House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 20 Nov 2001 (pt 20)

Public Transport (Wales)

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales to achieve an integrated public transport system for Wales. [13553]

Mr. Jamieson: My right hon. Friend the Minister for Transport met the Minister for the Environment of the National Assembly, Sue Essex, in July this year. At that meeting various items relating to achieving an integrated public transport system were discussed. Officials are in regular contact with the Assembly regarding developments which may affect devolved policy.

Rochdale District Council

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the funding of Rochford district council. [13572]

Dr. Whitehead: This financial year, Rochford district council received a 3.9 per cent. increase in Government support. The Spending Review provided for continued good increases in grant for all authorities in the next two years. We will be announcing our proposals for funding for local government in 2002–03 at around the end of this month.

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Turner and Newall Plc

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what investigations his Department has carried out into Turner and Newall plc in relation to employees' liability insurance cover since 1971; and if he will make a statement. [15958]

Dr. Whitehead: None.

Congestion Charges

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to issue instructions to exempt (a) teachers, (b) fire fighters, (c) police officers and (d) nurses from payment of the congestion charges in London. [15018]

Mr. Spellar: I have no plans to issue instructions to exempt the categories of road users mentioned by the hon. Member from the payment of congestion charges in London. It will be open to the Mayor of London to grant concessions on exemptions to his scheme if he judges it appropriate to do so.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Court Service Website

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the cost in 2000–01 was of the inclusion of the Lexicon Portal in the Court Service website. [14979]

Mr. Wills: The cost in 2000–01 for the inclusion of the Lexicon Portal in the Court Service website totalled £80,700.

Court Building Programme

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the cost to public funds was in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02 of the court building programme. [14919]

Mr. Wills: The cost of the 2000–01 court building programme was £8,519,779. The cost of the 2001–02 court building programme is anticipated to be £12,146,000.

Public Trust Office

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the cost is in 2001–02 of the Complaints Unit set up by the Public Trust Office. [14992]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Public Guardianship Office was created as a new executive agency on 1 April 2001, and has assumed the responsibilities of the Public Trust Office for looking after the financial affairs of people suffering from mental incapacity. The estimated administration costs of the Complaints Unit at the Public Guardianship Office will be £286,000 in 2001–02, including accommodation and common services costs.

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"Funds in Court: Unclaimed Balances"

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on his Department's response to the National Audit Office report "Funds in Court: Unclaimed Balances". [14929]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Audit Office report was followed by a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee. The Government gave their response to the report of the Public Accounts Committee in a Treasury minute dated 25 April 2001 (CM 5127).

Statutory Instruments

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment she has made of the cost to public funds of the statutory instruments introduced in 1999–2000; and if he will list them. [15128]

Ms Rosie Winterton: A list of the statutory instruments has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. It includes those signed by or on behalf of the Lord Chancellor and laid before Parliament in the years 1999 and 2000, and also Orders in Council for which the Lord Chancellor's Department was responsible. A list of Northern Ireland statutory rules signed by or on behalf of the Lord Chancellor is also included.

The exercise by the Lord Chancellor of a power granted to him in primary legislation to make rules, regulations or other statutory instruments is often a necessary step for the expenditure of public funds, but is not in itself a sufficient step. It is seldom if ever possible to say that the expenditure of any particular sum is attributable to, and only to, a particular statutory instrument.

PFI

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) if he will make a statement on the expected savings to public funds from the Private Finance Initiative contracts signed by his Department in 2000–01; [15036]

Mr. Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department has not signed any Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts in either of these years. The Department does, however, provide financial support and other assistance to local authority PFI projects for magistrates courts buildings. The contract for the city of Manchester magistrates court, which was signed by Manchester city council in March 2001, is expected to save £3.25 million at today's prices over the 25 year contract. The contract for Derbyshire magistrates courts, which was signed in August 2001 by Derby city council and Derbyshire county council, is expected to save £10.2 million over the 25 year contract, again at today's prices.

Libra Project

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the cost is in 2001–02 of the Libra project. [15038]

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Mr. Wills: The estimated costs of the Libra project in 2001–02 amount to £26.5 million. This is made up of internal costs, payments to ICL for the rollout of the first phase of the project and payments by the Magistrates Courts Service for the ongoing usage of Libra.

Royal Courts of Justice

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the progress of and cost saving from the public-private partnership to procure a building adjacent to the new court complex and the Royal Courts of Justice for the location of headquarters staff. [14897]

Mr. Wills: We have no public-private partnership to procure a building at or adjacent to the Royal Courts of Justice for headquarters staff.

Northern Ireland Court Service (IT Provision)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on the savings achieved by the Northern Ireland Court Service's public-private partnership agreement with ICL for the provision of IS/IT services. [14898]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Information Services and Information Technology Agreement between the Northern Ireland Court Service and ICL is a 10 year contract with the main savings and benefits, as identified in the business case, realised through the delivery of new operational systems. Specifically these are the Enforcement of Judgments System and the Integrated Court Operation System due for delivery in late 2001 and 2005 respectively.

Savings since the signing of the contract, at current average costs, have totalled £274,000 with further savings to be achieved on the delivery of the Integrated Court Operations System. The contract has delivered a wide range of non-financial efficiencies with specific emphasis on supporting the Government's modernisation programme including a replacement ICT infrastructure, a corporate desktop and an intranet service.

J. W. Roberts Ltd.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of Mr. Justice Hart's reasons for accepting the petition of J. W. Roberts Ltd. in the High Court of Justice Chancery Division Companies Court (in the matter of the Insolvency Act 1986) heard on 1 October; [15960]

Mr. Wills: A transcript of the hearing of and decision on the petition of J. W. Roberts Ltd., one of the 133 cases heard by Mr. Justice Hart, on 1 October, will not be placed in the Library as this is not normal procedure. Transcripts of court proceedings, or parts of proceedings, are not routinely arranged unless requested by a superior court for the consideration of an appeal. However, the parties to the action, or any interested party, with the judge's consent, can order it. The judge has given his consent and it is now open to anyone to place an order

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for a transcript with the court reporters responsible for taking the verbatim record of the case. There is a charge for this service, although in cases of financial hardship this may be met from public funds. The order may be placed with the Court Reporting Unit, Royal Court Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL. Before deciding whether to place an order for the transcript an estimate of the cost should be requested, as this may be considerable.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will place in the Library the list of the companies Turner and Newall put into administration as a result of the hearing and decision on the petition of J. W. Roberts Ltd. in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division Companies Court heard on 1 October. [15964]

Mr. Wills: A list of the companies in the T and N Group in respect of which the administration orders were made on 1 October 2001 will not be placed in the Library. A central index of companies in administration is held on computer in the High Court of Justice. This index is available to anybody to search on payment of a fee of £5 for 15 minutes.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department on what date J. W. Roberts petitioners and Turner and Newall plc first filed its application for administration under the Insolvency Act 1986. [15957]

Mr. Wills: The petition was presented on 1 October 2001.

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