House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Jul 1993

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Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 27 July 1993

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Inquests

Mr. McGrady : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what action will be taken to ensure that the operation of the inquest system is expedited.

Mr. John M. Taylor : Under the present inquest procedures in Northern Ireland, decisions about the commencement, adjournment and timing of a particular inquest are matters largely for the coroner tasked with responsibility for the conduct of the inquest. The Government are satisfied that those arrangements are right in principle, because the coroner is in the best position to judge these matters based on his knowledge of all the circumstances of the case. In a small minority of cases, there is a degree of unavoidable delay due to a range of factors, such as the complexity of the circumstances giving rise to the death ; the necessary time taken by the authorities fully to investigate the circumstances of the death, to make proper decisions about criminal prosecutions, and to bring appropriate cases to trial ; and legal challenges to coroners' decisions made in the higher courts by the next-of-kin of the deceased or other interested parties. The Government are conscious, as are the coroners and all those involved in the inquest system, of the need to ensure that delays in the holding of inquests are kept to a minimum. The Government believe, nevertheless, that the present arrangements generally work well in practice and do not propose any action at this time.

Computer Consultancies

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the computer consultancies employed by his Department, since November 1991, the tasks for which they were engaged, and the total cost to his Department.

Mr John M. Taylor : Between 1 November 1991 and 30 June 1993, the Lord Chancellor's Department has awarded contracts for information technology services to 38 companies. The total cost of these contracts is £2,182,473.

Information about the companies to whom contracts were awarded is commercial in confidence and may not be revealed.

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the computer consultancies employed by the Land Registry, since November 1991, the tasks for which they were engaged, and the total cost to his Department.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of

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Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct. Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 26 July 1993 :

Parliamentary question No. 93/480 computer consultancies employed by HM Land Registry

As Chief Executive it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters concerning HM Land Registry. Consequently, the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning the use of computer consultants.

In reply to your question, I can confirm that no computer consultancies have been employed by HM Land Registry since November 1991.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House library.

Data Processing

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the numbers of staff by grade that are employed in his Department in the automatic data processing functional specialism.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The following numbers of staff are employed on work which qualifies them to receive the automatic data processing allowance.


                |Number of staff                

------------------------------------------------

SEO             |37                             

HEO             |92                             

EO              |121                            

AO              |41                             

AA              |22

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the numbers of staff by grade that are employed in the Land Registry in the automatic data processing functional specialism.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

Letter from John Marthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 26 July 1993 :

Parliamentary Question No. 93/481 Land Registry staff in the ADP functional specialism As Chief Executive it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters concerning HM Land Registry. Consequently, the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning the staff we employ in the automatic data processing (IT) functional specialism.

I have set out below the staff in post figures (full time equivalents) for HM Land Registry staff currently employed in the Civil Service's Information Technology Functional Specialism.


Grade  |Number       

---------------------

SEO    |23           

HEO    |52           

EO     |85

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House library.

Small Businesses

Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the achievements of (a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months ; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The Government continue to help small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and through specific programmes of support and assistance.

Contracting Out

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all those services or functions contracted out in his Department, since November 1991, in which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1988 were not applied.

Mr. John M. Taylor : Whether or not TUPE applies in any particular case will depend on the nature of the work awarded and the contractor's own proposals for carrying out this work. Since November 1991, the Lord Chancellor's Department has completed market tests for the professional services required to manage its accommodation and development of new court buildings, and the internal audit function. None of these services or functions has attracted TUPE. A list of services and functions contracted out outside the Department's market testing programme is not readily available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all those services or functions contracted out in the Land Registry, since November 1991, in which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1988 were not applied.

Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 26 July 1993 :

Since November 1991, there have been no services or functions carried out by Land Registry staff which have been contracted out. Market Testing exercises are currently being carried out in which the TUPE regulations may apply once the successful bid has been identified.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.

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Magistrates Courts

Mr. Riddick : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what conclusions he has reached about the amalgamation of magistrates' courts committees outside Greater London.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The White Paper "A New Framework for Local Justice", published in February 1992, announced our intention of reducing the number of magistrates' courts committee areas from the present 105 to 50 to 60 in due course. In the light of extensive consultation with magistrates' courts committees and others in the magistrates' courts service, the Lord Chancellor has concluded that the following magistrates' courts committees outside Greater London should be amalgamated :

Manchester City, Tameside, Oldham and Stockport ;

Trafford, Salford, Wigan, Bury, Rochdale and Bolton ;

Knowsley, Liverpool, St. Helens, Sefton and Wirral ;

Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull ;

Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton ;

Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland ; Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland ;

Leeds and Wakefield ;

Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees :

Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham ;

Avon and Somerset ;

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire ;

Hereford and Worcester and Shropshire ;

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ;

Devon and Cornwall ;

Warwickshire and Staffordshire.

