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18 Nov 2003 : Column 791W—continued
Scottish Local Authorities
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Scottish local authorities have returned unspent discretionary housing payment funds to the Department of Work and Pensions in each year for which figures are available; and how much was returned in each case. [139010]
Mr. Pond: The information is in the table.
(12) Scottish homes, the national housing agency for Scotland, ceased to administer benefits after 2001–02.
(13) Refers to authorities that have not yet returned an audited final claim
Notes:
1. For 2001–02 most authorities was given their maximum grant and had to refund any under-spend.
2. For 2002–03 each authority was given a partial grant adjusting payments and/or refunds are made where appropriate.
Source:
Audited final claims from local authorities.
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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Asylum Seekers
Andy King: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many qualified legal advisers have a Community Legal Service franchise to represent asylum seekers in England. [138692]
Mr. Lammy: As at 1 November 2003, there were 504 solicitors' offices in England and Wales 1 with contracts to undertake publicly-funded immigration and asylum work. At the same date, there were 90 Not for Profit organisations in England and Wales with contracts to undertake publicly funded immigration and asylum work. It is not possible to provide figures for the number of advisers employed under these contracts.
- 1 The LSC provides publicly-funded legal services in England and Wales through contracts with solicitors' offices and Not for Profit organisations. It is possible for solicitors based in Wales to represent clients in England and visa versa.
County Court Judgments
Simon Hughes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many county court judgments have been made against individuals in (a) London and (b) England and Wales in each of the last six years. [139258]
Mr. Leslie [holding answer 17 November 2003]: Information identifying whether or not the claimant or defendant is either an individual or company is not held centrally. Consequently, figures relating specifically to individuals could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
For information, figures showing the overall number of judgments entered in the county courts in (a) London and (b) England and Wales are provided in the table.
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| London | England and Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 67,080 | 1,185,367 |
| 1998 | 51,589 | 1,123,568 |
| 1999 | 43,825 | 1,077,499 |
| 2000 | 39,317 | 1,013,044 |
| 2001 | 37,219 | 887,049 |
| 2002 | 34,692 | 814,824 |
Dispute Resolution
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what action his Department is taking to promote the use of alternative dispute resolution in legal cases in which Government Departments are involved. [138931]
Mr. Lammy: In March 2001, the Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg) announced the Government's pledge to consider and use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in their own disputes where suitable and wherever the other party accepts it. Since then, Departments, individually and collectively, have been taking forward work on embedding ADR in the way they handle their disputes.
This Department collates information on the Government's use of ADR under the pledge. The latest report, published in July 2003, demonstrated increasing use of ADR. The report also highlighted the programme of awareness training that has been introduced across Departments. In addition, this Department's legal adviser chairs the ADR sub-group of the Government Legal Service Liaison Group, a cross-government body that was established as a result of the pledge, to promote awareness and use of ADR.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what cost savings have been achieved by Government Departments through the use of alternative dispute resolution in place of legal proceedings since 2001. [138932]
Mr. Lammy: From information provided by Departments, savings have been estimated at over £17 million in the period April 2001 to June 2002, attributable to their use of ADR. That said, it has not been possible to quantify potential savings in every instance.
Marriage Support
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what action his Department (a) has taken and (b) proposes to take to implement the proposed strategy for marriage and relationship support contained in "Moving Forward Together". [138687]
Mr. Lammy: The "Moving Forward Together" report was developed by the Advisory Group for Marriage and Relationship Support (AGMARS) and was published in March 2002. The Advisory Group consisted of officials from across Government and senior representatives of Marriage and Relationship Support (MARS) organisations. The strategy set out in the report was intended to inform the work of both the Government and organisations delivering marriage and
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relationship support services. The report was welcomed by the Government and in publishing it, my right hon. and learned Friend Lord Irvine the then Lord Chancellor, accepted the Group's recommendations.
Significant progress has been made in taking forward the areas recommended for future development. The aims, objectives, and priorities of the annual Marriage and Relationship Support (MARS) Grant Programme reflect the AGMARS report's recommendations.
As a result of the machinery of government changes in June 2003, responsibility for marriage and relationship support policy has transferred to DfES. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Children and Families intends to continue to take the forward the range of developmental activities as an integral and important element of the wider range of family support services for which she is now responsible.
Mediation
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what action the Lord Chancellor is taking to promote the use of mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution in (a) civil and (b) criminal cases. [138770]
Mr. Lammy: The Government have long held the view that litigation should be the dispute resolution method of last resort. The Civil Procedure Rules encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution, as do the pre-action protocols, which seek to encourage the settlement of disputes before court proceedings are issued. One of this Department's Public Service Agreement targets is to reduce the proportion of disputes that are resolved by resort to the courts. As part of the programme of work designed to achieve this, a number of court based pilot mediation schemes are being developed that will actively encourage the use of mediation. These will complement the local schemes that are already in operation, or under consideration, in a several of courts in England and Wales. The Government are also keen to expand the use of restorative justice in the adult criminal justice system, as well as continuing to build on its success in the youth justice system. Activity in this area is led by the Home Office, which published a strategy, in the form of a consultation document, in July 2003. The strategy covers both restorative justice, which involves mediated contact between offender and victim, and reparation to the community. The Home Office will publish a summary of the consultation responses on its website in the New Year.
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