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Court Orders
Mr. Connarty: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what recent discussions he has had with the courts administration on the time taken to process orders from the Scottish courts through the English court system; and if he will make a statement. [25471]
Mr. Wills: No recent discussions have taken place on this issue. Orders from all courts outside England and Wales, including Scottish orders, are registered at the Royal Courts of Justice within 48 hours of receipt. It is then a matter for the solicitors in the case to choose the method of enforcement. The speed at which this is done is in the hands of the solicitors. As all warrants from courts outside England and Wales are registered together, a special exercise would need to be conducted to calculate the time taken to process orders from Scottish courts. This could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Fault Free Divorce
Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the average (a) time to process and (b) cost to public funds of a fault free divorce in each of the last 10 years. [24968]
Mr. Wills: There are five categories under which a decree for divorce can be obtained, only two of which could be deemed fault free (two years' separation where the respondent consents and five years' separation without consent). The table shows the number of divorce petitions issued in each of the last 10 years, for which figures are available. The speed at which an individual divorce is processed is in the hands of the parties and/or their legal representatives. There is no system currently in place to measure either the average time to process or the cost to public funds of a fault free divorce.
| Year | Divorce petitions issued |
|---|---|
| 1991 | 182,310 |
| 1992 | 192,391 |
| 1993 | 187,357 |
| 1994 | 180,690 |
| 1995 | 178,007 |
| 1996 | 181,502 |
| 1997 | 165,350 |
| 1998 | 167,265 |
| 1999 | 164,951 |
| 2000 | 160,097 |
Special Advisers
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many complaints have been reported in her Department under paragraph 11 of the Civil Service Code since 13 May 1999; and how many of them related to special advisers. [25340]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The procedures for making complaints under the Civil Service Code are set out in the Department's staff handbook. Civil servants are encouraged, in the first instance, to raise complaints made under paragraph 11 of the Civil Service Code with their line manager. If for any reason this is not felt to be possible, perhaps because the line manager is part of the complaint, individuals may take their complaint to a
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nominated official (or officials). It is not possible to provide a comprehensive figure for the number of complaints made within this Department under paragraph 11 of the Code as there is no requirement for managers to report to the centre details of complaints made under the Civil Service Code which are resolved within the management lint.
Urban Regeneration
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what schemes targeting urban regeneration needs are managed by her Department; how much each scheme has available to invest; what issues each scheme aims to tackle; and how much has been spent annually since 1997 (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in Teesside, (c) in Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough councils and, (d) in the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency. [25480]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Community Legal Service provides a framework for local networks of legal and advice services through which £792 million of core legal aid is delivered in England and Wales. This funding is allocated via contracts granted by the Legal Services Commission on behalf of the Lord Chancellor's Department.
The Partnership Innovation Budget (PIB) is a key element of the Community Legal Service. The PIB, approved in September 2000, provides "seedcorn" funding for new initiatives to improve people's access to
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legal information and advice, particularly in the most deprived areas. Through competitive bidding it will distribute £15 million over three years. Sixty-four successful PIB bids were announced in September 2001. Proposals covered a wide range of ideas including for example: a virtual law centre; projects to work with health care professionals to bring legal advice to hard to reach groups such as people with mental health difficulties, young and older people, the vulnerable and those less mobile; and a scheme for increasing the availability of trained lawyers in shortage categories of social welfare law.
Successful bids for Teesside were valued £814,775. Bids for Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland were valued at £631,975. Successful bids included: Redcar and Cleveland Citizens Advice Bureau for a developmental education project about management money, basic rights and entitlements; Redcar and Cleveland Citizens Advice Bureau/MIND for delivering advice to people with mental health difficulties; Tees Valley Connexions for a help service for young people; Middlesbrough CAB for delivering advice to people with mental health difficulties; Middlesbrough BC Welfare Rights Unit for benefit advice to older people, Benefits Agency (Tees district) for a one stop advice circle; and Hartlepool CAB for a preventative education programme in Hartlepool.
No separate figure is available specifically for (d) the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency, but my hon. Friend's constituents are provided for under the schemes as detailed.
