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Mediation and Reconciliation
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was
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spent by governmental departments in (a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999 on mediation and reconciliation schemes to support marriages. [119766]
Jane Kennedy: The figures for 1970 and 1980 are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In the financial year 1999-2000 the Lord Chancellor's Department spent £3.2 million on marriage and relationship support. In line with Sir Graham Hart's recommendations in his report on Marriage Support Funding (November 1999), the allocation is being increased to £4 million in 2000-01; £4.5 million in 2002-02; and to £5 million in 2002-03.
Divorce Cases
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of the Legal Aid Fund was spent on divorce cases in (a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999; and how much was spent in each of those years in 1999 prices. [119764]
Mr. Lock: Legal Aid is not normally available for divorce proceedings. It is available however for matters ancillary to divorce, such as spousal maintenance and property issues, and for residence and contact matters relating to children.
In 1979-80 and 1998-99, expenditure on all proceedings relating to divorce and ancillary matters represented 30 per cent. and 18 per cent. of the total Legal Aid Fund respectively.
At 1999 prices, the amounts spent on matrimonial proceedings were:
- 1999: £175.5 million
1980: £65.0 million
Libel Actions (Financial Backers)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department in how many failed libel actions brought since 1995 the litigant has refused to disclose to the court the identities of those who helped finance the action so that costs could be recovered; what steps the court took in each case; and if he will make a statement. [120002]
Mr. Lock: The Lord Chancellor's Department does not keep statistics of libel cases which fail and in which the litigant has refused to disclose to the court the source of those who helped to finance the action. It is not possible to keep records of the costs outcomes of libel cases because many cases do not reach trial but are settled by agreement. In settled cases the court will not be privy to the arrangement on costs.
The question of financial support for defamation proceedings will be addressed in a consultation paper to be issued by my Department in the near future.
Public Records
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on
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progress made since March 1999 on allowing access to documents over 30 years old to which s.3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958 applies. [119835]
Mr. Lock: It is now normal procedure, when government departments and agencies make applications for the Lord Chancellor's permission to retain records over 30 years old, for officers of the Public Record Office to encourage them to allow public access. Such applications are further scrutinised by the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on Public Records. The Advisory Council may request access for the public as a condition of an application proceeding to receive the Lord Chancellor's approval.
As a result, the public will be granted access to the great majority of the records retained under s.3(4) since March 1999. The commonest reason for access to be refused is that the retained records remain sensitive. In such cases access would undermine the reason for retention.
Judicial Appointments
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the implications for judicial appointment procedures in England and Wales of the proposals for judicial appointments commissions for Scotland and for Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [119803]
Jane Kennedy: The Lord Chancellor is aware of the proposals for Scotland and Northern Ireland. He has decided to appoint a Commissioner for Judicial Appointments in England and Wales as recommended by Sir Leonard Peach following his scrutiny of the appointments procedures and to take forward his other recommendations for change. The Commissioner, as recommended by Sir Leonard, will give the Lord Chancellor independent and impartial advice on the full range of appointments matters. Further reform is not ruled out for the future, but not immediately planned, now that the existing system has been investigated and endorsed subject to certain changes which will be implemented and evaluated.
Queen's Counsel
Mr. Cox: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many Queen's Counsel are from ethnic minority communities, broken down between (a) men and (b) women. [120082]
Mr. Lock: The information is not available in the form requested.
Before 1989, applicants for appointment as Queen's Counsel were not invited to declare their ethnic origin. Since that year, applicants have been invited to declare their ethnic origin, but they are not obliged to do so. There is, therefore, no definitive record of the number of Queen's Counsel of ethnic minority origin.
Sine 1989 (and including this year), 22 applicants who chose to declare an ethnic minority origin have been appointed as Queen's Counsel; of these, 19 are men and 3 are women.
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Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many of the Queen's Counsel to be appointed on Maundy Thursday are (a) women, (b) from ethnic minority backgrounds, (c) solicitors and (d) (i) below the age of 45 and (ii) above the age of 60 years; and what was the (A) highest, (B) lowest, (C) average and (D) mean declared fee income of (x) successful and (y) unsuccessful candidates. [119819]
Mr. Lock: The Lord Chancellor's Department's press notice number 134/00, issued for publication on Maundy Thursday, announces the names of those to be appointed Queen's Counsel on Wednesday 3 May, and I refer my hon. Friend to that notice.
That press notice includes, as it has in previous years, statistical information on the numbers of female, ethnic minority and solicitor applicants and successful applicants. Following a recommendation in Sir Leonard Peach's report into the appointment processes of judges and Queen's Counsel, it also includes for the first time a table indicating the averages and quartile distributions of the average declared fees for all applicants, unsuccessful applicants and successful applicants.
The additional information requested by my hon. Friend is that 41 of the successful applicants are under 45; and none is over 60 years of age.
Regeneration-related Initiatives
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the number and value of (a) bids for and (b) grants made in each of the last three financial years for which figures are available, for each (i) area-based and (ii) other regeneration-related initiative for which his Department is responsible. [119797]
Mr. Lock: This Department has not received any bids or made grants for area-based or other regeneration-related initiatives in any of the last three financial years.
TREASURY
Married Couple's Allowance
Mr. Swinney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of households which will lose entitlement to married couple's allowance in 2001-02 who will not become entitled to the children's tax credit; and what (a) the average loss per household will be in such cases and (b) the total saving will be for the Treasury from this group. [116577]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 28 March 2000]: We are replacing the married couple's allowance with the children's tax credit, which is worth more than twice as much and is better targeted on the families who most need support--those with growing children. As a result of the measures we have taken, including the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit and record increases in Child Benefit, families with children will be on average £850 a year better off from April 2001. Estimates of the
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total expected cost and yield of the abolition of MCA and the introduction of children's tax credit have been published in Table A2.1 of the FSBR.
Tobacco Taxation
Mr. Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount of money he estimates the increased tobacco taxation will raise for expenditure on the NHS; and if the expenditure projections for the NHS will be sustained irrespective of the yield from tobacco taxation. [117036]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The projected exchequer yield from the increased tobacco duty of £235 million in the full year, as set out in Table A13 in the FSBR, is taken into account in the commitment of the extra £2 billion to the NHS in 2000-01, which we are guaranteeing to meet.
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