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Column 1165
Her Majesty's Land RegistryThe Public Record Office
The Public Trust Office
Letter from S. Hutcheson to Mrs. Ann Taylor, dated4 April 1995: The Parliamentary Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary question, listed on 28 March 1995, regarding the cost of advertising and promotional activities.
The Public Trust Office has not spent any money on (a) television or (b) radio advertising since 1979.
Expenditure on (c) newspapers advertising has been limited to the advertising of senior management posts which cost a total of £19, 891.58 in 1994 95. Prior to 1994 recruitment was undertaken centrally by the Lord Chancellor's Department and no separate figures are available for the Public Trust Office.
The cost of (d) , other promotional materials and activities, including the design and printing the Framework Document, Corporate and Business Plans in 1994 prior to the launch of the Public Trust Office as an Executive Agency, was £10,980. The cost of producing and publishing pamphlets in 1994 (including Charter Statements, explanatory booklets and leaflets sent to our customers) was £37,500. There have been no other promotional activities. Figures for each year since 1979 will have been subsumed within other budgets and the information required can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
The figures for 1994 95 are those quoted in the paragraph above. The cost of producing Corporate and Business Plans in 1995 96 is currently being researched but is not expected to exceed £5,000. The production and design of Charter Statements, explanatory booklets and leaflets for 1995 96 has yet to be tendered and the cost cannot, therefore, be quantified at present.
Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mrs. Ann Taylor, dated 5 April 1995:
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: EXPENDITURE ON ADVERTISING
I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply to your question relating to advertising by the Public Record Office.
(a)/(b) The Public Record Office has not advertised on television or radio.
The following table shows:
(c) the amounts spent on newspaper advertising;
(d) the approximate amounts spent on other promotional materials and activities;
(e) the totals of (c) and (d) ;
(f) the proportions of (e) spent on recruitment and advertising.
|(c) |(d) |(e) |(f)
|Newspaper |Promotional |Recruitment
Year |advertising|activities |Total |proportion
|£ |£ |£ |Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |Nil |Nil |Nil |Nil
1987-88 |Nil |Nil |Nil |Nil
1988-89 |Nil |Nil |Nil |Nil
1990-91 |28 |Nil |28 |100
1991-92 |20,666 |1,500 |22,166 |93
1992-93 |10,326 |1,500 |11,826 |87
1993-94 |77,392 |1,500 |78,892 |98
Information for earlier years is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Our latest estimates for 1994 95 and 1995 96 are:
|1994-95 |1995-96
-----------------------------------------------------------------
a) television |nil |nil
b) radio |nil |nil
c) newspaper |£70,000 |£44,500
d) other promotional |£1,500 |£1,500
e) totals |£71,500 |£46,000
f) recruitment proportion |98 per cent.|98 per cent.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mrs. Ann Taylor, dated 5 April 1995:
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: EXPENDITURE ON ADVERTISING IN HM LAND REGISTRY
I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question concerning total expenditure by HM Land Registry on all forms of advertising for each year since 1979. I can provide the following information: a) television advertising--nil;
b) radio advertising--nil;
The following table answers your questions c), d), e) and f):
|Total
|advertising|Recruitment
Year |costs £ |per cent.
-------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |23,696 |48
1980-81 |5,789 |37
1981-82 |7,425 |46
1982-83 |5,160 |49
1983-84 |3,365 |36
1984-85 |4,143 |43
1985-86 |7,470 |43
1986-87 |12,669 |90
1987-88 |32,828 |99
1988-89 |70,226 |99
1989-90 |36,434 |95
1990-91 |20,940 |96
1991-92 |6,342 |66
1992-93 |15,002 |1
1993-94 |16,233 |0
1994-95 (forecast) |30,000 |0
1995-96 (budget) |35,000 |0
The Registry's major expenditure on advertising has
been for staff recruitment, particularly to meet the
property boom of the late 1980's; for advertising in
connection with the registration of high value
transactions (until 1980); and to give effect to a
continuing statutory requirement concerning the
replacement of Land and Charge Certificates.
The advertising costs shown in the table all relate to
newspaper advertising apart from the years 1992-93
onwards where costs for staging exhibitions and
displays are also included. These costs are subsumed
within the total budget and cannot be separated.
I do hope that this answers the points raised with the Parliamentary Secretary but please contact me if I can be of any further assistance.
