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We want to see an industry that is genuinely sustainable and that is internationally competitive without reliance on subsidy or protection. Farmers should be rewarded by the market for their outputs, not least safe and good-quality food, and by the taxpayer only for producing societal benefits—particularly environmental outcomes—that the market cannot deliver.

Defra is taking forward work to flesh out our vision for a future, environmentally focused Pillar 2, working closely with stakeholders and other member states.

Crime: Domestic Violence

Questions

Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): A person who is bringing a case against an abusive partner will be assessed for legal aid on their resources alone. The resources of a partner will not be considered. The victim's share of jointly owned assets, such as property or savings, will be considered in the assessment of means after taking into account whether they have access to or control of the assets.

The LSC will normally waive all financial eligibility limits for legal representation for the victims of domestic violence. This measure improves access to legal aid for domestic violence victims by extending eligibility beyond the original limit. Any contribution from income or capital that is applicable under the regulations cannot be waived.

Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

Lord Bach: Funding for the delivery of accredited offending behaviour programmes in custody is built into prison baselines and it is not possible accurately to disaggregate the cost of this work. The National Offender Management Service is currently undertaking a specifications, benchmarking and costings exercise which will provide accurate costings of the interventions delivered.



12 Jan 2009 : Column WA91

Probation boards fund the cost of providing programmes for offenders in the community through their main grant. Data are available only on the allocation of funds to deliver programmes to offenders under probation supervision and are set out in the following table:

Year£ million

2005-06

77

2006-07

85

2007-08

86.5

There is no information relating to expenditure for years leading up to 2005.

Crime: Offences

Question

Asked by Baroness Stern

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): There is no comprehensive system in place for tracking new offences created across Whitehall. The information below has been obtained from a manual trawl of legislation: key words were used to search a legal database for criminal offences created by regulations and orders for each specific year and the results were then analysed. Results do not include legislation from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and the Channel Islands and may not be complete in respect of offences created through regulations.

Approximate numbers of criminal offences created through regulations and carrying a penalty of imprisonment:

1997 (whole year)

34

1998

9

1999

22

2000

34

2001

19

2002

11

2003

25

2004

45

2005

112

2006

37

2007

98

Total

446

Crown Dependencies: Independence

Question

Asked by Lord Wallace of Saltaire



12 Jan 2009 : Column WA92

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The issue of independence and constitutional reform is a matter for each of the Crown dependencies. The Government will always consider any suggestions as and when they are asked to do so by the respective island's government.

Cyclists: Helmets

Question

Asked by Lord Krebs

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): A review commissioned by the Department for Transport and published in 2002 (Bicycle Helmets—A Review of their Effectiveness, Road Safety Research Report No. 30, available at: www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme1/bicyclehelmetsreviewofeffect4726) concluded that overall there is evidence that bicycle helmets can be effective at reducing the incidence and severity of head, brain and upper facial injuries and that they can be effective in reducing injury for users of all ages, though particularly for children. The report also concludes that there is some evidence that compulsory helmet wearing may discourage some people from cycling, leading to decreased bicycle use.

The department has recently commissioned a new research project looking at a range of road safety and cycling issues. This is now under way and is being undertaken by a consortium led by TRL and including MVA, ITS Leeds, Simon Christmas Ltd, SHM and Arup. It will examine the following topics:

road user safety and cycling data;cycling infrastructure;attitudes and behaviours of cyclists and other road users; and bicycle helmets, including an updated evaluation of their effectiveness.

The research project as a whole is likely to be three years in duration, but we are aiming to complete the review of cycle helmet effectiveness by the end of 2009.

The department also undertakes periodic surveys of cycle helmet wearing rates. Last February we published the 2006 cycle helmet wearing survey. This shows that cycle helmet rates have gone up from 28 per cent in 2004 to 31 per cent on major built-up roads and from 10 per cent to 14 per cent on minor roads. The wearing rate for children increased from 14 per cent to 18 per cent. The project report and the research summary findings can be found online at: www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme1/cyclehelmets.pdf and www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme1/report84findings.pdf.

We are holding a further such periodic survey in 2008, the results of which will be published in 2009.



12 Jan 2009 : Column WA93

Cyprus: Property

Questions

Asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel advice for Cyprus, available on the FCO website, advises British citizens who encounter difficulties as a result of purchasing property in Cyprus to seek qualified legal advice on their rights and methods of redress. This would include difficulties in obtaining deeds to property to which the purchaser is entitled. Although the Government are unable to become involved with individual cases, our high commission in Cyprus does support community associations in Cyprus that are dedicated to resolving the problems of property buyers, and gives details of those associations on its website, accessible via the Cyprus travel advice.

Asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham

Lord Malloch-Brown: Our high commissioner in Cyprus recently raised the issue of title deeds not being supplied to purchasers on completion of a property purchase in Cyprus with the Republic of Cyprus Ministry of the Interior, and received assurances that the Cypriot Government intend to introduce a Bill to address this issue. The Government recognise that this issue has the potential to affect a large number of British citizens who have purchased property in Cyprus, and will continue to take a close interest in the measures by which the Cypriot Government attempt to resolve this problem.

Diplomatic Bag Service

Question

Asked by Lord Marlesford

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): All diplomatic missions overseas receive a regular scheduled diplomatic bag service between London and the mission, which can vary in frequency depending upon the size, logistical difficulties and location of the post.



12 Jan 2009 : Column WA94

East Midlands Development Agency

Question

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform & Cabinet Office (Baroness Vadera): All of the figures below are based on actual staff in post as at 31 March in each of the years reported. In 2002-03 the East Midlands Development Agency did not have a universal pay grade model, as staff had transferred from a variety of predecessor bodies. The grading model, approved by BERR, was introduced in 2004-05.

2002-032007-08
EMDAFull TimePart TimeTotalFTEFull TimePart TimeTotalFTE

Chief Executive

1

-

1

1

1

-

1

1

Deputy Chief Executive

1

-

1

1

1

-

1

1

Directors

6

-

6

6

0

-

0

0

Executive Director

-

-

-

-

3

-

3

3

Operational Director

-

-

-

-

8

-

8

8

Head of Team

-

-

-

-

18

-

18

18

G

-

-

-

-

39

3

42

39

F

-

-

-

-

40

3

43

41

E

-

-

-

-

48

3

51

49

D

-

-

-

-

20

2

22

21

C

-

-

-

-

31

1

32

31

B

-

-

-

-

21

8

29

26

Other

142

7

149

145

2

-

2

2

150

7

157

153

230

20

252

240


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