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27. Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received from people in West Yorkshire over his proposals to change the procedure for the allocation of legal aid; and if he will make a statement. [37953]
Mr. Streeter: My Department has received many representations about the Lord Chancellor's plans to reform the legal aid scheme in England and Wales, two of which came from people in West Yorkshire. Neither was from the hon. Gentleman.
Mr. O'Brien: Will the Minister accept that there is much concern in West Yorkshire about the way in which the current legal aid system, and the Government's plans for it, is causing harm to many people who rely on legal aid to pursue justice through courts? Will he ensure that people from lower income groups are able to obtain legal aid more easily?
Mr. Streeter: We wish to ensure that no one is denied access to justice simply because of the depth or shallowness of his pockets. Indeed, our reforms are designed to increase access to justice. The hon. Gentleman appears to be slightly out of the touch with the people of West Yorkshire. Only two of them have written to me about our legal aid reforms. One of them, a Mr. Nickolls from Bradford, wrote:
Mr. Streeter: My hon. Friend is right. There is now a dramatic imbalance between those who are entitled to legal aid suing those who are not entitled. Our reforms are designed to get to the heart of the problem and to redress that imbalance, which has crept in over the past few years.
28. Mr. Flynn: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to improve the administration of his Department. [37954]
Mr. Streeter: A wide range of measures is constantly being undertaken to improve administration. They currently include: taking forward the management improvements set out in the civil service White Paper "Continuity and Change"; use of the private finance initiative to deliver better computerisation, services and accommodation; and other measures to enhance the quality of service and provide better value for money for court users and the taxpayer.
Mr. Flynn: Would not administration be improved if the Minister's Department had more resources, obtained possibly by clawing back some of the millions of pounds that have been looted from legal aid by criminal millionaires? If we cannot claw the money back from the millionaires, possibly because they have fled abroad, should not we claw it back from those who have benefited from the work of those crooks? Can we make a start by demanding that the Conservative party pays back into the public purse some of the £400,000 given to it by Asil Nadir in an attempted bribe?
Mr. Streeter: We are all concerned about cases where there appears to have been an abuse of legal aid money. My Department has already moved to take steps to close the loophole that has been used by the apparently wealthy. Our legal aid reforms are designed to crack down on weak and trivial cases and to ensure that a stiffer merits test is applied, which is the very thing that the hon. Gentleman has urged us to do. I thank him for his support for our White Paper reforms.
Mr. Dykes: Will the improved administration plans for the Department include more training for judges, including senior judges, particularly after the most unfortunate decision made in the Maxwell case, which undermined the meticulous preparatory work of the Serious Fraud Office?
Mr. Streeter: When introducing the reforms brought forward by Lord Woolf, the judiciary will have to undergo serious training, which it is enthusiastic to do. Resources will be made available. It is our intention to have a legal system fit for the 21st century which is safe in Conservative hands.
Mr. Boateng: Talking of elders and betters, what is the Minister's response to the criticism of the Government by the judiciary over the weekend? The Master of the Rolls
described our civil justice system as a "no-win casino". The head of the chancery division described the Government's proposals for court fees as "mistaken". When will the Minister's Department publish Lord Woolf's report? Will he cost it so that we can reform a system that is increasingly falling into disrepute?
Mr. Streeter: We are about to announce our response to Lord Woolf's report. We shall take seriously any comments made by the judiciary. As I understand it, some comments were made in relation to the prospect of the Opposition Front Bench trying to outdo my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary, who is introducing tremendous reforms that are supported by the nation at large. The hon. Gentleman's response appears to be, "Mine is bigger than yours."
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: Is my hon. Friend satisfied that the administrative reforms that he is undertaking will enable his Department sufficiently to pursue contempt of court cases? In particular, will the reforms enable his Department to examine the clear contempt of court of those who quote privileged court documents, including the disgraceful conduct of the right hon. Members for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair) and for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) in quoting privileged documents?
Mr. Streeter: My hon. Friend raises a serious matter. The disclosure of documents in the case to which he refers clearly needs to be carefully scrutinised. I shall refer the matter to my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General for full consideration.
29. Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he expects to visit the land registry and land charges offices in the Plymouth, Devonport constituency to discuss the work of the offices. [37955]
Mr. Streeter: I visited the Plymouth district land registry on Wednesday 18 September 1996, and I was greatly impressed by the enthusiasm and efficiency of all the officers whom I met.
Mr. Jamieson: I am pleased to note that my tough and exacting question, which I tabled before the summer recess, precipitated a long overdue visit by the Minister to the land registry in my constituency.
I note that the Minister said that he was impressed by the very good work that the staff are doing--so will he now give a guarantee that the morale of the staff and the excellent work that they are doing will not be undermined by the threat of privatisation?
Mr. Streeter:
My visit was set up well before the hon. Gentleman tabled his question. We have no plans
31. Mr. Cohen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to make the small claims court more efficient and accessible to people on low incomes. [37958]
Mr. Streeter: The National Audit Office's report on the small claims procedure, published in March, disclosed that most people who had pursued small claims had found the procedure cheap and easy to use. Considering the NAO's finding, the Committee of Public Accounts made a number of recommendations aimed at improving the efficiency and accessibility of the small claims procedure. The Department has responded to the Committee's conclusions in the minutes of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Cohen: I welcome the Minister's answer, but as cuts in legal aid will damage the legal rights of those on low incomes, is it not incumbent on the Government to improve the efficiency of the small claims courts? Should not the Department be introducing measures immediately to increase financial limits, to improve the representation of those using the courts and to achieve a faster throughput of cases with swifter judgments?
Mr. Streeter: The hon. Gentleman is, uncharacteristically, out of touch. At the beginning of this year, we increased the limit for small claims from £1,000 to £3,000. We are monitoring that measure carefully. The hon. Gentleman is right: we want a small claims system that is cheap and easy to use. We believe that we have that, but we will monitor it carefully.
Mr. Harry Greenway: Does my hon. Friend agree that some people, who succeed in gaining awards through the small claims courts, do not obtain them because procedures are not enforced? Can something be done urgently to improve that?
Mr. Streeter: As usual, my hon. Friend makes a good point. We are considering a range of ways in which to improve the enforceability of judgments so that people who obtain a judgment in the courts are guaranteed to receive the money. We will report in due course.
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