Jury Service
Mr. Boateng: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department on what legal grounds a person called for jury service may be excused from jury service; and if he will list the different categories of people who are automatically exempt from jury service. [17097]
Mr. John M. Taylor: Section 9 (1) of the Juries Act 1974 gives a person the right to be excused from jury service if they are among the persons listed in part III of schedule 1 to the Act. The schedule is a lengthy one and a copy will therefore be sent to the hon. Member. The jury summoning officer may also use discretion and excuse a person from jury service if, pursuant to section 9 (2) of
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the Act, they are able to show good cause as to why they should be excused.Mr. Boateng: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many people were called for jury service in each of the last 10 years at (a) the Central Criminal court, (b) Inner London Crown court, (c) Middlesex Crown court and (d) Harrow Crown court; and what percentage of these people were excused from jury service on each of the legal grounds available. [17101]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The information cannot be obtained except at disproportionate cost.
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Divorce
Mr. Boateng: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many decrees absolute were granted in each of the last five years, and what percentage of them were made on each of the five legal grounds for divorce. [17099]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The table gives the numbers of divorces in each year from 1989 to 1993, the latest year for which figures are available. It also gives the percentages of these divorces that were based on each of the five facts by which irretrievable breakdown of marriage can be demonstrated. A small proportion of petitions are based on a combination of facts, and this proportion is also shown.
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|1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Dissolutions |150,477|152,927|158,301|159,967|164,556
Adultery (per cent.) |29.26 |28.80 |28.26 |27.59 |27.02
Behaviour (per cent.) |44.34 |45.37 |46.28 |46.20 |45.32
Desertion (per cent.) |0.74 |0.67 |0.68 |0.64 |0.68
2 Year Separation with
consent (per cent.) |19.14 |18.77 |18.58 |19.38 |20.75
5 Year Separation (per
cent.) |6.00 |5.86 |5.70 |5.74 |5.81
Combination of Facts (per
cent.) |0.28 |0.27 |0.24 |0.22 |0.21
Mr. Boateng: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what costings his Department has done on the introduction of a national mediation service; what savings he expects to make by funding mediation services for divorcing couples and their children rather than legal aid; and when he intends to publish these costings. [17102]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The Lord Chancellor has no plans to establish a national mediation service. The Lord Chancellor is still examining possible arrangements for the funding of local mediation services in the context of his proposed Green Paper on publicly funded legal services, to be issued later in the spring.
Mr. Boateng: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many (a) trained mediators and (b) mediation centres he estimates will be needed to provide the necessary assistance for divorcing couples and their children. [17103]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The decisions which are made about how best to encourage a wider use of family mediation during the divorce process will determine what assessments are made of the numbers of mediators and mediation centres required to meet any additional demand.
Disabled People (Access)
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will outline the measures taken, facilities offered and adjustments made in his Department and agencies for which he is responsible to facilitate access for disabled people; what plans he has to improve access; and if he will make a statement. [18596]
Mr. John M. Taylor: In relation to the headquarters of the Lord Chancellor's Department and associated offices access and facilities for disabled people are continuously reviewed, and every effort is made to improve them as necessary. We will continue to build on this approach.
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The Lord Chancellor has responsibility for the Court Service, the Public Trust Office, Her Majesty's Land Registry and the Public Record Office as executive agencies. As this question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executives are best placed to provide the answer, I have asked them to reply direct. Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Harry Barnes, dated 5 April 1995:PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: FACILITIES FOR THE DISABLED
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your question about facilities for the disabled.
Newly built Crown, county and combined court centres comply with the requirements of Part M of the Building Regulations 1991, which lay down specific levels of access for disabled court users. The policy is that the design of buildings should enable disabled people to gain independent access into and within the building so that they can fulfil their role in the function of that building; this policy covers all building users-- visiting public, jury, professionals and all staff engaged in the building.
New court building schemes have a revised Crown Court layout which provides better access to and within a courtroom. A sound enhancement system for the hard of hearing is required as standard in one courtroom in every new building. This is generally provided as an infra-red system which preserves security.
Appropriate facilities are provided for wheelchair users, the hard of hearing and people with impaired sight. These include parking facilities close to entrances, level or ramped approaches close to entrances, good acoustic environments, signage and infra-red hearing aid installations, good quality lighting, the avoidance of hazards along routes, clear layouts and back-up aural information.
It will be necessary to review our estate in the light of the requirements of the Disabled Bill currently before Parliament and the Regulations to be made under it. There will also have to be discussions with disabled people and the organisations that represent them, to ensure that their views are taken into account and that they are informed of any problems there may be with particular buildings. The Department has some 450 buildings; about a third of these are listed or older buildings and it will not always be easy or even possible to arrange the kind of access that is required. Our managing agents have been instructed to review our Estate and to identify what
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needs to be done to improve access. On the basis of that information and as part of the ongoing refurbishment programme, every effort will be made, subject to resource and building constraints, to bring our buildings up to the required standard.Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. Harry Barnes, dated 5 April 1995:
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: ACCESS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE IN HM LAND REGISTRY
I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question concerning the measures taken to facilitate access for disabled people in HM Land Registry. I can provide the following information:
The Land Registry carried out a comprehensive review of all facilities offered for disabled people in 1988. A wide range of improvements, including better means of access, were subsequently carried out. These included the provision of dedicated car parking spaces, the building of ramps, and the installation of electronic doors. Where it was not possible to provide unaided wheelchair access, "service call" facilities were installed.
