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Public Trust Office

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he has taken to

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ensure that the funds transferred from a former client of the receivership division of the Public Trust Office to a nursing home owner under the special exercise relating to clients with less than £10,000 are subsequently applied for the benefit of the former client. [145684]

Jane Kennedy: Of the cases where the involvement of the Public Trust Office has ceased as a result of the review exercise, only four have had capital passed to a nursing home. The Public Trust Office ensures that strict criteria are applied before any proposals are put to the Court of Protection to transfer client's assets to a nursing home, to be applied for the client's benefit. A nursing home would be approached only in exceptional cases, where there is no one else suitable or willing to act. The circumstances of every case are considered individually. When the nursing home is approached, they are informed that the capital must be held in an account in the client's name. The home must also advise the Public Trust Office how they will monitor the account and what audit checks are in place to ensure proper use of the funds. All people of whom the Public Trust Office is aware, who have an interest in the client, as well as all relatives, are advised of the new arrangements. Each case is considered by the Court of Protection, which makes an order discharging the Public Trustee and pays the capital to the nursing home. The Court will make such an order only if it is of the opinion that the client's interests are best served by the proposed new arrangements. Of the cases where the involvement of the Public Trust Office has ceased as a result of the review exercise, only four have had capital passed to a nursing home.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many casual and agency staff are employed in the Public Trust Office in clerical and administrative grades; and how many have authority to issue cash payments from clients' funds. [145685]

Jane Kennedy: The Public Trust Office has 10 casual and 112 agency staff in clerical and administrative grades. Of these, three casual staff and one agency staff are on the authorised signatory list for payments from client's funds. However, two signatures are required in all cases to authorise such payments.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much has been paid to outside consultants working at the Public Trust Office in the last year; and how many consultants there are. [145682]

Jane Kennedy: The amount paid to outside consultants in the year to November 2000 was £288,000. This was for seven consultants.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what progress has been made in putting out to tender the last resort receivership work carried out by the receivership division of the Public Trust Office. [145678]

Jane Kennedy: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, Central (Ms Winterton) on 21 December 2000, Official Report, column 272W, announcing publication of "The Way Forward and an Analysis of the Consultation". The Lord Chancellor has decided not to conduct a competitive tender for last resort work. Instead, we will put in place an approved list of receivers to whom cases can be transferred where it is in the client's best interest.

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Applications to be on this list were advertised at the beginning of January and an evaluation of the responses received will start shortly.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff formerly employed in the mental health division of the Public Trust Office have left the Agency in the six month period to 1 December 2000; and what was the equivalent figure for (a) the previous six months and (b) the same period in (i) 1998 and (ii) 1997. [145680]

Jane Kennedy: During the six month period to 1 December 2000, 37 staff, formerly employed in the mental health division of the Public Trust Office, left the office. The equivalent figure for the preceding six months was 33. The number of staff leaving the office in the six month period to 1 December 1998 was 28, and for the same period in 1997, 26 staff.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to bring forward legislation to transfer the role of the Public Trustee to the Official Solicitor. [145689]

Jane Kennedy: No legislation is required to transfer the role of the Public Trustee to the Official Solicitor.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff formerly employed in the mental health division of the Public Trust Office have been transferred to other duties connected with (a) customer services and (b) the change directorate. [145681]

Jane Kennedy: Responsibility for customer service was formerly spread out among many staff in the mental health division but is now the responsibility of 7.5 full-time equivalent staff in the customer service division. The change directorate no longer exists; all staff who worked in the change directorate now work in the mental health division.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the rate of remuneration paid to the highest paid consultant at the Public Trust Office is. [145683]

Jane Kennedy: The highest paid consultant is an investment consultant, who is paid £180 per hour. His services are used on an ad hoc basis for approximately 10 hours per month.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps have been taken to ascertain the opinions of (a) clients and (b) carers of clients of the receivership division on the proposals to tender out the last resort receivership work. [145686]

Jane Kennedy: Letters were sent both to clients and their carers in May 2000. These contained a summary of the proposals for the last resort receivership service and sought their views. There was very little response, but some concerns were expressed and the Government no longer propose to conduct a tender for these cases.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much has been paid out to clients of the Public Trust Office in compensation for errors made in the six-month period to 1 December 2000; and what was the equivalent figure for the same six-month period in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999. [145679]

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Jane Kennedy: The Public Trust Office has paid out the following amounts in compensation for errors: in the six month period to 1 December 2000, £261,434, of which £223,879 was in respect of one case (concerning an error discovered in June 1998); in the six months to 1 December 1999, £46,118; in the six months to 1 December 1998, 60,192; and in the six months to 1 December 1997, £51,521. It should be noted that the errors to which these payments relate would have occurred in earlier periods.

Flat Fee System

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the cost to public funds of the flat fee system. [145687]

Jane Kennedy: The cost to public funds of the flat fee system will arise through the introduction of fee remissions for those unable to pay. For 2001-02, this is estimated at a maximum of £2.4 million, reducing in future years. The actual cost will be monitored. The cost of administering the new flat fee system will be approximately £0.8 million less than the previous system.

Public Guardianship Office

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much he plans to allocate to setting up and maintaining the new Public Guardianship Office. [145688]

Jane Kennedy: The Lord Chancellor's Department plans to allocate £20.6 million cash costs to setting up the Public Guardianship Office during financial years 2000-01 and 2001-02. The cash cost that the Lord Chancellor's Department plans to allocate to running the Public Guardianship Office in 2001-02 is currently £11.8 million.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what meetings he has had with trade union representatives on proposals to change the terms and conditions of staff at the Public Guardianship Office. [145690]

Jane Kennedy: I have had no meeting with the trade union representatives on this subject.

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Royal Records

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how he defines the term public interest in relation to the early release of royal records. [145755]

Mr. Lock: Under current access criteria, there is no public interest test. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, there will be a public interest test. That test will be the same for royal records as for any other records.

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what discretion the Lord Chancellor has in deciding whether to release royal records relating to King Edward VIII. [145756]

Mr. Lock: The criteria in relation to the release of public records are set out in Annex C to the Open Government White paper (July 1993). The guiding principle is that all records not retained in Departments should be released after 30 years unless it is possible to establish that actual damage would be caused by release and that the damage would fall within the three criteria set out in that Annex. The Lord Chancellor has discretion on the interpretation of these criteria which he exercises in the light of advice from his Advisory Council on Public Records.

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what criteria will be used to determine the release of the records relating to King Edward VIII. [145757]

Mr. Lock: The criteria governing closure of public records including those relating to King Edward VIII are set out in Annex C to the Open Government White Paper (July 1993).

Guidance on the length of time that royal records remain closed to the public is under review in the light of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

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