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Asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of whether a third runway at Heathrow will cause a significant increase in pollution. [HL3701]
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): The predicted impacts of adding a third runway were set out in the Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport consultation document and supporting technical reports in November 2007. These show that a three-runway airport in 2020 with around 605,000 annual movements would be no noisier than in 2002, as measured by the size of the area affected by aircraft noise at 57 decibels or above; and concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (the key pollutant of concern) would be lower than they were in 2002.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of (a) 2 Para, (b) 3 Para, (c) 7 Para and (d) 9 Para are identified as out-of-date parachutists in accordance with the two-year military parachutist in-date rule. [HL3493]
To ask Her Majesty's Government why 30 per cent of 16 Air Assault Brigade's military parachutists are not qualified; and what impact that has on operational effectiveness. [HL3494]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The percentage of parachutists within 2, 3, 7 and 9 Para who are out of date in accordance with the two-year military in-date rule is provided in the following table.
Unit | Percentage of trained parachutists out of date |
Where necessary aircraft and air crew required to deliver parachute training are retasked to deploy on operations, which take priority. This has an adverse impact on parachute training but does not affect mandated operational capability.
Asked by Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many solicitors have been convicted of charges before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal arising from professional misconduct in the handling of cases under the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation; what is the name of each solicitor and the trading name of his or her firm; and what was the outcome of each case, to include the sentence (if any) imposed. [HL3344]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The Solicitors Regulation Authority has provided the following information concerning 38 solicitors charged with professional misconduct in handling cases of miners compensation for occupational ill health:
Cases heard by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal:
AMS LLP (formerly Ashton Morton Slack) of Sheffield
Edward John Hartleyfined £8000;
John Michael Hodgsonfined £8,000; and
Avalon Solicitors of Warrington
Malcolm Trotterfined £15,000.
Beresfords Solicitors LLP of Doncaster
James Rhodes Beresfordstruck off; and
Douglas Harold Smithstruck off.
Glyn Frank Maddocksfined £15,000.
Harrowell Shaftoe Solicitors, York
Simon Rupert Kay Black, Robert Paul Onyett, John Francis Yeomans, Robert William Miers, James Cooper Scott, Robert Gordon Charles Seaton, John Kevin Millar, Brian William Copley, Mark Tempest, Jacqueline Mary Knightseach fined £1,000. 2.12.08.Hindle Campbell, North ShieldsClive Miller Hindle and Duncan Stuart Campbell each fined £10,000.4.4.08.IngramsPaul Stott and Catherine Louise Coppeach fined £15,000.18.12.07Asked by Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many solicitors have yet to appear before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to answer allegations of professional misconduct in the handling of cases under the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation; and what is the estimated date by which those cases will be concluded. [HL3425]
Lord Bach: The Solicitors Regulation Authority has provided the following information concerning 68 solicitors from 14 solicitors firms:
Cases pending hearing by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for alleged professional misconduct in the handling of cases under the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation:
Beckett, Bemrose & Hagan, Wirrallisted 12.05.09Alan Hagan, Howard Roberts Beckett, Marcus Peter Bemrose.Birchall Blackburn of PrestonMichael Foxford, John Didsbury, Conal Gallagher, Carlos Lopez, Jamie Patton, Paul Pickering, William Robbins, Moira Boyce, Judith Bell, Christine Harris, Susan Liver, Catherine MacCracken, Adele Gallagher, Gail Peterson and Rhonda Rosenfield.BRM of ChesterfieldPeter James McGowan, Rodney Alan Shiers, Neil Anthony Brown, Jeremy Christopher Rice.We are unable to estimate the dates by which these cases will be concluded as the listing of cases is a matter for the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Asked by Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many complaints have been lodged with the Legal Complaints Service by or on behalf of retired miners and widows concerning inadequate professional service on the part of their former solicitors in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation; and what was the outcome of those complaints. [HL3426]
Lord Bach: We understand from the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) that as at 1 May 2009, 5,098 cases had been received by the LCS and of those 4,394 have been
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Asked by Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the number of occasions upon which the Legal Complaints Service has not acted upon the recommendations of Zahida Manzoor, Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales, in connection with the conduct of solicitors in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation. [HL3427]
Lord Bach: We understand from the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) that the LCS has not acted on a recommendation from the Legal Services Ombudsman on just three occasions. Notification of each of these matters was made to the LSO on 29 April 2009.
Asked by Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the number of complaint investigations suspended by the Legal Complaints Service in connection with the conduct of solicitors in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation. [HL3428]
Lord Bach: We understand from the Legal Complaints Service that it has suspended complaint investigations against one firmRaleys Solicitors. As at 19 March 2009 the number of complaint investigations suspended involving this firm was believed to be about 160.
Ministers will be meeting the Legal Complaints Service and the Solicitors Regulation Authority in June to review their progress on this important issue.
Asked by Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of Raleys Solicitors not repaying former clients in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation the sum of £7.686 million previously deducted from compensation awarded to them under those schemes and paid to the National Union of Mineworkers. [HL3430]
Lord Bach: Complaints about solicitors are a matter for the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of the Law Society rather than the Government, since the legal profession is independent.
However, the Government continue to press the Law Society to achieve payment in full of all inappropriately levied charges. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) support the LCS in its work to recover deductions not yet repaid and provide data to it to enable the work on recovery to continue.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what checks are made to ensure that clients of social workers are satisfied with their care. [HL3560]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): I am informed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that, when carrying out an inspection, it provides surveys to help reach a range of people who have an interest in the quality of the services being inspected.
Surveys are provided in different formats to make them accessible to more people. The CQC compares information from these surveys with other evidence that has been gathered to form a judgment about the quality of the care provided.
The surveys include optional questions about equality and diversity to help the CQC to understand how well the service is meeting the needs of people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
However, the responsibility for measuring the impact on, and outcomes for, service users rests with the local council that commissions the service. Evidence from local involvement networks, national surveys and Commission for Social Care Inspection surveys obtained from service and regulatory inspections will give appropriate opportunities to triangulate the results with councils' own monitoring and survey work to form a view on the quality of services.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the Civil Service Year Book when the contract with The Stationery Office expires. [HL3079]
Lord Patel of Bradford: The Government are considering using web technology for the collection and publication of information currently published in the Civil Service. We are seeking feedback from current users of the yearbook and will make a Written Statement as soon as final decisions have been made.
Asked by Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay
To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) what the total monetary value of Senior Civil Service non-consolidated performance pay awards was in the Ministry of Defence, (b) how many and what proportion of the Senior Civil Service staff in the Ministry of Defence received performance pay awards by SCS pay band, and (c) how those awards were distributed by pay band and award category, for each of the past five years for which data are available. [HL3366]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): It might be helpful if I begin by explaining the basis on which any MoD civil servant may be awarded a non-consolidated award. It is a key element of the Government's pay policy that a proportion of the pay of civil servants is performance-related. The MoD meets this requirement by awarding one-off, non-consolidated and non-pensionable payments which very clearly reward performance in any given year rather than by increasing base pay which has a consolidated ongoing effect even if performance later tails off.
In turning to non-consolidated awards for senior civil servants, the policy framework for awarding them to members of the Senior Civil Service is set by the Cabinet Office. The MoD is responsible for implementing its own base pay and non-consolidated award arrangements within this framework through an agreed pay strategy. Any non-consolidated award is based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed against their peers and they are awarded to those individuals judged to have made the highest in-year contribution to MoD business objectives. There is no
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Recommendations for awards, which are considered by moderation committees, must be linked to demonstrable evidence of delivery.
The total monetary value of Senior Civil Service non-consolidated performance pay awards is provided in the following table.
Year | 04-05 | 05-06 | 06-07 | 07-08 | 08-09 |
The figures stating how many and what proportion of the Senior Civil Service staff received performance pay awards by SCS pay band is provided in the following table.
Year- | 04-05 | 05-06 | 06-07 | 07-08 | 08-09 |
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