A further review of facilities has recently been carried out as part of the Registry's response to the "Programme for Action to Achieve Equality of Opportunity in the Civil Service for Disabled People". While the great majority of Registry sites already meet the requirements indicated in the Access Checklist published in the Programme, an action plan is currently being prepared to enhance facilities where required.
I do hope that this answers the points raised with the Parliamentary Secretary but please contact me if I can be of any further assistance.
Letter from S. Hutcheson to Mr. Harry Barnes, dated 4 April 1995 :
The Parliamentary Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Departments' response to your Parliamentary question concerning access for disabled people.
Appropriate facilities are provided for wheelchair users which include ramps, handrails, parking facilities near to the entrance and toilets which are accessible to wheelchair users. We also have evacuation chairs for wheelchair users for emergencies such as a fire.
The Public Trust Office is situated in an older building and as parts of it are refurbished we are increasing the numbers of toilets with disabled access.
Letter from Duncan Simpson to Mr. Harry Barnes, dated 4 April 1995:
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: FACILITIES FOR THE DISABLED
In the absence of the Chief Executive, who is away on official business, I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply to your question relating to facilities for the disabled at the Public Record Office.
The Kew building, which opened in 1977, incorporated several design features for the disabled. These are:
a) a lift for disabled users;
b) toilets for disabled users;
c) a wheelchair access ramp leading to the public entrance; d) 5 parking bays for the disabled located at the point nearest to the public entrance;
e) a visual alarm for the fire alarm system.
An extension to the existing building, due for completion in 1995 96, will include the same facilities.
The nineteenth-century Chancery Lane building has been adapted in recent years to improve facilities for disabled users and includes: a) two wheelchair lifts to allow access from street level to the ground floor;
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b) ramped access to the microform reading room;c) toilets for disabled users;
d) parking for the disabled by prior arrangement
In addition, there are special arrangements to make documents available to wheelchair users in the reading room which allows easiest access for them.
Evacuation chairs are available on both sites for use in an emergency.
The Public Record Office has appointed a Disabled Persons Officer, part of whose job is to ensure that action point in the Office's Equal Opportunities Policy relating to disabled facilities are followed. This includes ensuring that special equipment needs for staff are met.
Parliamentary Questions
Mrs. Ann Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) how many parliamentary questions to his Department in each year since 1979 80 requesting a priority written answer or answer on a named day, were answered within three days; how many received a holding reply; and how many of those which received a holding reply then received a substantive answer within a further five, 10, 15, 20 days or longer; [18438]
(2) how many times in each year since 1979 80 his Department has written to a right hon. or hon. Member correcting an answer to a parliamentary question; [18440]
(3) how many times in each year since 1979 80 his Department has given a reply to a parliamentary question which has resulted in the information requested being placed in the Library and not printed in the Official Report ; [18439]
(4) how many parliamentary questions requesting an ordinary written answer were received by his Department in each year since 1979 80; and how many such questions received a substantive answer within 10, 15, 20 days or longer.
(5) how many parliamentary questions to his Department were transferred for answer to the chief executive or other senior official of a non departmental public body or agency for which he has responsibility in each year since 1979 80 or for each year that the body or agency has been in existence; [18441]
(6) how many parliamentary questions to his Department that were transferred for answer to the chief executive or other senior official of a non-departmental public body or agency for which he has responsibility received an answer which was not printed in the Official Report in each year since 1979 80 or for each year that the body or agency has been in existence. [18442]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The information requested is a matter of public record but it could be extracted only in the form requested at disproportionate cost.
New Technology
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department to what extent new technology is being deployed to speed up court work. [18416]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the
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Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked him to reply direct.Letter from Michael Huebner to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 5 April 1995:
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: TECHNOLOGY USED TO SPEED UP COURT WORK You will know that it is the practice for Chief Executives of Agencies to reply direct to Members of Parliament who have tabled written Parliamentary Questions. As The Court Service became an Executive Agency on 3 April the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your question about new technology in the courts.
Several computer systems have been, or are being, introduced into the county courts to speed up court work. For example, the Summons Production Centre (SPC) and the County Court Bulk Centre (CCBC) deal with large quantities of summonses and post-issue process for major plaintiffs, such as the water industry and finance companies. The SPC issued 1.6 million default summonses for fixed amounts, in 1994 and is operated by only six staff. Both the SPC and CCBC are highly automated. As a result, we can guarantee that summonses will be issued and dispatched within 24 48 hours at the SPC and that judgments will be entered and warrants of execution issued within 48 hours at the CCBC.
