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Reporting Procedures

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what reporting procedures exist between the Public Guardianship Office and her own. [33289]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Public Guardianship Office is part of the Lord Chancellor's Department. He receives regular reports on the operational performance of the Public Guardianship Office (PGO), from the chief executive and is consulted by the chief executive on the handling of operational matters which could give rise to substantial public, parliamentary or judicial concern. The Head of Policy Group serves as a focal point to provide advice to Ministers and support the chief executive. He is also, in consultation as necessary, with the ministerial advisory board, responsible for advising Ministers and the Permanent Secretary on the PGO's strategic direction, plans, targets and performance. The ministerial advisory board (MAB), which meets quarterly, was set up to consider strategic issues relevant to the PGO and provide independent advice to Ministers on the strategic direction of the PGO, its governance and its performance, with particular reference to its key performance measures.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what reporting procedures exist between the Judge Advocate-General's Office and her own. [33287]

Ms Rosie Winterton: There are no formal procedures in place between the office of the Judge Advocate General and the Lord Chancellor's Department.

The Office of the Judge Advocate General is a judicial appointment made by Her Majesty the Queen under Letters Patent, and the work that his office carries out is judicial and quasi-judicial advisory post trial work for the Army and Royal Air Force, and is performed by the Judge Advocate General or by judicial officers appointed by the Lord Chancellor or by the Judge Advocate for that purpose. Since the functions of the Judge Advocate General and his judicial officers are judicial or quasi judicial, reporting is not constitutionally appropriate, although the Judge Advocate General is answerable to the Lord Chancellor in the same circumstances as all other judges within his jurisdiction.

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The budget and accounts of the Office of the Judge Advocate General are supervised by the Lord Chancellor's Department in the usual way. Sir Hayden Phillips, the Permanent Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department, is the accounting officer and is responsible to the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office for the propriety of public expenditure incurred by the Office of the Judge Advocate General.

Court Service

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what training programmes are made available to junior administrative staff in the Court Service. [33299]

Mr. Wills: The training programmes available to junior administrative staff in the Court Service are as follows:

Business skills


Customer service modules


Delivering results


Desk training


Diversity awareness


Induction


IT


Job specific selection for job holders


Job specific selection for job holder's development


Letter writing


Local safety office


National Vocational Qualifications


Open learning


Personal effectiveness


Prince's Trust volunteers scheme


Working with others.

Green Travel Plans

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what green travel plans are in place for (a) judges, (b) the Court Service, (c) magistrates' courts, and (d) staff in the Department, deployed on (i) freedom of information and (ii) data protection and identity. [33693]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is as follows:

(a) My Department has no green travel plans in place for judges; our green travel plans are specific to an individual site rather than to any particular group of court users.

(b) The Court Service has a green travel plan in place at its headquarters building. The Department and its agencies aim to reduce their environmental impacts, such as emissions from vehicles and congestion, from transport use across all its activities. These include travel on business, operation of the car fleet and pool cars, contractors, deliveries and visitors.

(c) My Department is not directly responsible for magistrates' court buildings as they are owned by local authorities. Information on green travel plans put in place at magistrates' courts by local authorities is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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(d) My Department has no green travel plans in place for staff in the Department, as deployed on (i) freedom of information or (ii) data protection and identity. Our green travel plans are specific to individual buildings rather than to any particular group of staff.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what green travel plans her Department has for (a) the Land Registry, (b) CAFCASS and (c) the Public Guardianship Office. [33663]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is as follows:

(a) Of the 26 Land Registry offices, 13 have implemented site-specific green travel plans. The remaining 13 offices expect to implement plans before the end of this financial year. There are also Land Registry policies, covering all offices, providing interest-free advances of salary for the purchase of season tickets for travel to work using public transport and for staff wishing to purchase bicycles for travel to work.

(b) Launched in April 2001, CAFCASS inherited staff with over 100 different terms and conditions. Travel policies for CAFCASS, including green travel plans, will be considered during the process of harmonisation of terms.

(c) In line with departmental guidelines, the Public Guardianship Office (PGO) offers staff interest-free advances of salary for the purchase of season tickets and for staff wishing to purchase bicycles. To assist those staff travelling to work by bicycle, the PGO has installed a secure bicycle rack at Archway Tower together with shower and locker facilities. Details of public transport routes into Archway and the surrounding area are published on the PGO intranet.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what green travel plans are in place for (a) the legal services ombudsman's office and (b) the Law Commission. [33681]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is as follows.

(a) The legal services ombudsman has less than 50 people and so does not meet the target criteria for having a green travel plan.

(b) The Law Commission does not currently have a green travel plan. However, introduction of the Lord Chancellor's Department's green transport plan to its other offices, including the Law Commission, is under consideration.

Jury Intimidation

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department by what date she intends to produce (a) in draft and (b) in published form proposals to tackle intimidation of jurors. [29948]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Northern Ireland Court Service has lead responsibility in consultation with the police for drawing up a policy in relation to countering intimidation of jurors. Preparation of an intimidation policy will be completed by 31 March 2002 and published thereafter.

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Human Rights

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the Government's policy is on establishing a Human Rights Commission in Britain. [33943]

Mr. Wills: The Government have not ruled out the possibility of a Human Rights Commission, but we would have to be clear about the role and functions of such a commission and its relationship to the several existing equality commissions. One option is a single, over- arching human rights commission, with a federal structure, to cover all these areas, which requires consideration alongside other proposals.

During the last Parliament, the Joint Committee on Human Rights issued a consultation document seeking views on what form a human rights commission might take. We will consider very carefully any recommendations the Joint Committee may make following this consultation.

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what the Government's policy is on monitoring the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998; [33944]

(2) what resources have been made available to monitor the effects on public authorities of the Human Rights Act 1998. [33942]

Mr. Wills: We keep the impact of the Act under continuous review. My Department has a dedicated Human Rights Unit with legal support offering guidance and advice to Government Departments and public authorities, as well as to members of the public, about the Human Rights Act. However, this is not a matter for the Lord Chancellor's Department alone, and the Government have made it clear that all Departments must play their part in delivering information and monitoring, including for their public authorities.

Further details of my Department's activities in this area were contained in my recent memorandum to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which my hon. Friend will have seen.

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