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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 26 November, Official Report, column 688W, on warm front grants, if she will publish for each quarter since 1 June 2000 by region (a) the modal, (b) the median and (c) the mean cost of HEES and HEES plus grants; and why the average cost of grant for England in 2000–01 for HEES was 26 per cent. and for HEES plus 17 per cent. of the total grant available. [21788]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 10 December 2001]: The Eaga Partnership Ltd. and TXU Warm Front Ltd. manage the home energy efficiency scheme, marketed as the warm front team, under contract. The table shows the modal, median and mean cost for HEES and HEES Plus in the period from June 2000 to November 2001. The data are shown in terms of grouped regions as it is not possible to provide individual region areas without incurring disproportionate cost.
The difference between the average grant paid under HEES and the grant maximum is due to the nature of the scheme. The package of measures provided is tailored to the requirements of each property. For example if a home already has a central heating system then a package of insulation measures is provided. This approach ensures that the scheme provides the greatest assistance to those householders most in need, and less to those whose homes are already energy efficient.
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Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many households have benefited from better heating systems through the home energy efficiency scheme. [23095]
Mr. Meacher: The home energy efficiency scheme was launched on 1 June 2000 and is administered by two scheme managers in England, Eaga Partnership Ltd. and TXU Warm Front Ltd.
For the period June 2000 to November 2001, 62,000 householders have benefited from better heating systems through the scheme. This figure includes replacements, new heating systems and repairs.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what percentage of those households which have had work done under the home energy efficiency scheme did so after the properties' landlords entered into a no rent rise agreement with the scheme manager in the area concerned, [23096]
- (2) how many tenants who are eligible for improved heating systems under the home energy efficiency scheme have been unable to have work implemented free of cost because the landlords have refused to enter into a no rent rise agreement with the scheme manager in the area; and what representations she has received on their behalf; [23097]
(3) what assessment she has made of the position of a tenant who is eligible for an improved heating system under the home energy efficiency scheme but is unable to have work implemented free of cost because the landlords have refused to enter into a no rent rise agreement with the scheme manager in the area. [23098]
Mr. Meacher: The home energy efficiency scheme is administered in England by Eaga Partnership Ltd. and TXU Warm Front Ltd.
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Work in private sector landlords' properties is undertaken only once a no rent rise agreement is in place. This requirement was introduced following consultation on the proposed scheme in 1999. Many groups representing tenants and older people expressed concern that some private sector landlords would use the grant- funded improvements to justify an increase in rent. Agreements are time-limited to either one year for insulation measures only or two years where heating measures are installed.
In the period June 2000 to November 2001 some 27,000 private sector landlords agreed to the no rent rise agreement. This represents about 5 per cent. of all applications accepted under the scheme.
In the same period, 8,300 tenants had their applications turned down by the landlord. The precise reasons in each case are not known, but we are now investigating these.
While there has been very little concern expressed on this issue, we do continue to keep it under review.
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average time is (a) for processing Eaga Partnership home efficiency contracts and (b) between the initial application and the completion of a contract in the (i) north-west and (ii) UK. [22897]
Mr. Meacher: The home energy efficiency scheme for England was launched on 1 June 2000 and is administered by Eaga Partnership Ltd. and TXU Warm Front Ltd. TXU is responsible for administering the scheme in the eastern, east midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions while Eaga is responsible for the remainder of England.
The scheme managers appoint contractors to work on the scheme. Contractually they are required to make appointments following the UK's Public Procurement Rules and Regulations. Part of the process involves placing the invitation to tender in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The table identifies the average time taken from the time of application to completion of contract for both scheme managers.
| North-west | Rest of England | |
|---|---|---|
| Eaga Partnership | 74 | 72 |
| TXU Warm Front | — | 79 |
As fuel poverty is a devolved matter, it is the responsibility of the respective Parliament and Assemblies to comment on the situation in Scotland and Wales.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's target is for the number of households with energy efficiency measures in place. [25627]
Mr. Meacher: The Government's target for improving energy efficiency in households is set out in the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy, published on 21 November 2001. The goal of the Government and the devolved Administrations is to seek an end to the problem of fuel poverty. In particular we will seek an end to the blight of fuel poverty for vulnerable households—older people, families with children, the disabled or those with long-term illness—by 2010. This involves improving the energy efficiency of
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2 million private sector homes between 2000–10, and also bringing all social housing properties up to the decent standard.
Fuel poverty is a devolved matter and it is the responsibility of the devolved Administrations to comment on the respective targets in their countries.
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