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Immigration Appellate Authority
Simon Hughes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the average time taken by the Immigration Appellate Authority is to process from receipt to determination (a) oral family visitor appeals, (b) paper-only family visitor appeals, (c) asylum appeals and (d) other immigration appeals. [28785]
Ms Rosie Winterton: For cases promulgated by the IAA between 1 April 2001 and 31 December 2001, the current average time to process cases from receipt to determination is:
- 6.95 weeks for oral family visitor appeals
2.68 weeks for paper-only family visitor appeals
19.80 weeks for asylum appeals
17.96 weeks for other immigration appeals.
Ms Rosie Winterton: In December 2001, the Immigration Appellate Authority received 97 cases for oral hearing and 129 cases for paper-only hearing.
Children and Family Court Advisory and
Support Service
Simon Hughes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on the development of the information technology project for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service; whether guidance in the
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report Successful IT-Modernising Government in Action has been followed in relation to the project; whether the IT project is subject to any oversight by an IT project board; whether the IT system is able to record details of children who are the subject of court reports; whether the system fulfils obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998; and what was the (a) start date, (b) original planned completion date, (c) latest expected completion date, (d) original planned cost and (e) latest expected cost of the project. [28526]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Establishment of CAFCASS as a new, unified service provides an opportunity for improved communication and case management across the service. CAFCASS's IT project has been taken forward in two phases: Phase 1 installation of a national (England and Wales) infrastructure to support the service from launch; Phase 2 development of an integrated system to replace and extend Phase 1 systems and provide improved management information and interfaces with other organisations. The guidance in the report "Successful IT—Modernising Government in Action" has been followed. A Project Board was constituted under Prince 2 project management methodology.
In addition to the Phase 1 infrastructure, CAFCASS inherited systems holding case data from its predecessor services; almost all of which continue to provide operational service. This includes the recording of details of children who are the subject of court reports in the same way they did before CAFCASS's launch. CAFCASS is Data Protection Act registered. Future changes to systems will ensure CAFCASS's continued compliance.
- (a) A Support Infrastructure Project was established, under Prince 2 methodology, in June 2000 with the Project Initiation Document issued at end September 2000.
- (b) The planned completion date for Phase 1 was 1 April 2001. This was found to be unrealistic before rollout, and revised to 31 May 2001. The planned completion date for Phase 2 was 31 March 2002.
- (c) Phase 1 was completed on time in May 2001. A statement of requirements for Phase 2 was completed for April 2001. CAFCASS is currently reviewing its IT strategy to assess immediate and longer term needs in the light of the operating experience it now has. This will include a decision on whether Phase 2 is the best option for CAFCASS's future operation.
- (d) Phase 1 was planned at £5.2 million. Early estimates for Phase 2 were approximately £5–6 million. Firm costs have not been established as the project has not proceeded to procurement.
- (e) Phase 1 was completed at £5.9 million due to more fit out work being needed than had been expected at many sites. CAFCASS is reviewing the IT strategy on which the future cost of Phase 2 will depend.
Market and Opinion Research
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what expenditure has been incurred by her (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if she will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each. [27945]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies conduct a range of exercises to measure public satisfaction with services and future needs. Many of these
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are carried out at a local level so that services can be provided to match the needs of local communities. The cost of collating and detailing all this activity would be disproportionate.
Refurbishment
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what his estimate is of the cost of buildings refurbishment carried out by his Department in each of the last four years. [27966]
Mr. Wills: The amount spent by the Lord Chancellor's Department on refurbishment of buildings in the last four financial years is shown in the table.
| Financial year | Cost of refurbishment |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 23,517,936.20 |
| 1998–99 | 22,006,208.75 |
| 1999–2000 | 22,915,180.32 |
| 2000–01 | 26,497,353.26 |
Departmental Publications
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many publications were issued by her Department in each of the last four years. [11824]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is presented in the table.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LCDHQ | 37 | 38 | 42 | 41 |
| Court Service | 19 | 35 | 8 | 2 |
| Land Registry | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Public Record Office | 8 | 9 | 13 | 7 |
| Public Guardianship Office | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| Northern Ireland Court Service | 3 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Total | 69 | 88 | 80 | 82 |
Golden Jubilee
Bob Russell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) when an announcement will be made as to which applicant towns have been granted city status to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty's Accession to the Throne; [28752]
- (2) if she will arrange for more than one English town to be granted city status to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty's Accession to the Throne. [28753]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Decisions on the grant of city status are made by the Queen, under the Royal Prerogative, on the advice of Ministers. Her Majesty the Queen has not expressed a wish to grant city status to more than one town in England to mark Her Golden Jubilee, and my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor expects to advise Her on that basis. He will announce the results of the competition as soon as possible.
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Shona McIsaac: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will list the applicants for the grant of a Lord Mayoralty or Lord Provostship to mark Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee. [10823]
Ms Rosie Winterton [pursuant to the reply, 25 October 2001, c. 400W]: Applications for the grant of a Lord Mayoralty have been received from the following cities:
- Bath
Cambridge
Carlisle
Chichester
Derby
Exeter
Gloucester
Lancaster
Lincoln
St. Albans
St. David's
Salford
Southampton
Sunderland
Truro
Wolverhampton
Worcester.
Terrorist Finance
Ms Walley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent discussions he has had with the Isle of Man Government over terrorist finance; and if he will make a statement. [28922]
Mr. Wills: I have not had personal discussions with the Isle of Man Government on this issue, but there have been a number of contacts between the United Kingdom and Isle of Man Governments at official level. The Isle of Man already has strong anti-money laundering legislation. The Isle of Man Government have committed themselves to implementing the Financial Action Task Force Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing. The Isle of Man Government are moreover, introducing further anti-terrorism legislation, which includes new provisions to counteract terrorist financing. It will enable the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism to be extended to the Isle of Man.
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