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24 Oct 2002 : Column 478W—continued

Access to Justice

Andrew George: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals he has for improving access to justice in civil law disputes in respect of the socially excluded. [75304]

Ms Rosie Winterton: 99 per cent. of the population of England and Wales are covered by Community Legal Service Partnerships (CLSPs) with the aim of improving access to good quality legal and advice services. By focusing on social welfare and family law, such as housing, welfare benefits, debt and employment, the Community Legal Service is making it easier for vulnerable individuals and families to learn about their rights and how to enforce them. The Partnership Innovation Budget is allowing CLSPs to develop creative ways to deliver services to excluded groups while changes to the eligibility limits mean that more people now qualify for free initial advice and guidance. This will make it easier for those individuals most at risk to address problems before they escalate.

Child Abduction

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list, by country, the number of child abduction cases dealt with by his Department which exceeded the six week deadline for a hearing (a) in each year since 1998 and (b) in 2002 to date. [76408]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Article 11 of the Hague Convention makes reference to a six week ''deadline'', but does not oblige courts to conclude a case within six weeks.

Information is not available in the format sought. The Child Abduction Unit only keeps figures for the last 2 years. The attached table details the average times

24 Oct 2002 : Column 479W

taken for countries to conclude cases from the time of referral to the date when the final court decision is made. The UK average conclusion time was 84 days in 2000 and 76 days in 2001.

Average length of time (days) in which Hague Convention cases are concluded in these countries from the date of referral to the date of the final court decision

Country	Year
	2000	2001
Australia	121	35
Austria	140	*
Belgium	198	*
Canada	72	92
Cyprus	*	131
France	99	141
Germany	127	115
Greece	96	350
Hong Kong	138	*
Ireland	108	177
Italy	69	169
Netherlands	115	*
New Zealand	115	*
Poland	167	*
Portugal	28	40
Romania	*	235
South Africa	257	548
Spain	136	231
Sweden	98	372
Turkey	*	62
USA	115	129
Venezuela	*	309

Note:

* Where there is no data this could either be because there were no cases involving that country or that cases did not involve a final hearing eg Netherlands and New Zealand resolve many cases outside the court arena.

24 Oct 2002 : Column 480W

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list by country the number of child abduction cases being dealt with by the Child Abduction Unit which have exceeded the six week deadline for a hearing and are awaiting a resolution. [76407]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Article 11 of the Hague Convention makes reference to a six week ''deadline''. This Article draws to the attention of Contracting States the urgency with which these proceedings should be dealt with. Article 11 does not oblige the courts to conclude a case within six weeks. Common delays are where the country in question is unable to locate the child or where additional enquiries are necessary to assist the court in their decision.

The Child Abduction Unit currently has 105 cases outstanding where children have been wrongfully removed to, or retained in, other Hague Convention countries. Without examining each case it is impossible to say exactly how many of these cases have exceeded the six week period, but it will be the vast majority.

Departmental Websites

Dr. Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the website links associated with his Department, including sites now dormant or closed, and indicating whether they are live, dormant or closed; what the start up costs were for each site listed; what the operating costs were in each year since start up for each site; which company hosted each site; what assessment takes place for each site; which company does the assessment; if he will place the assessment reports in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [75577]

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is listed below.

