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2 Jul 2003 : Column 364W—continued
Postal Ballots
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many postal ballot papers and what percentage were spoilt during the 2003 local elections, broken down by local authority area; and what plans he has to simplify and standardise postal balloting. [122840]
Phil Hope: Information on spoilt postal ballot papers is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
A number of innovative measures for making postal voting easier and more secure were tested in May 2003 local electoral pilots. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will have regard to the Electoral Commission's evaluation of these (to be published at the end of July) and to the Commission's recommendations on voting by post in their recent report, 'Voting for change' before deciding on any steps to simplify and standardise voting by post.
Regional Assemblies
David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimates he has made of the cost of conducting local government re-organisation in (a) the North-East, (b) the North-West and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber following the introduction of regional assemblies; what factors contribute to the cost in each case; and if he will break down the cost in each case by factor. [123279]
Phil Hope : It is not possible, at this stage, to make an estimate of the likely costs of re-organisation. This will depend on the number of regions which move to having elected regional assemblies, the precise details of the changes proposed by the Boundary Committee and the preferred option of local electors. At the level of individual authorities, costs and savings will depend partly on decisions taken by the new authorities about the structures they put in place to deliver services and discharge their functions.
Social Housing
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many social houses (a) in England and (b) in Shrewsbury and Atcham are inhabited which have been built using asbestos materials. [115032]
Phil Hope: The Statistical Evidence to support the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (published in May 2003 by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) estimates that approximately 394,000 flats in England (2 to 3 per cent. of the housing stock) are likely to have significant use of asbestos in construction. Three quarters of these dwellings were built between 1945 and 1980. The buildings most likely to be affected include high rise council estates built in the 1950s.
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The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is unable to provide information on Shrewsbury and Atcham because they do not collect information on specific areas.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
House of Lords Reform
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he expects to reply to the Second Report of the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform, HC 668, session 2002–03. [123032]
Mr. Leslie: The Government intends to reply to the Second Report of the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform shortly.
Lord Chancellor's Department
Gregory Barker: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State if he will list the performance targets that (a) the former Lord Chancellor's Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies are required to meet; and if he will specify for each target (i) who set it and (ii) who was monitor achievement against it. [120924]
Mr. Lammy: My Department has taken over responsibility for the Lord Chancellor's Department's Public Service Agreement targets, which were agreed as part of the Spending Review and published in the Spending Review 2002: Public Service Agreements 2003–06 (Cm 5571). The Department monitors progress towards the targets, along with The Treasury and the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, and progress is reported regularly.
Targets for the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office) are set out in their Corporate Plan 2003–04 to 2005–06; for Her Majesty's Land Registry in their Strategic Plan 2003–04 to 2012–13; and for the Northern Ireland Court Service in their Corporate Plan 2003–06. Targets for the Court Service and the Public Guardianship Office can be found in the Court Service Business Plan 2002–03 and Public Guardianship Office Corporate and Business Plan 2002–05 respectively and, for the Legal Services Commission, in their Corporate Plan 2002–03 to 2003–04. Targets are agreed between the Department and the agency/non-departmental public body concerned. Achievement against the targets is monitored by the Department, by various means including meetings between the Secretary of State and the relevant Chief Executive.
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Special European Council
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to take forward conclusions reached at the Special European Council in Tampere in October 1999. [121892]
Mr. Lammy: Following the Presidency conclusions arising from the Tampere European Council, the Department has been keen to support the development of civil judicial co-operation on the basis of mutual recognition.
We are actively co-operating with the EU in taking forward its civil judgment enforcement programme: we are currently finalising agreement on a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims and conducting negotiations pursuant to the Commission's Green Paper on small claims and a European Payment Order. We expect further items on that programme will be brought forward in the near future, including a European system for attachment of bank accounts (to prevent the removal of funds which may be the subject of a judgment).
We are supporting work to improve cross-border arrangements in the field of family law, and in particular, extending the principle of mutual recognition to all decisions on parental responsibility, by establishing clear rules for attributing jurisdiction and proper arrangements for co-operation between national courts and authorities. This will greatly benefit families where there are cross-border disputes concerning children. Negotiations on the Parental Responsibility Regulation are nearing completion and steps on mutual recognition in the field of wills and succession will follow in 2004.
Also in 2004, we expect close co-operation with the Commission in taking forward work on alternative means of dispute resolution, in which field the UK has considerable expertise.
We will continue to lay stress on the principle of mutual recognition. We wish to ensure, as the EU grows and develops, that respect is maintained for the separate traditions of individual member states, and we are conscious of having a significant asset in our common law system. This has been, and will remain, central to our input into such issues as the Commission's Action Plan on the convergence of contract law.
Supreme Court
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) the Scottish Law Lords, (b) the judiciary in Scotland, (c) the Law Society of Scotland and (d) the Faculty of Advocates about the proposals for a Supreme Court. [122719]
Mr. Leslie: My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State will be publishing a consultation paper on his proposals for a Supreme Court on 14 July 2003. We shall be consulting widely on those proposals, including with members of the legal profession in Scotland.