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Rail Crash (Paddington)

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has in relation to the Paddington rail crash inquiry, to include coroners' inquest powers in those of the inquiry therein, pursuant to the Access to Justice Act 1999. [109372]

Jane Kennedy: Section 71 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 came into force on 1 January. Under the new powers, once identification and pathological evidence have been dealt with, the Lord Chancellor will formally direct the coroner to adjourn the inquest and allow Lord Cullen to start his inquiry into the train crash.

Conditional Fee Agreements

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will publish the rules on the extension of conditional fee agreements due to come into effect on 1 April 2000, (a) in draft form and (b) in final form; what plans he has to consult with professional bodies on the rules in draft; and if he will make a statement. [109376]

Mr. Lock: The Government have already consulted professional bodies and others. We published our consultation paper "Conditional Fees: Sharing the Risks

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of Litigation" on 23 September 1999. The paper sought views on the regulations and rules of court required to give effect to its policy on conditional fee agreements. It received 91 responses. These included responses from consumer groups, the Civil Justice Council, the Association of District Judges, the Senior Costs Judge, the legal professional bodies (including those with a specialist interest in conditional fees such as the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers), the trade unions and their legal representatives, individual judges, practitioners and the insurance industry. On 1 February, in the light of responses to that consultation paper, the Government published a report entitled "The Government's Conclusions Following Consultation on Conditional Fees: Sharing the Costs of Litigation". The report announced the principles to be set out in regulations applying to conditional fee agreements. The report also contained recommendations to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee concerning the detailed guidance in rules of court governing the recovery of success fees under conditional fee agreements and premiums for after the event insurance policies. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The regulations giving effect to the changes announced in the report will be laid before Parliament in time for them to be approved and come into force on 1 April. The Rule Committee will, before making rules of court, consult such persons as they consider appropriate.

Indemnity

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to review the indemnity principle in the light of the court decision in the case of Awwad vs Geraghty; and if he will make a statement. [109373]

Mr. Lock: The issue in Awwad vs Geraghty & Co. was whether an oral agreement between a solicitor and client to charge a reduced fee if the case was lost and the normal charging rate if the case was won, was enforceable. The Court held that the agreement (at the time at which it was made) was unlawful and in breach of the Solicitor's Practice Rules 1990. Awwad vs Geraghty considered the position as it stood in 1993. Since then amendments have been made to the legislation and to the Solicitor's Practice Rules and further amendments will come into force on 1 April 2000 as a result of the commencement of section 27 of the Access to Justice Act. After 1 April 2000 agreements to work for no, or a lesser, fee if unsuccessful and a normal or higher fee if successful will be enforceable, provided they comply with the regulations currently being drafted.

No consideration of the indemnity principle, relevant to the present position took place in Awwad vs Geraghty. The Government are conscious of the impact the indemnity principle can have on the recovery of costs, and had, prior to Awwad vs Geraghty, included a provision in the Access to Justice Act to amend section 51 of the Supreme Court Act 1991.

Freemasons

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many (a) magistrates and (b) judges in England and Wales are freemasons. [109439]

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Mr. Lock: The latest provisional figures available for full-time and part-time judges and judicial office-holders and lay magistrates are given in the following table. These figures are subject to revision in the light of further analysis and changes in the composition of the judiciary.

Professional Judiciary (49)Lay Magistracy (50)
Masons2681,207
Non-masons4,89420,308
Not disclosed75597
Not replied/not recorded4702,852
Total5,707(51)24,964

(49) Position for post-holders as at 30 September 1999. These figures include both responses to the voluntary questionnaire sent to serving office-holders in July 1998 and information provided on initial appointment.

(50) Position for post-holders as at 1 October 1998. These figures relate to the voluntary questionnaire.

(51) Excludes Justices of the Peace in the Duchy of Lancaster.


