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13W
Written Answers
26 OCTOBER 2009
Written Answers
14W
Chris Mole: On 23 July the Government announced
the electrification of the Great Western Main Line
between London and Swansea, and the line between
Liverpool and Manchester via Newton-le-Willows.
This electrification programme radically affects the
requirements for rolling stock over the next decade. As
a result, the previously planned procurement by the
Department for Transport of new diesel multiple units
has been superseded. We will publish an updated rolling
stock plan, taking account of these changes, in the
autumn.
As part of the Intercity Express Programme, the
Department is procuring new electric and bi-mode (electric
and diesel) Super Express Trains to operate services on
the East Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main
Line. Bi-mode trains utilise the electric wires where
available and continue beyond the wires using the diesel
engine. An announcement on the placing of orders for
Super Express Trains will be made in due course.
Transport: Horses
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department
for Transport if he will seek to exempt recreational
drivers of horse transporters of greater than 7.5 tonnes
gross weight from the provisions of Regulation (EC)
No. 561/2006; and if he will make a statement. [295316]
Paul Clark: Exemptions beyond those already set out
in Regulation (EC) 561/2006 may only be granted in
“exceptional circumstances”. We therefore see little
prospect of the European Commission agreeing to a
UK request to exempt recreational drivers of horseboxes
over 7.5 tonnes.
It should still be possible for those in full-time
employment who drive large horseboxes recreationally
to schedule a reduced weekly rest period of 24 hours
immediately before the equestrian event in question, or
in between driving to and from the event (i.e. at the
event itself) without the need for a derogation.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Crown Prosecution Service: Revenue and Customs
Prosecutions Office
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General what
assessment the Attorney-General’s Office has made of
the effectiveness of the merger of the Revenue and
Customs Prosecutions Office and the Crown Prosecution
Service. [295043]
The Solicitor-General: As part of creating a new
public prosecution service, the merger is progressing to
schedule and by the summer of 2010 the two organisations
will be fully integrated. The Attorney-General’s Office
is very closely involved in the governance arrangements
for the merger. A recent Office of Government Commerce
Gateway Review found that the merger is:
“being conducted to a very high standard, that delivery to date
has been strong and the likelihood of the merger programme
delivering successfully is very high.”
Crown Prosecution Service: Temporary Employment
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Solicitor-General how many
agency staff were employed by the Crown Prosecution
Service in each of the last five years; and in what
capacity they were employed. [293615]
The Solicitor-General: The information requested is
not recorded centrally by the Crown Prosecution Service
(CPS). It could be obtained only by the extraction of
every contract for each temporary member of staff
employed over the last five years, and would incur
disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Access to
Government Information, part 2, clause 9). Agency
staff are employed in a variety of roles including
administration, casework and other support roles to
cover for staff absences and peaks in workload.
Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans
the Government has for developing the role of the
community prosecutor referred to in Engaging
Communities in Criminal Justice. [295044]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service
(CPS) is testing the Community Prosecutor approach
over a 12-month period from June 2009 in 49 pathfinder
locations. The approach will be evaluated during the
testing period, with plans for national roll-out to be
developed thereafter.
The development of a Community Prosecutor approach
is a major new initiative for the CPS, one which brings
together work which is already happening in many CPS
areas, together with new ideas about how modern
prosecutors should engage with communities. The initiative
will allow the CPS to work together with the police and
our other partners to make communities safer and raise
public confidence in the services we provide.
The pathfinder locations are testing three strands to
the Community Prosecutor approach, which are:
enabling prosecutors to make more ’community-aware casework
decisions;
greater CPS involvement in ’problem-solving’ of local crime
and disorder priorities; and
increased CPS visibility to communities and other agencies
responding to local crime and disorder concerns.
The Community Prosecutor approach is one of the
proposals contained in the ’Engaging Communities in
Criminal Justice’ Green Paper launched on 29 April
2009.
Equality
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will
consider the recommendations of the report by the
Fawcett Society, Corporate Sexism-the sex industry’s
infiltration of the modern workplace. [295172]
The Solicitor-General: The Government are committed
to ensuring that all workplaces are free from discrimination.
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 provides protection
from sex discrimination and harassment across a range
of areas, including in employment. The Equality Bill
currently going through Parliament will strengthen and
simplify existing equality law.