In Wales, the new magistrates' courts committee areas will cover the following unitary authority areas :

Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire, Aberconwy and Colwyn, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham ;

Powys, Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire ; Swansea, West Glamorgan and Bridgend ;

Vale of Glamorgan, Glamorgan Valleys and Cardiff ;

Heads of the Valleys, Caerphilly, Torfaen, Newport and Monmouthshire.

These amalgamations can be brought into effect only by an order made by the Lord Chancellor. At present, such an order can be made only on the application of the local magistrates. Legislation will be introduced at the earliest opportunity to enable the Lord Chancellor to make such an order. Before making any order amalgamating magistrates' courts committee areas, the Lord Chancellor will take into account the views of those affected. No order will be made without an opportunity for those locally to make representations. The Lord Chancellor will therefore require local consultation to have taken place, and views reported to him, when considering whether an order should be made.

All other committee areas outside London should remain organised as they are at present. The Lord Chancellor will announce his decisions about the future organisation of the magistrates' courts service in London separately.

Legal Aid

Mr. Churchill : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the cost of legal aid for immigration cases in each of the last five years.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The only immigration cases for which civil legal aid is available are judicial review

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proceedings. It is not possible to provide separate expenditure figures for judicial review proceedings involving immigration cases. Green form advice is, however, available for immigration and nationality matters and gross expenditure in each of the last five years on those matters was as follows :


        |£000's       

----------------------

1988-89 |782          

1989-90 |1,682        

1990-91 |2,653        

1991-92 |5,018        

1992-93 |7,248

PRIME MINISTER

Engagements

Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 27 July.

Sir Peter Tapsell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 27 July.

The Prime Minister : This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and I shall be having further meetings later today.

Iraq (Sanctions)

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what action has been taken as a result of a meeting on 22 June, arranged by him, between the Under- Secretary at the Foreign Office, Sir Michael Burton, and the hon. Member for Linlithgow, on the effect of sanctions on the health, infant mortality and economy of Iraq.

The Prime Minister : Since the meeting referred to, £1 million has been transferred through the UN escrow account for purchasing part of the crop grown in northern Iraq to help feed the local population. We have also agreed to finance a programme of water and sanitation work in schools in the south. Emergency relief is to be provided to people fleeing repression in the south.

No. 10 Downing Street

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister what income was received from the use of No. 10 Downing street for non-official functions in the last three financial years.

The Prime Minister : The costs of catering staff and other expenses are met directly by the organisers of such events. No charge is made for the use of 10 Downing street.

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the non- official or party receptions or functions at 10 Downing street during the coming 12 months for which permission has been given.

The Prime Minister : I am not prepared to give advance notice of functions at 10 Downing street, whether official or non-official.

Desert Storm Syndrome

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister if he will discuss Desert Storm Syndrome when he meets the French President on 26 July.

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The Prime Minister : No. The subject was not discussed.

Scott Inquiry

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the witnesses who have appeared to date before the Scott inquiry ; what is the total cost incurred to date by Her Majesty's Government in providing documents, witnesses and support services for the Scott inquiry ; and what allocation of resources has been made for future activities of the inquiry.

The Prime Minister : To date, the following have given oral evidence in open session to Lord Justice Scott's inquiry : Ministers/former Ministers

Sir Richard Luce

Sir Adam Butler

Paul Channon Esq.

Sir Patrick Mayhew

Government officials/former Government officials

S. P. Day Esq.

D. Q. Bryars Esq.

J. M. Hart Esq.

C. T. Sandars Esq.

Lt. Col. R. Glazebrook

A. S. Collins Esq.

Sir Stephen Egerton

W. C. Patey Esq.

R. Fellgett Esq.

P. W. M. Vereker Esq.

M. Higson Esq.

Sir David Miers

Non-Government

Sir Hal Miller

D. James Esq.

In addition, nine witnesses have given oral evidence in closed session.

The records of the Department of Trade and Industry show that the total amount charged by the inquiry to that Department for the provision of support services--permanent costs of most staff, equipment, and other general administrative costs--up to 23 July 1993 is £310,000. The cost to Government Departments of providing to the inquiry documents and witnesses requested is not held centrally and could be given only at disproportionate cost.

Specific allocation of resources for the future activities of the inquiry has not been made.

Thailand (Drug Smugglers)

Mr. Beith : To ask the Prime Minister what representations he made to secure the release from gaol in Thailand of two women convicted of drug smuggling ; what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government with regard to seeking the release of United Kingdom citizens detained abroad for drugs offences ; and if he will make a statement.

The Prime Minister : I shall write to the right hon. Member.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Open Government

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how his proposals in relation to access to personal information as described in the White Paper on

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open government differ from those proposed in the data protection directive--COM. (92) 422 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave : The White Paper on open government proposes a clear and effective free-standing right for people to have access to personal information held about them by a wide range of public authorities. It complements the right of access to computerised data provided by the Data Protection Act 1984. The subject of access provisions in the draft directive on data protection are only one part of an elaborate structure for the control of personal data, whether held on computer or otherwise, in all sectors.

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