Departmental Contracts

Mr. Willis: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the (a) number and (b) value of contracts let by his Department since May 1997 to external consultants and advisers for the management of competitive tendering processes. [109304]

Mr. Lock: The information requested is as follows:



Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list for the financial year 1998-99 the number and total value of contracts let by his Department with external consultants and advisers that have (a) been put out to competitive tender, (b) not been put out to competitive tender and (c) been let on a non-commercial basis, stating in each case the names of the individuals or organisations that have carried out the work. [109064]

Mr. Lock: The information available is broken down in the table. In the time available the Public Records Office has only been able to provide the total number and value of the contracts let in each of the categories concerned.

Departmental Contracts

Department£
(a) Contracts that have been competitively tendered: LCD
Donaldsons12,484
Pricewaterhousecoopers (x2)347,835
Managing Agents71,384
Professor Richard Susskind6,345
CCTA (x2)4,673
Amtec Consulting2,504
Parity Solutions2,350
Management Partners24,992
Syntegra108,954
Myriad60,657
University of Birmingham49,500
NB Selection23,612
RSSM Ltd.5,118
KPMG94,599
16 contracts815,007
Court Service
Widnells29,375
RADAR15,334
Wheelers34,803
Digital4,911
Myriad (x3)70,334
CCTA6,766
Professor Richard Susskind18,942
PA Consulting32,101
Information Initiatives Ltd. (x5)70,167
CSL Group Ltd.577
Inbucon Ltd.2,302
AMTEC Consulting Ltd.9,400
18 contracts295,012
Land Registry
Syntegra3,388
Bailey Partnership801
Memorex Telex1,064
Tower Technology18,982
Lewis Productions13,561
Jeremy Coyle Associates93,096
Opinion Research7,693
Development Partnership (x2)3,007
Business Enhancement907
10 contracts142,499
Public Trust Office
CCTA1,973
Eurotek11,171
G-Cat (x2)28,125
K22,124
Myriad (x2)167,917
One Zero30,400
Parity (Trident)16,296
Siemens Nixdorf2,200
Workgroup950
11 contracts261,156
Northern Ireland Court Service
Bird and Bird166,000
Price Waterhouse (x2)45,000
Citex Bucknall Austin204,728
CCTA8,249
5 contracts423,977
Public Records Office
BDL
CCTA (x2)
Crane Davies
Diane Bailey Associates
Elan
Fretwell Downing
Hedra
Kite
Logica
Magna Consulting
Marketing Alliance
MMT
MR Group
PC Docs
PCL
Security Systems
17 contracts548,409 (b) Not been put out to competitive tender: LCD
Demograph2,273
George Willman5,525
Iaonann Management Consultants3,513
Civil Service College1,064
Focus Quality Services4,200
Woodward Lewis Assoc.2,186
Zeldon Health Ltd. (x2)6,374
University of Surrey6,000
Professor Gareth Jones14,900
Mr. Burn2,026
MDA3,731
Website5,288
Lorien plc7,365
Plontikoff & Woolfson2,937
Sir Graham Hart5,850
Liberty300
17 contracts73,532
Court Service
Hengstler Flexitime Ltd.8,459
Sapphire International Ltd.763
Public Sector Software5,816
Judd Consultancy Services7,500
MLI Ltd.16,388
BMRB International24,612
6 contracts63,538
Land Registry
Syntegra1,673
Tenet Systems118,314
Dunstan Thomas30,017
IBM UK Ltd.11,063
Scan Optics595
IRC Europe29,787
Law Society Publishing12,500
Plain English Campaign1,600
Tannerton Ltd.3,568
E Quality1,600
Catering Price Index21,000
Saville & Holdsworth5,069
Breckenridge22,695
Claire Lefevre4,945
Jill Totty2,000
Joh Manthorpe11,925
16 contracts278,351
Public Trust Office
British Telecommunications99
Colt750
Edis11,228
3 contracts12,077
Northern Ireland Court Service
Helm Corporation12,800
1 contract12,800
Public Records Office
Crawley Services
J Geddes
TFPL
3 contracts28,581
(c) Non-commercial basis:
Nil--

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