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The variation in numbers from office to office reflects both the sizes of offices and their catchment population as well as how long they have been operational.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total cost to the end of 2007 of establishing the network of personal passport interview offices. [HL1275]
Lord West of Spithead: The total expenditure to date to establish and to operate the network of passport interview offices is £93,560,890.93.
This includes capital, project set-up costs and operational costs.
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Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made with regard to the proposal to establish remote area personal passport interview offices. [HL1276]
Lord West of Spithead: IPS is progressing with the development of remote community passport interview services. A service proof-of-concept has been developed and will shortly commence customer testing. Negotiations with local authorities to make available staff and premises where the video interviews will be conducted are well advanced. It is planned that the services will be rolled out during 2008, subject to successful testing and finalisation of offices.
Pollution: Risk Appraisals
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 3 December 2007 (WA 170—1), whether they will review the application of pollution risk appraisal methodologies to oil terminals, oil distribution depots and warehouses. [HL1484]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Environment Agency is extending the use of operator and pollution risk appraisal to cover other legislative regimes within its remit.
These plans do not include oil terminals, oil distribution depots and warehouses as named activities or sectors, unless specifically included within the scope of the regulations being considered.
For instance, oil terminals, oil distribution depots and warehouses that form part of an installation regulated by the Environment Agency under the pollution prevention and control regime are covered by the operator and pollution risk appraisal methodology.
Where oil terminal, oil depots and warehouses fall within the scope of the control of major accident hazard regulations, due to the quantities of hazardous materials, they are regulated by a joint competent authority comprising the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency.
At present the competent authority is not planning to use the operator and pollution risk appraisal methodology to cover sites regulated under the control of major accident hazard regulations.
Post Office: Closures
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will instruct Post Office Limited to make available all relevant financial information pertaining to those post office branches earmarked for closure to outside parties with a serious and credible interest in keeping such establishments open; and whether it will suspend the timetable for closures until that information is available.[HL1024]
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The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): Disclosure of financial information concerning post office branches earmarked for closure under the network change programme is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. The Government do not have a role in proposals or decisions for individual post offices and final decisions on which post offices will close are taken by Post Office Ltd in light of the responses received to the area consultations.
However, Post Office Ltd is putting in place a process for responding to serious expressions of interest and where a firm proposal for local funding emerges, Post Office Ltd will delay physical closure of the existing branch in that locality for a stipulated period to allow both funding and a contract to be put in place.
Prisons: Northern Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many (a) young offenders, and (b) women in Northern Ireland were in custody on 1 January in each of the past 10 years. [HL1240]
Lord Rooker: In answering this Question, the term young offenders covers all males at Hydebank Wood, including those aged under 18 (sometimes called juveniles) and those over 21 allowed exceptionally to complete their sentences at Hydebank Wood. In respect of females, there are two categories, those under 21 and those over.
The following tables provide the information on the date closest to 1 January, for which it is available.
Prior to 2003 figures for females under 21 were not recorded separately—for those years they are included in the figures in column 3.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Date | Males | Females under 21 | Females 21 and over |
| Date | Males | Females under 21 | Females 21 and over |
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will take into account the lack of public transport to Magilligan, and consequent difficulties for family members visiting prisoners, when deciding on the site for a new prison in Northern Ireland. [HL1349]
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Lord Rooker: In reaching the decision about the site for a new prison which was announced on 18 December, issues in relation to location and access to Magilligan were considered as part of the comprehensive options appraisal, published on the same day.
In taking forward the development and delivery of the new prison, the Prison Service has committed to carry out a full equality impact assessment (EQIA) which will give consideration to the needs of families and the services and facilities to support these.
The Prison Service conducted a detailed visitors survey in October 2006 in which over four-fifths of respondents said that they did not have any problems with travel arrangements to Magilligan prison, over three-quarters of respondents normally travel to Magilligan by “private car”. The Prison Service currently funds NIACRO to provide a transport service to Magilligan originating from Belfast (three days per week) and Dungannon/Cookstown (once a month).
In addition the prison provides a bus service from Bellarena station to the prison on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In recognition of the distance to Magilligan, the service operates extended morning and afternoon visiting sessions. Special arrangements can be made for family visitors to attend both morning and afternoon, especially where they have been unable to attend frequently.
Regulators: Criminal Prosecutions
Lord Lyell of Markyate asked Her Majesty's Government:
In respect of (a) the Financial Services Authority; (b) the Security Industry Authority; and (c) the Statistics Board, how many criminal prosecutions were brought by that regulator for each of the past three years for which figures are available; and, of those cases, how many gave rise to a conviction. [HL1378]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The number of prosecutions brought and convictions secured by the FSA for the past three years are as follows:
2005—10 prosecutions, 10 convictions;2006—17 prosecutions, 17 convictions; and 2007—15 prosecutions, 13 convictions to date.Prosecutions brought under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 are not necessarily brought by the SIA itself. They may be brought by the police, local authorities or the SIA. The statistics do not show how many prosecutions were brought by the different bodies. Statistics are available for 2004, 2005 and 2006.
2004—11 prosecutions, 10 convictions;
2005—168 prosecutions, 66 convictions; and
2006—156 prosecutions, 93 convictions.
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The Statistics Board does not come into existence until 1 April 2008, and will replace the Office for National Statistics and the Statistics Commission.
In the past three years the Office for National Statistics has brought the following prosecutions under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.
| 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | |
Businesses served with a summons can then choose to comply with the legislation, which accounts for the lower number of cases going to court.
The Statistics Commission does not have prosecution responsibilities.
Lord Lyell of Markyate asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many criminal prosecutions were brought by (a) the Health and Safety Executive, and (b) the Pensions Regulator, for each of the past three years for which figures are available; and, of those cases, how many gave rise to a conviction. [HL1393]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): (a) The number of criminal prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Executive, and the number of resulting convictions, for each of the past three years is:
| Year | Cases prosecuted | Offences prosecuted | Convictions |
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