Electronic links between the CCBC and the 100 largest courts have recently been established. This allows warrant information to be transferred overnight from the CCBC to the local courts so that the warrant can be in the hands of the bailiff the next day.
County Courts also have `stand alone' computer systems to help with accounting functions for handling suitors' cash payments and for monitoring the progress of warrants. In addition, a new computer system, called CaseMan, is under development and is currently being installed at 6 pilot sites. CaseMan is a database system that will allow court records to be stored and documents to be produced electronically. In due course, CaseMan will be developed to support a wide range of functions including those carried ut by the stand alone systems mentioned earlier.
Finally, in the Crown Court a strategic system was developed in 1989 and has progressively been installed in all Crown Court centres. All centres now have comprehensive support through the Crown Court Support System (CREST) for case progression, listing, accounting and payment of costs.
Public Appointments
Mr. Boateng: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many public appointments, excluding judicial appointments, his Department has made in the last five years; what are the names and positions of the appointees; how many of the positions were advertised; how many of the appointees were on the list held by the Cabinet Office's public appointments unit; and how many of the appointments were made in consultation with (a) the Prime Minister and (b) the Government Chief Whip.
Mr. John M. Taylor: A complete answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Lord Chancellor makes over 1,800 non-judicial appointments to bodies for which he has ministerial responsibility. Of those appointments, over 900 were made in the last five years. The great majority of these were made to the advisory committees on justices of the peace where the appointments field largely consists of those who are already JPs, appointments for which are advertised. The table shows the non -judicial public bodies listed under this Department in the Office of Public Service and Science publication "Public Bodies". Of the appointments made in the last five years, 21 were
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advertised. In addition, two vacancies for barristers on the Legal Aid Board were advertised in Bar News , a publication distributed to all subscribing members of the Bar. While we have no record of how many appointees were on the list held by PAU, six appointments were of people suggested by the PAU; four were made in consultation with the Prime Minister; and one in consultation with the Government Chief Whip.
Entries in Public Bodies
|Members
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Bodies
Legal Aid Board |14
Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board
(although it is now inactive) |-
Advisory Bodies
Insolvency Rules Committee |7
County Court Rule Committee |11
Supreme Court Rule Committee |12
Land Registration Rule Committee |5
Family Proceedings Rule Committee |11
Crown Court Rule Committee |11
Advisory Committees on General Commissioners
of Income Tax |621
Advisory Committees on JPs in England (excluding
the Duchy of Lancaster) and Wales |1,037
Judicial Studies Board |55
Advisory Council on Public Records |15
Advisory Committee on Legal Education and
Conduct |17
Legal Aid Advisory Committee (since wound-up) |10
Council on Tribunals |21
Law Commission |5
Northern Ireland Court Service-Advisory
Committees on General Commissioners of Income
Tax (NI) |15
Advisory Committees on JPs in Northern Ireland |56
Advisory Committees on Juvenile Court Lay Panel |11
Legal Aid Advisory Committee (NI) |10
Green Policy
Ms Ruddock: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will name the green Minister for his Department and list (a) the green initiatives taken by that Minister in respect of the Department's functions, (b) the representations made by the Minister in respect of the functions carried out by other Departments and (c) the input made by the Minister into consultations on the Environment Bill. [18642]
Mr. John. M. Taylor: I am the green Minister for the Lord Chancellor's Department.
The initiatives taken by my Department relate mainly to its environmental impact as a consumer. The Department is continuing and intensifying its efforts to improve energy efficiency. It has an on-going programme to maintain and, where appropriate, upgrade the historic buildings on our estate. It has ensured that the design of new court buildings takes full account of environmental concerns and, in the procurement of goods and services, it takes all reasonable steps to maximise the use of recycled and renewable resources. I have regular discussions with other green Ministers on the ways of achieving the Government objectives in this area.
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NATIONAL HERITAGE
Royal Residences
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what were the costs for the last two years and what are the estimated costs for the current year and the next two years of (a) expenditure on palaces in occupation of Her Majesty and residences occupied by members of the royal family and (b) gentlemen at arms and yeomen of the guard. [18048]
Mr. Sproat: The total expenditure on the occupied royal palaces since 1992 93 has been:
1992 93: £23.1 million
1993 94: £19.8 million
1994 95: £20.5 million
Estimated expenditure for the next two years is as follows: 1995 96: £20.7 million
1996 97: £20.9 million
Of these totals, expenditure on the gentleman at arms and yeomen of the guard has been or will be:
1992 93: £39,000
1993 94: £55,000
1994 95: £68,000
1995 96: £54,000
1996 97: £55,000
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