Web Site	Start-up costs	Operating costs	Host company	Evaluations/surveys
Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)	#6,048	Sept 2000—Sept 2001: #2000 per month	British Telecom	No formal evaluation. CTPI are currently conducting a redesign.
		Sept 2001—present: #2532 per month
Civil Justice Council	#1,116	2002–2003: See note 1	Previously CCTA, then Cable and Wireless from June 2002	None.
Community Legal Service—Just Ask	#1,500,000
(April 2000)	2001–2: #888,000
(Legal Services Commission assumed responsibility Oct 2001)	ICL	Accessibility policy reviewed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind.
				Conway Rose Smith Report (2000, internal).
				Hunter Springs Consultancy Report (June 2000, internal) assessed the site against Central IT Unit guidelines for Government websites. Plain English Campaign's award for Best Website of 2001. e-Business Innovation Award 2000. NewMediaAge Award for Charity and Public Sector Category 2000.
CLS—Graduate Recruitment Site (closed Sep 2002)	#525
(June 2002)	Included in start-up	SolidUK.Net	None.
CLS—Legal Services Research Centre	#500	2000–1: included in start-up 2001–2: #475	Simplynames.com	None.
Council on Tribunals	#6,418.97	#1253.30 pa
2002–2003 : See note 1	Cable and Wireless from June 2002	None.
Court Service	#18,542.25	1998–9: #15,404.68
1999–2002: #12,000 pa
2002–2003: See note 1	Cable and Wireless from June 2002	Online survey, set up by in-house staff, produced 643 responses. To be used as the basis for future changes.
Immigration Appellate Authority	Included in Year 1 operating costs	2002–2003: See note 1	Cable and Wireless from June 2002	None.
Judicial Studies Board	#975
(October 1998)	1998–9: #330
1999–2000: #1985
2000–1: #500
2001–2: #1200
2002–3: #13077
2002–2003: See note 1	Oct 1998—June 2002 NEXTRA (CIX)
Cable and Wireless from June 2002	Review by Executive Director in March 2002 (internal).Statistics supplied to OeE monthly.
Further evaluation to identify customers' needs in 2002–3.
Land Registry—Main site
http://www.landreg.gov.uk	In house
(Oct 1996)	1996–1999: #5000 pa
Oct 1999–Oct 2000: #1000
Oct 2000–March 2001: #2000
2001–2: #7,000
2002–3: #12,000	1996–9 CCTA
1999–present: Telenor	Internal only.
Land Registry
http://www.cofrestfatir.gov.uk—Welsh version	#500
(April 2001)	Cost included in hosting contract for main site	Telenor	Internal only.
Land Registry
http://www.landregistrydirect.gov.uk	In house.
(May 2002)	Cost included in hosting contract for main site	Telenor	Internal only.
Land Registry
http://strategy.landreg.gov.uk	#41,129
(May 2002)	Cost included in hosting contract for main site	Telenor	Internal only.
Land Registry
http://legislation.landreg.gov.uk	#8,956
(May 2002)	Cost included in hosting contract for main site	Telenor	Internal only.
and
http://deddfwriaeth.cofrestrfatir.co.uk—Welsh version
Land Registry
http://www.e-conveyancing.gov.uk	#82,107.50
(May 2002)	Cost included in hosting contract for main site	Telenor	Internal only.
Land Registry
http://search.landreg.gov.uk	#2303
(March 2002)	Cost included in hosting contract for main site	Telenor	Internal only.
And
http://chiwilio.cofrestfatir.gov.uk—Welsh version
Land Registry
http://mobile.landreg.gov.uk	In house
(Oct 2000)	Cost included in hosting contract for main site	Telenor	Internal only.
Law Commission	#2,400	#10, 675 pa
2002–2003: See note 1	Cable and Wireless from June 2002	Statistics recorded internally.
Legal Services Commission	#20,577	2000–1: #91,925
2001–2: #123,761	Worldcom	LSC will begin customer research project in mid-November.
Legal Services Ombudsman	#3348.75
(August 2000)	2001: #3879.251
2002: #2539	Analogue	Internal survey over the next 6 months.
				Question relating to website on customer survey: a small number of people had seen the site of whom 50% were ''satisfied'', and only 20% were ''at all dissatisfied''.
Lord Chancellors Dept	#7,368	1998–9: #16,200
1999–2000: #16,200
2000–1: #41,133
2001–2: #152,859
2002–3: See note 1	Cable and Wireless from June 2002	Cabinet Office audit (June 2000), report available.Interactive survey on web site, evaluated internally.
Magistrates' Court Service Inspectorate	#7,000	2001–2: #1322.50
2002–3: #840.13
2002–2003: See note 1	Cable and Wireless from June 2002	None.
Northern Ireland Court Service	#55,000
(April 2002)	#15,000 p.a.	Fujitsu	Weekly internal review of usage statistics, used as basis for changes.
Official Solicitor's Department	In house	1999–2002: #141 pa	Demon	None.
Public Trust Office (closed June 2001)	In house
(early 1997)	#10,000 p.a. including development and operating cost	CCTA	None.
Public Guardianship Office	#37,600
(June 2001)	2001–2: #14,334
2002–3: #7,398	Development & updating by Edelman Interactive Solutions
Hosted by Host Europe	No formal evaluation, but consultation with external stakeholders in Oct 2002.
Public Record Office—Main site	#200,000 (1995)	2002–3: #147,000
Previous years: similar	WorldCom	PRO Key Performance Indicator requires 2 surveys of online users each year. Target of 80 per cent. rating site as ''good'' or ''excellent''. See www.pro.gov.uk/about/web—surve y.htm
				Won Price Waterhouse Coopers 1999/2000 Innovation and Risk prize.
PRO—Other sites: Family Records Learning Curve a2a Moving Here Census	—	Complex arrangements with various partners, PRO contribution only assessable at disproportionate cost	—	—

Notes:

1 The 8 sites hosted by Cable and Wireless (2002–2005) under a three year contract under the Government Telecommunications Contract includes the following elements:

Hosting

Provision of Content Management System

Conversion of existing content into Content Management System

LCD and Court Service Intranet.

The total cost of the contract for the three year period is approximately £1.5m.

General:

Except where stated costs may exclude internal departmental resources.

Some of the evaluation/surveys referred to have been placed in the public domain and further consideration is being given to the wider publication of those which are not. However, the best single source of assessment of government web sites is that recently published by the National Audit Office: Government on the Web

2 The total cost of the contract for the three year period is approximately £1.5m.

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