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Legal Advice

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what action the Government is taking to make access to legal advice more readily available to poor people. [131658]

Mr. Lammy: The key aim of the Community Legal Service (CLS) is to provide greater access to advice services to everyone within England and Wales. Financial eligibility limits apply to the provision of publicly funded Legal Help, ensuring that public funding is targeted to assist those on low incomes. In addition, through the work of over 200 CLS Partnerships, and supported by initiatives such as the Partnership Initiative Budget and the Legal Services Commission's Methods of Delivery Pilots, we are devising new ways of delivering frontline legal advice services to local communities. Regional Legal Service Committees and CLS Partnerships are responsible for co-ordinating the delivery of legal and advice services in their area and through an analysis of local legal needs, can ensure that resources are more effectively targeted to help the socially excluded and other vulnerable groups.

Legal Aid

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the legal aid budget is in 2003–04 for immigration and asylum work. [130945]

Mr. Lammy: Legal aid expenditure for immigration and asylum forms part of a single asylum fund jointly owned by the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office. Discussions about the level of funding in relation to the single asylum fond with HM Treasury are still taking place and it is therefore not possible to answer this question yet.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the legal aid budget is for 2002–03; and what it was in 1991–92. [131738]

Mr. Lammy: The legal aid budget for the financial year 2002–03 was £1,871 million; the budget for the financial year 1991–92 was £697 million.

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Magistracy

Helen Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what progress has been made in recruiting more people from the most deprived areas of Warrington North to the magistracy; and if he will make a statement. [130928]

Mr. Leslie: The Cheshire Advisory Committee is responsible for the recruitment of lay magistrates in Warrington. It has been working for some time on increasing awareness across all local communities of the opportunities for individuals to apply to become JPs. Recruitment in North Cheshire which includes Warrington North has been a particular difficulty therefore priority has been given to this area.

The Committee is in the middle of a recruiting process that ends on 30 November. I will be in a position to write to my hon. Friend once recruitment has finished with final evidence of progress.

Some recent initiatives include advertising in a Match-Day Programme for Warrington Rugby League Football Club and having a stand at the local Asda Superstore. There have been press releases and local radio coverage. Recruitment literature has been sent to local political party constituency offices and to the Council for Voluntary Service, and links are being maintained with the local Council for Racial Equality.

Microsoft

Norman Lamb: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was paid to Microsoft in licensing fees by the Lord Chancellor's Department and its agencies in each of the last three years; and how much the Department for Constitutional Affairs and its agencies has budgeted to pay Microsoft for licensing fees in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [130671]

Mr. Leslie: The DC A has contracts for IT services with EDS, Liberata and Fujitsu, which include the provision of Microsoft licences. The licences are obtained direct by the three suppliers, and recharged as an element in the overall service charge. The Department also purchases a limited number of Microsoft licences outside these contracts. The amounts spent on these in the last three last financial years are as follows:

	£
2000–01	124,155
2001–02	66,148
2002–03	71,100

Since these licences are procured by local business units within the Department there are no central monies specifically budgeted for licence fees in the financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05.

Parliamentary Questions

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many questions directed to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs remain unanswered. [130766]

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Mr. Lammy: My Department as of today, 6 October, has eight unanswered questions in the House of Commons and two unanswered questions in the House of Lords.

Crown Dependencies

Mr. Beith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proposals he has for the future of the Lord Chancellor's responsibilities in respect of (a) Jersey, (b) the Bailiwick of Guernsey and (c) the Isle of Man; and what discussions he has had with Crown Dependencies on these matters since he took office. [131823]

Mr. Lammy: There are no proposals to change the relationship between the Crown Dependencies, the Crown and the UK. However, as part of the process of abolishing the office of Lord Chancellor, the Government proposes that his responsibilities as the Privy Counsellor primarily concerned with the affairs of the Crown Dependencies should be transferred to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs.

I visited Jersey on 21–22 September and am due to visit the Isle of Man in November. I also hope to visit Guernsey in the next few months.

My discussions in Jersey covered a wide range of matters.

Supreme Courts Act

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the present role is of the Court established under the Supreme Courts Act 1981. [131665]

Mr. Leslie: The Supreme Courts Act 1981 established the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Crown Court, collectively, as the Supreme Court of England and Wales. The Court of Appeal is divided into Criminal Division, which hears appeals from the Crown Court, and the Court Martial and Civil Division, which hears appeals mainly against decisions in the High Court and county court. The High Court has three divisions: Chancery Division, Queens Bench Division and Family Division, each of which exercises appellate jurisdiction and handles different types of civil work. The Crown Court is responsible for trials of indictable offences, appeals from magistrates courts and cases for sentence.

We have proposed the creation of a UK Supreme Court, which will be the highest court in the whole of the United Kingdom and will take on the present jurisdiction of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as well as the devolution functions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. This will not affect the function of the three courts that currently make up the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what new name he proposes for the current Supreme Court. [131697]

Mr. Leslie: We are consulting on how we should re-name the current Supreme Court the jurisdiction of which is England and Wales. To avoid confusion in the future, the title of Supreme Court will be reserved for the

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new court for the United Kingdom which will be created as a result of the Government's constitutional reform proposals, announced on 12 June 2003.

Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the names of the people whom the Lord Chancellor has appointed since 12 June; what posts they were appointed to; and for what term each person was appointed. [129998]

Mr. Leslie: A table detailing the names of those appointed by the Lord Chancellor since 12 June, the posts to which they have been appointed and the term of appointment has been sent to the hon. Member, and a copy placed in the House of Commons Library.

Civil Servants

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many new entrants to the Civil Service were employed in the Department in each of the last five years; and how many in each year were aged 50 or over. [119823]

Mr. Lammy: I apologise for the delay in replying to your question, this was due to an administrative error.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander), gave to him on 24 June 2003, Official Report, column 658W.

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