previous six months, 50 lawyers have been recruited. A further 15 lawyers have confirmed start dates between April and August 2002.
From 1 April 2002 an injection of an additional £6.8 million will enable CPS London to employ more staff. By the end of March 2003, the area hopes to have a total of 358 lawyers in post. CPS London is currently 51 lawyers below this target figure.
In order to fill these posts the area will move to a campaign of continuous recruitment resulting in candidates having to wait no longer than six weeks to hear the outcome of their application. In order to attract a wider range of better qualified prosecutors, steps are in hand to revitalise the advertisements that CPS London uses.
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the current daily and half daily rates for independent advocates representing the Crown Prosecution Service in the London magistrates' courts and London youth courts; and how that compares with the average brief fee in the Crown Court. [HL3535]
The Attorney-General: The rates paid to independent barrister agents in London are subject to a central agreement with the Bar Council that is applied nationally. The rates paid to solicitor agents are agreed locally and can vary both across and within CPS areas. The rates paid to agents are the same for both magistrates' and youth courts.
The fees paid to barristers under the existing agreement for sessional work in the magistrates' court are £112 for a half-day session and £175 for a full-day session, plus an additional uplift of £25 when the advocate is engaged to prosecute a heavy court, namely a remand court with 25 or more cases or 40 or more defendants.
Occasionally, an advocate will be engaged to prosecute a specific case in the magistrates' court, e.g. a lengthy summary trial, and a special fee will be negotiated for that individual case which will sit outside the sessional rates.
The average brief fee paid to junior counsel in the Crown Court during the period October to December 2001 (the latest period available) was £365.90. Crown Court rates are higher because of the increased level of experience and expertise required to prosecute the more serious, lengthy and demanding cases before a judge and jury in the Crown Court.
The CPS introduced a graduated fee scheme for most Crown Court cases committed or sent for trial after 29 October 2001. The scheme has replaced the current brief fee arrangements and will remunerate external advocates at broadly the same level as legally aided defence advocates.
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