| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
JPs
33. Mr. Tyler: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the impact on justices of the peace of his proposals to achieve economies in the magistrates courts. [R] [109650]
Jane Kennedy: I have made no assessment.
Magistrates Courts Committees are, under statute, responsible for the efficient and effective administration of the magistrates courts for their area.
Central Government provide 80 per cent. of the funding for Magistrates Courts Committees. The grant allocated for 1999-2000 was £257.5 million. In 2000-01 it is £270.3 million. The Magistrates Courts Committees experiencing hardship have been invited to apply for additional funding.
22 Feb 2000 : Column: 963W
Ms Keeble:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on steps taken by his Department to process immigration and asylum cases. [109651]
Jane Kennedy:
Plans are now in place to ensure that the Immigration Appellate Authorities have sufficient staff, judicial, IT and accommodation resources in order to meet the expected increase in workload in the year 2000-01.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he is taking to phase out the use of peat compost in gardens (a) owned and (b) tended by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [110722]
Jane Kennedy:
My Department does not use peat compost in the gardens that it owns. The Department's Environment Strategy, while not specifically referring to peat compost, makes a commitment to the integration of sound environmental practice into operational activities. The agents responsible for managing my Department's estate are required to integrate good environment practice into the procurement and supervision of grounds maintenance contracts.
Information on the use of peat compost on land managed in trust my Department is not collected and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Crausby:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of documentation used by his Department is (a) made from recycled paper and (b) collected for recycling. [111604]
Jane Kennedy:
The paper in the documentation used by my Department comes from various independently verified sustainable sources. Information on the percentage of documentation that comes from recycled paper could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All sensitive waste is either recycled or incinerated to generate electricity. Information on the percentage of documentation that is recycled by my Department is not collected and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what advice he has given to the Rules Committee on the rules of court he considers necessary on conditional fees; and if he will make a statement. [111657]
Mr. Lock:
The paper, "The Government's conclusions following consultation on Conditional Fees: sharing the risks of litigation" was published on 31 January. That paper sets out the Government's recommendations in respect of rules of court to govern the recovery of the success fee under a conditional fee agreement and of insurance premiums. A copy of the paper has been sent to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee.
22 Feb 2000 : Column: 964W
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assistance will be offered to (a) the public and (b) the legal profession in relation to understanding and preparing for the new rules on conditional fees; and if he will make a statement. [111658]
Mr. Lock:
The Government will introduce new regulations on 1 April requiring all legal representatives to provide information to lay clients who are considering entering conditional fee agreements. The regulations will require a legal representative, before entering a conditional fee agreement, to explore with the client whether alternative methods of funding the litigation are available, including whether the client's liability for their costs (including the costs of another party) may be covered by insurance. The regulations will require the legal representative to provide an oral explanation of the agreement in addition to providing written information. My Department is also working with the Legal Aid Board to prepare an information leaflet for members of the public explaining the options they will have for financing litigation.
The report entitled "The Government's Conclusions Following Consultation on Conditional Fees: Sharing the Costs of Litigation", published on 1 February, announced the principles to be set out in regulations applying to conditional fee agreements and contained recommendations to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee concerning the detailed guidance of rules of court governing the recovery of success fees under conditional fee agreements and premiums for after the event insurance policies. Legal representatives can refer for guidance on the regulations to this document, and to the regulations and rules of court themselves once they are made.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent representations he has received concerning (a) the substance of and (b) the procedure leading to, the new rules of court on conditional fees; and if he will make a statement. [111656]
Mr. Lock:
The Government received 91 responses to their consultation paper "Conditional Fees: Sharing the Risks of Litigation" on 23 September 1999 from respondents providing views on the regulations and rules of court required to give effect to its policy on conditional fee agreements. 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. The views of respondents are summarised in the report entitled "The Government's Conclusions Following Consultation on Conditional Fees: Sharing the Costs of Litigation". That document also lists the names of respondents.
Since the publication of the report I have received a number of letters from practitioners welcoming the principles the Government intend to set out in regulations applying to conditional fee agreements. These practitioners also welcomed the Government's recommendations to Civil Procedure Rule Committee concerning the detailed
22 Feb 2000 : Column: 965W
guidance in rules of court governing the recovery of success fees under conditional fee agreements and premiums for after the event insurance policies.
I have also received representations from the President of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers which among other things suggested that its representative and a representative of the Federation of Insurance Lawyers should be co-opted to assist the Civil Procedure Rule Committee draft rules of court, given their special interest in conditional fee agreements and insurance. The Government have no power under the Civil Procedure Act 1997 to co-opt representatives onto the Committee.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent representations he has received concerning the proposed 1 April implementation date for rules of court concerning conditional fees; and if he will make a statement. [111655]
Mr. Lock:
I have received two letters from the President of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers expressing concern that the Government might have to defer its plans to make success fees and insurance premiums recoverable from 1 April 2000. No such deferment is planned.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what will be recoverable in respect of conditional fee success fees by a successful litigant's lawyers by way of maximum percentage of cap, in relation to each type of work for which success fees can be recovered. [111587]
Mr. Lock:
The maximum success fees in cases where success fees are permitted will remain at 100 per cent. Recoverability will be subject to the discretion of the court.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to ensure that after-the-event insurance premiums recoverable against a losing party will relate only to the risk against incurring a liability in a proceedings and not to financing or marketing expenditure; and if he will make a statement. [111654]
Mr. Lock:
In its recommendations to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee the Government made clear their wish that rules of court relating to success fees under conditional fee agreements or litigation insurance premiums should provide that only the element relating to the risk that was being covered should be recoverable. A recoverable success fee or insurance premium, in the Government's view, should reflect the related business overheads including, for example, the cost of marketing the services or products concerned. It would be neither desirable nor practicable to attempt to identify and exclude particular elements of normal overhead costs from success fees or insurance premiums.
The Government have also made clear that they do not believe that the costs relating to financing a case, such as actual or notional interest or credit charges, should be recoverable whether as part of the premium or the success fee.
22 Feb 2000 : Column: 966W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |