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Marriage Support
Mr. Levitt: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what evaluation he plans to make of the current pilot programme of marriage support projects. [4075]
Mr. Hoon: The main aim of the pilot programme is to identify the types of service which support marriage most effectively. All the projects include an element of monitoring and evaluation, and organisations are required to provide an interim report on progress to the end of the calendar year 1997, followed by a full evaluation on completion of the project.
The Department will assess the effectiveness of the pilot projects in terms of their achievement of specific aims and objectives, and their cost-effectiveness.
Mr. Levitt:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what support he proposes to give to enable successful marriage support projects to continue once the current pilot programme has been completed. [4074]
Mr. Hoon:
The Department's programme of marriage support projects started on 1 April 1997. The programme will run for a year, and it is too early yet to identify the successful projects. The results of the pilot programme will be one of the factors taken into account by my right hon. and noble Friend the Lord Chancellor in deciding on the future funding of marriage support projects.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if records are kept which show in relation to lay justices and stipendiary magistrates (a) the average length of trials before them, (b) the average fines imposed by them and (c) the number of successful appeals from them. [5031]
Mr. Hoon:
This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what criteria exist to enable comparisons between the performance of lay magistrates and stipendiary magistrates. [5033]
Mr. Hoon:
The Lord Chancellor's Department does not attempt to draw comparisons between the performance of judicial officers.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to require stipendiary magistrates to sit with lay justices. [5034]
Mr. Hoon:
There are some situations, for example in the youth court and the family court, where either law or practice requires stipendiary magistrates to sit with lay justices. There are no current plans to add to these categories.
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Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the savings in cost and time from appointing a higher proportion of stipendiary magistrates. [5035]
Mr. Hoon:
No formal assessment has been made of the savings in cost and time which might result from appointing a higher proportion of stipendiary magistrates. The Study of Delay in the Criminal Justice System (the Narey Report), contained no specific cost-benefit analysis.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many of the justices of the peace in England are qualified barristers or solicitors. [5036]
Mr. Hoon:
No records are kept of the numbers of justices of the peace who are qualified barristers or solicitors.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of the magistrates courts in England and Wales are equipped to cater for magistrates who are registered disabled. [5038]
Mr. Hoon:
As magistrates court buildings are the responsibility of the local authorities this information is not centrally held. The design standards set down for magistrates courts since 1991 require the magistrates' entry into the courthouse and access to a proportion of the courtrooms to be suitable for wheelchairs. Provision is also made for loop induction systems to be provided for those with hearing impairments. Disabled toilet facilities are also provided within the magistrates' circulation area. Applications by local authorities for grant aid to adapt older magistrates courts to provide improved facilities for disabled users including magistrates are treated as high priority bids when allocating capital grant.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of magistrates in England and Wales are registered disabled. [5040]
Mr. Hoon:
No records are kept for the percentage of magistrates in England and Wales who are registered disabled.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of (a) lay magistrates and (b) stipendiary magistrates are from an ethnic minority background. [5041]
Mr. Hoon:
(a) a survey of the ethnic origin of lay magistrates was begun in February 1997 and the results are expected to be available in early October.
(b) 2 per cent. of stipendiary magistrates are from an ethnic minority background.
Mr. Malone:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will establish a working group to report on the quality of justice and the relative case disposal rate of lay justices and stipendiary magistrates. [5030]
Mr. Hoon:
The working party on the role of the stipendiary magistracy reported in February 1996. There are no current plans to commission a further study.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the average cost per day
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 403
to the Exchequer of (a) a Crown court, (b) a magistrates court with lay justices sitting and (c) a magistrates court with a stipendiary magistrate sitting. [5032]
Mr. Hoon:
The Home Office "Model of Flows and Costs in the Criminal Justice Process" for 1995-96 shows the total cost excluding capital expenditure in the Crown Court was £202,544,937 and in the magistrates' courts for criminal matters was £257,885,498. The number of days sat in the Crown Court in 1996 was 90,956. The number of hours sat in the magistrates' courts in 1996 was 1,173,071. It is not possible to break this information down between lay and stipendiary magistrates.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to improve the (a) race and (b) gender awareness of (i) judges, (ii) stipendiary magistrates and (iii) lay justices. [5042]
Mr. Hoon:
Judicial training is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), which is a non-departmental governmental body. Following a major programme of seminars in ethnic minority awareness between 1994 and 1996 for circuit judges, recorders, assistant recorders, district judges and stipendiary magistrates, the JSB continues to include such training as part of induction training for newly appointed assistant recorders and deputy district judges. It has also held a number of sessions in both induction and continuation training on equal treatment, including gender awareness, and is considering how training in this area might be developed.
Lay magistrate training is delivered by magistrates courts committees but the JSB has a role in setting the syllabus. Lay magistrates already address the issue of equal treatment for all in the light of their judicial oath and the JSB has recently begun a study to identify the skills and knowledge required by lay magistrates to ensure equality of treatment for all who appear in their courts.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of persons charged with serious criminal offences in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996 were legally aided. [5044]
Mr. Hoon:
96.6 per cent of those dealt with on indictment in the Crown Court in 1994 were legally aided. The figures for 1995 and 1996 were 96.0 per cent. and 95.3 per cent. respectively.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of legally aided persons in all criminal proceedings in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996 received custodial sentences. [5045]
Mr. Hoon:
This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many clerks and deputy clerks to justices there are in England and Wales; and how many of these are qualified solicitors or barristers. [5037]
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 404
Mr. Hoon:
According to records held by the Justices Clerk Society there are 204 justices clerks in England and Wales. All are qualified barristers or solicitors. There are around 230 people who are designated as deputies for justices clerks. Of these some 30 are neither barristers nor solicitors.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if it is his practice to ensure that lay magistrates always sit with clerks who are qualified as solicitors or barristers. [5039]
Mr. Hoon:
Under the provisions of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997, magistrates courts are local managed. Decisions on which clerk advises which bench are therefore taken locally. The qualifications required of clerks in magistrates courts are set out in the Justices' Clerks (Qualification of Assistants) Rules 1979.
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