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Land Registry
33. Mr. Barnes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will introduce measures requiring the Land Registry not to record cross-deeds in its records; and if he will make a statement. [4669]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: A joint working party of the Law Commission, Her Majesty's Land Registry and the Lord Chancellor's Department is currently considering possible reform of the Land Registration Act 1925 and will look in particular at the treatment of easements and overriding interests in the land registration system--this will encompass the situation to which the hon. Gentleman refers. The joint working party hopes to report by the summer of next year.
Pensions Act 1995
34. Mr. Cohen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he is taking in respect of court consideration of divorce petitions which have been lodged prior to the implementation date he has set for the Pensions Act 1995 in order for one of the parties to gain a financial advantage; and if he will make a statement. [4670]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: Courts currently have a duty to give full consideration to all of a divorcing couple's assets and income on divorce, including pension rights. They also have a wide discretion to ensure that an equitable solution is reached between the parties. This will continue to be the case.
Law Centres
36. Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals he has for a national network of law centres. [4672]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: The Lord Chancellor recognises the importance and great value of the work which is done by law centres and other advice agencies. In his Green Paper on legal aid, he has proposed that such agencies should be able to bid for legal aid contracts to provide advice and assistance in their areas of expertise. The Lord Chancellor intends to make an announcement on the future of the Green Paper proposals next year.
Work on the regulations which will bring into force section 166 of the Pensions Act 1995 has highlighted certain complex issues requiring further thought. To ensure that these issues are fully considered and that consultees have sufficient time to comment on the proposals, the Government are now aiming to bring into force section 166 on 1 July 1996.
37. Mr. John Marshall:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received about the size of the legal aid budget. [4673]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
The Lord Chancellor and I have received many representations about the legal aid scheme, some of which touch on the size of the legal aid budget.
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39. Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what new proposals he has to improve the legal aid system. [4675]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
The Lord Chancellor published a Green Paper on the future of legal aid in May. Over 180 responses have been received. These are being analysed. Discussions are being held with some of the major respondents to allow them to expand on their views. The Lord Chancellor intends to make an announcement on the outcome of the consultation process next year.
Mr. Janner:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the extension of legal aid. [4671]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
The Government's plans for reform of the legal aid scheme were outlined in the Green Paper "Legal Aid--Targeting Need". The responses to that paper are being considered.
38. Mr. Ainger:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many investigations the fraud investigation department has carried out in the last five years. [4674]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
The number of investigations carried out by the fraud investigation section of the Legal Aid Board in the last five years to March 1995 is 4,600.
In addition, the Benefits Agency, which deals with means assessment for civil legal aid, carried out 29,108 investigations in the last five years between November 1990 and March 1995.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the operation of the bailiff service in the county of Cumbria. [4662]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
The Court Service is responsible only for county court bailiffs and monitors their performance through a series of targets and objectives. All are currently met by bailiffs in Cumbria.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many officials he employed (a) full time and (b) part time in his Department in each of the last three years to answer letters sent to him from hon. Members; and what was the estimated overall cost of replying to them in each of the last three years. [5622]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
The Lord Chancellor's Department comprises two next steps agencies--the Court Service, established as an agency in April 1995, and the Public Trust Office, established in July 1994--the departmental headquarters and associated offices. Hon. Members' letters about the operation of the agencies are referred to the respective chief executives for reply and I have accordingly asked them to write direct setting out their arrangements for dealing with this correspondence. In LCD headquarters and associated offices, and throughout the Department before the establishment of the agencies, Members' correspondence is allocated to individual divisions according to subject matter. Detailed
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breakdowns of the amount of time spent by officials on this work and its cost are not available and the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Letter for Julia C. Lomas to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 18 December 1995:
Mr. Harry Greenway:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the cost of the administration of the immigration appellate authorities in the past year; how many cases were considered; what were the equivalent figures in real terms in the year to May 1979; and if he will make a statement. [4664]
Mr. Johnathan Evans:
Excluding accommodation, the cost of the administration of the immigration appellate authorities was £5,632,624 in the financial year 1994-95. The equivalent figure in real terms for 1978-79 was £2,255,569.
The appellate authorities determined 25,446 cases in 1994-95 and 9,527 in 1979.
Mr. Alton:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he as to issue new procedure rules in respect of appeals under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993; and when he expects they will be published. [6166]
Mr. Johnathan Evans:
Following the recommendations in the report by the consultants, KPMG Peat Marwick, a copy of which was placed in the Library in February this year, changes are being considered to the Asylum Appeals (Procedure) Rules 1993. The Lord Chancellor expects to consult interested organisations about his proposals early in the new year.
Mr. Alton:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he expects that procedure
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rules governing appeals under clause 3 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill will be published. [6167]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
Any changes to the Asylum Appeals (Procedure) Rules 1993 arising from the Asylum and Immigration Bill will be considered once the Bill has been enacted.
Letter from Mr. Michael Huebner to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 18 December 1995:
The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to respond to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary Question, listed on 8 December 1995, regarding the number of officials employed to answer letters sent from Honourable Members and the estimated overall cost of replying to them over the last three years.
The Public Trust Office does not employ any officials to specifically deal with ministerial cases, however, all officials will spend a proportion of their time dealing with them. The estimated cost of replying to letters sent from Honourable Members could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.
The Parliamentary Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of staff employed in the Court Service to deal with letters from Members.
The Customer Service Unit of the Court Service, established in April 1995, currently contains 12 full-time members of staff who are involved in the preparation of replies to letters sent from Members of Parliament. This figure can be broken down as follows:
1 x Grade 7
2 x HEO
9 x EO.
Approximately 50 per cent. of their time is devoted to the preparation of these replies. This has an estimated cost, for the period 1 April 1995 to 1 December 1995, of £140,035.
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