| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
1 Apr 2004 : Column 1655W—continued
Divorces
Mr. Webb: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many divorces took place in (a) 1997, (b) 2000 and (c) 2003, disaggregated by the lowest sub-regional level possible. [165143]
Mr. Leslie: Figures relating to the number of decrees absolute granted in the county courts of England and Wales during the years requested are provided in a table. A copy has been placed in both Libraries.
Easter Uprising
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reason the Public Record Office retained original documents written by those court-martialled following the Dublin uprising in 1916. [162318]
Mr. Leslie: The Judge Advocate General's office, which organised these courts martial, formed part of the British administration in Ireland. It took the original decision to preserve documents written by the defendants in these cases on the grounds that they formed an integral part of the court proceedings. It was subsequently decided that the court records as a whole merited permanent preservation because of their historical importance.
The documents are available for public inspection at the National Archives at Kew, and copies can be supplied.
Information is held on the National Archives' electronic catalogue, and can be accessed on the internet at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
1 Apr 2004 : Column 1656W
Electoral Registration
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many registered electors for parliamentary elections there were in each year since 1994 in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland. [160087]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Alan Whitehead, dated 1 April 2004:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the number of registered electors for parliamentary elections in each year from 1994–2003 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (160087)
- Attached is a table showing parliamentary electors for 1994–2003 inclusive for each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom. From 2001 the annual canvass resulted in registers that came into effect on 1 December, but prior to this they came into effect on 16 February. Due to local elections, Northern Ireland delayed the effective date of their '2003' figures until 2 February 2004.
(51) Up to 2000 data are as at 16 February. From 2001 data are as 1 December, except Northern Ireland where '2003' data are in fact as at 2 February 2004.
Source:
Office for National Statistics
1 Apr 2004 : Column 1657W
National Referendum
Rachel Squire: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the estimated cost is of holding a national referendum. [165134]
Mr. Leslie: No comparative figures are available as the only UK-wide referendum was held in 1975. We would expect the cost to be similar to the cost of a general election. The last General Election with a similar franchise cost approximately £80 million.
Organ Retention
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the procedure is by which relatives can obtain information on organ retention in cases following a coroner's post mortem. [164579]
Mr. Leslie: Currently in all coroners' cases in which it has proved necessary to retain organs, relatives are informed in writing.
Relatives also have the option of phoning the Human Organs Enquiry Line, which was established in November 2002 as recommended in the Northern Ireland Human Organ Inquiry Report. A direct enquiry can also be made to the Coroner who ordered the post-mortem examination.
Postal Voting
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what safeguards he is proposing to put in place to deter electoral fraud following the introduction of all postal voting. [165099]
Mr. Leslie: Postal voting has been available for many years and since 2000 has been available on demand. There are several safeguards in place for this, a Declaration of Identity as well as a variety of offences including personation and undue influence. For the all-postal pilots in June this year, the European Parliamentary and Local Elections (Pilots) Bill builds on existing sanctions, by extending the offence of personation to be an arrestable offence outside polling stations and also by allowing the time limit for investigating electoral offences to be extended, along with a range of practical measures, in partnership with electoral administrators and other key stakeholders, to address potential fraud. Returning Officers can perform checks, including random inspection of Declaration of Identities and the checking of signatures against those already on file or investigating where more than a
1 Apr 2004 : Column 1658W
certain number of ballot papers are sent to or redirected to one address. This is building on the experience gained during a series of successful pilots at local elections.
Review of Tribunals
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to bring into effect in Northern Ireland the recommendations of the Leggatt Report on the Review of Tribunals. [164628]
Mr. Leslie: Sir Andrew Leggatt's report made a number of recommendations in relation to tribunal reform. The Government will issue its response to these recommendations set in the wider context of reforming the Administrative Justice System in a White Paper later this year. Consideration is currently being given to the implications of Sir Andrew Leggatt's Report for Northern Ireland.
Small Claims
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the principal categories of claim which are heard in the small claims track are. [164436]
Mr. Lammy: The categories of claims made in the small claims track for which the department collects certain information are debt, personal injury, other negligence and non-possession housing disputes.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many claims for return of tenancy deposits were heard in the small claims track in 2002–03. [164437]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested is not collected centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost to the department.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps his Department has taken to assess whether charging fees for the recovery of small claims in the small claims track has a deterrent effect on claimants. [164438]
Mr. Leslie: The first step when setting fees is to ensure that the size of the fee is proportionate to cost. This means that even the smallest claim attracts a fee of £30. The second step is to ensure (by means of claim bands) that fees are proportionate to the amount at stake. The third step is to provide protection for those unable to pay. Exemption is available for those on means tested benefits and discretionary remission (based on hardship) for those not qualifying. Finally, the successful litigant may recover his fee from the losing party.
