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Cooking and Catering Awards
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the major cooking and catering awards won by the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) Air Force over the past five years. [72740]
Mr. Spellar:
Awards have been won by individual Service participants and teams as shown in the following table.
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In 1998 a Combined Services Culinary Arts Team was formed to rationalise available resources in the interests of efficiency and economy. The Team competed at Expogast in Luxembourg and won 9 Gold Medals and 3 Silver Medals.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what (a) reviews, (b) task
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forces and (c) advisory groups have been established by his Department since 1 May 1997; what costs they have incurred to date; and what reports they have published. [71515]
Mr. Hoon
[holding answer 16 February 1999]: The information requested is in the table. Departmental costs (including the cost of around £75,000 for the review of civil justice and legal aid included in Lord McIntosh of Haringey's answer of 7 July 1997, Official Report, House of Lords, columns 51-55), are being met from existing Departmental budgets. External costs, where applicable, are shown in the table.
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| Review/task force | Report(s) published | External costs |
|---|---|---|
| Review of Civil Justice and Legal Aid | Reported published October 1997 | -- |
| Review of Welfare Services to the Courts(1) | -- | -- |
| Review of Procedures consequent on the Decision to Transfer or Commit Fraud Trials | -- | -- |
| Study and Evaluation of the Current Tax Appeals System | -- | -- |
| Review of the Lord Chancellor's Department Funding for Marriage Support and Research Services | -- | External Reviewer (retired Permanent Secretary) paid £450 per day |
| Review of Enforcement of Civil Court Judgments | -- | £2,000 (members travel expenses) |
| Representative Actions Working Group | -- | £100 (members travel expenses) |
| National Interdisciplinary Forum (NIDF)-- Information Meetings Pilots | -- | -- |
| Research Advisory Group--Information Meetings Pilots | -- | -- |
| Ministerial Task Group on the Home Buying Process(2) | Report to Ministers--October 1998 Public consultation due to close end of March 1999 | -- |
| Community Legal Service Quality Task Force | -- | -- |
(1) Joint review with Home Office and DoH
(2) Joint LCD, DETR and DTI Group
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Mortgage Repossessions
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the numbers of mortgage repossession cases (a) commenced and (b) executed since 1997 and of the likely trend in such numbers in 1999-2000. [72317]
Mr. Hoon:
The number of cases issued and executed since 1997 is as follows.
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| Mortgage possession actions entered | Possession warrants executed | |
|---|---|---|
| January 1997-December 1997 | 67,073 | 46,865 |
| January 1998-December 1998 | (3)78,865 | 59,701 |
(3) Figures for local authority mortgages have been estimated since the third quarter of 1998 at 3 per cent. of the total figure; historically since 1996 local authority mortgages have represented between 1 per cent. and 5 per cent. of the total.
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The trend is upwards; but it is difficult to forecast with any accuracy for forward periods because of the factors which may affect the housing market.
Mediation Services (Cumbria)
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received on funding for mediation services in Cumbria. [72667]
Mr. Hoon: None. I have received two letters, one from the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border and one from my hon. Friend the Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) about funding Mediation UK, a national umbrella organisation for community mediation.
Land Registry
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the operation of the Land Registry. [72720]
Mr. Hoon: The Land Registry maintains and develops authoritative and effective land information systems for England and Wales. It was established as a separate government department in 1862, became an Executive Agency in 1990 and a Government Trading Fund in 1993. It is required by statute to cover all expenditure from its fee income and makes no call on moneys voted by Parliament. The Land Registry has joined with private sector and other government organisations to develop a National Land Information Service. This has led to an innovative conveyancing pilot, based in Bristol, which is effectively a one-stop conveyancing shop, reducing overall transaction times when buying a house. In November 1998 the pilot won a British Computer Society award which recognises excellence in computing.
The Land Registry has also recently won an award from the Society for Computers and the Law for its on-line Direct Access Service. In January, the Land Registry became one of only 18 organisations in the United Kingdom to be awarded a third Charter Mark.
Departmental Policies
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what systems he has in place to ensure that policies being developed by his Department are subject to a crime impact (a) assessment and (b) audit and are not likely to lead to enhanced criminal opportunities. [72691]
Mr. Hoon: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply the Under-Secretary for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Minister for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) has given to this question today, Official Report, column 311-12.
Justice and Internal Affairs Council
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the issues for discussion before the Justice and Internal Affairs Council on 12 March, indicating the position he proposes to take on each issue. [72737]
Kate Hoey:
I have been asked to reply.
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