If a litigant is deterred from issuing proceedings this is most likely to be because he is unsure of winning or because he is unsure that the losing party has the means to pay.
When court fees are increased there is always a consultation process. Consultation has shown that the probability of successful recovery is just as important to potential litigants as the size of fees. Relatively low fees are payable on defended small claims because the cost is
1 Apr 2004 : Column 1659W
shared by those with claims that are not defended. The cost of undefended small claims is the concern of most claimants.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will encourage the the small claims track to sit in neighbourhood premises to determine groups of local cases. [164440]
Mr. Lammy: Cases in the small claims track are heard throughout a network of 218 county courts across the country. The present arrangements for hearing cases in the small claims track are considered adequate to meet the needs of local and public interest and in providing access to justice.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has for improving access for the socially excluded to the small claims track. [164441]
Mr. Lammy: One of our Departmental Public Service Agreement targets (PSA6) is to increase year-on-year the number of people who receive suitable assistance in the priority areas of law involving fundamental rights or social exclusion. We are increasing the capacity of the Community Legal Service and all advice and guidance services through closer co-operation and collaboration within the advice sector.
Access to justice is protected by automatic exemption of fees for litigants on specified means tested benefits and discretionary remission (in part or full) for those who do not benefit from exemption but would face exceptional hardship if required to pay fees, or required to pay them in full. There are no current plans to review this policy.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many defendants in the small claims track defaulted on orders for money judgments in 2002–03; and how many such judgments were enforced by the court after defaults in that year. [164442]
Mr. Lammy: The department does not hold information centrally concerning defendants who default on money judgments in the small claims track, and it can be provided only at disproportionate cost. For information, figures for enforcement of judgments in 2002–03, irrespective of track, are contained in the table. These figures do not take into account whether or not they were issued because the defendant defaulted on a money judgment.
| Enforcement proceedings | 2002–03 |
|---|---|
| Warrant of execution against goods issued | 373,257 |
| Third party debt orders issued | 5,828 |
| Charging order applications issued | 32,117 |
| Attachment of Earnings order-judgment debt | 40,029 |
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to his Written Ministerial Statement of 22 March 2004, Official Report, column 41WS, what the mechanism will be by which magistrates courts will conduct blitzes against fine defaulters; and by what mechanism the efficacy of such blitzes will be evaluated. [164453]
1 Apr 2004 : Column 1660W
Mr. Leslie: The national fines initiative referred to in my Written Ministerial Statement of 22 March 2004, Official Report, column 41WS, is Operation Payback National guidance was issued to assist courts in planning, but the scope and process of the local operations was determined by individual Justices' Chief Executives, according to local circumstances. Courts identified particular dates and areas for their action, and then, assisted by the police, concentrated all their enforcement resources in the targeted areas for the duration of their local operations.
The magistrates courts who have taken part in Operation Payback have been asked to provide a core set of data, including the number of warrants progressed, amount of money collected and the number of Civilian Enforcement Officers and police involved. This will allow us to assess the effectiveness of the Operation at both a national and regional level.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the purpose is of charging fees for (a) applicants and (b) defendants in the Small Claims Court. [164454]
Mr. Lammy: Four fees may become payable during the course of a defended small claim. The fee on issue of the claim, the fee on a counterclaim, the fee on allocation to track, and the fee on making a specific application. In all cases the purpose of the fee is the same, namely to recover cost.
It would be administratively convenient to recover the extra cost of applications simply by increasing claim fees. However there is a danger that if applications did not attract fees the time of the court and the parties would be wasted by unnecessary applications.
A claimant who forces a defendant to make an application to the court by unreasonably refusing to hand over information risks having to pay the fee. A defendant who makes an unnecessary application is unlikely to recover the fee.
The charging of fees on applications therefore promotes co-operation between the parties and helps to ensure that the time of the court and the parties is not wasted by unnecessary applications.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make the forms for application to the small claims track available in (a) citizens' advice bureaux and (b) other neighbourhood premises. [164455]
Mr. Lammy: Claim forms are available to the citizens' advice bureaux and all other advice agencies through any county court and via the Court Service website.
Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the minimum number of trips to the small claims track is which an applicant must take to make a claim and recover judgment. [164456]
Mr. Lammy: It is possible for a claimant to make a small claim and recover judgment without having to attend court.
1 Apr 2004 : Column 1661W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |