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LINK Project

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what progress has been made with the LINK project since it started; [201480]

 
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(2) if he will make a statement on the Department's progress towards meeting each of its targets under the three-year LINK project; [201481]

(3) how many courts are linked as a result of the LINK project; [201482]

(4) how much (a) has been spent to date on implementing the targets set under the LINK project and (b) will need to be spent to complete the LINK project; [201483]

(5) whether the Department is on course to meet its target of rolling out the Criminal and Civil LINK infrastructures to (a) Crown courts and (b) civil and family courts by March 2006. [201910]

Mr. Leslie: There are two LINK projects, one covering criminal business, and one covering civil business. As at 30 November 2004, on the criminal court side, 73 courts had received the new infrastructure. The target to deliver to 56 courts by the end of 2003–04 was achieved, and the project is on schedule to achieve its final objective of 110 sites in total. As at 30 November 2004, £116.61 million had been spent on the project. A further £57.04 million will be required to complete the rollout.

As at 30 November 2004, on the civil court side, 26 courts had received the new infrastructure. The target to deliver to four courts by the end 2003–04 was exceeded (nine courts were live by the end of 2003–04), and the project is on schedule to achieve its final objective of 60 sites in total. As at the 30 November 2004, £9.23 million had been spent on the project. A further £11.95 million will be required to complete the rollout.

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many witnesses have provided evidence by video link from suites in courts for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses introduced under the LINK scheme since the introduction of such suites; and if he will make a statement. [201484]

Mr. Leslie: The LINK Infrastructure Project has been set up to deliver a comprehensive IT infrastructure to court staff and the Judiciary in the Crown court. It does not directly provide video link equipment in courts although it does enable these links where equipment is provided. 89 per cent. of Crown court centres now have some form of video link. Records are not being kept centrally of how many witnesses have used the video links since they were introduced for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

Magistrates Courts

Hywel Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many people work for the magistrates' courts services (a) in Wales and (b) in England, broken down by workplace. [202007]

 
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Mr. Leslie: On 31 March 2004, the date of the most recent data collection, the Magistrates' Courts Service employed 11,156 people in England and 755 in Wales.

Bob Spink: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many appeals against closure of magistrates' courts there were in each of the last three years. [202296]

Mr. Leslie: The number of appeals made by paying authorities pursuant to section 56 (3) of the Justice of the Peace Act 1997 against the closure of magistrates' courts over the last three years is as follows.

In 2002 there were two appeals lodged;

In 2003 there were 15 appeals lodged; and

In 2004 five appeals have been lodged so far.

Money Claim Online Scheme

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many claims have been issued online in each year since the introduction of the Money Claim Online scheme. [201477]

Mr. Lammy: Since its launch in February 2002, the number of claims issued each year through Money Claim Online was:
Claims

2002	14,446
2003	34,137
2004(38)	47,916

⁽³⁸⁾ (Up to and including November)

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Money Claim Online scheme has cost the Department to run in each calendar year since its introduction. [201478]

Mr. Lammy: The cost to the Department of running Money Claim Online software systems in the first quarter to March 2002 was £221,286; in 2002–03 the cost was £885,144 and for the period April 2003 to September 2004 the cost was £442,572.

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Department has to increase the amount for which fixed claims can be made by means of the Money Claim Online scheme. [201479]

Mr. Lammy: My Department currently has no plans to increase the limit on the value of claims which can be made using Money Claim Online. This reflects present indications that only a small proportion of claims issued online are of a value close to the £100,000 limit.

Office of Public Guardianship

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) how many staff have been employed by the Office of Public Guardianship in each of the last two years; [201727]

 
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(2) what budget has been allocated to the Office of the Public Guardianship in each of the last two years; and how many staff have been employed by the Office in each year. [201902]

Mr. Lammy: The budget allocated to the Public Guardianship Office for the current financial year is made up of net administration costs of £17,540,000 and a capital budget of £1,500,000. These costs are offset against a projected net fee income of £13,960,000. In 2003–04 the Public Guardianship Office employed an average of 304 whole-time equivalent permanent civil servants, 116 agency staff and nine contract staff. In 2002–03 the Public Guardianship Office employed an average of 295 whole-time equivalent permanent staff, 159 agency staff and 14 contract staff. Full details of the Public Guardianship's financial position and staffing numbers are included in the Annual Reports and Accounts which were laid before Parliament on 26 October.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many written questions for the Department were unanswered when Parliament prorogued; and how many of the unanswered questions were tabled in each of the previous months of the 2003–04 Session. [201547]

Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 29W.

Property Prices

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many properties in (a) Nelson and (b) Colne have sold for less that £20,000 in each year since 1997. [201012]

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.

Separate figures below local authority level are not readily available. However, since Nelson and Colne are both within Pendle district council, the annual sales figures for the whole of Pendle from 1997 to 2003 were as follows.

	Number of residential property sales within Pendle district council at less than £20,000
1997	341
1998	452
1999	443
2000	473
2001	522
2002	679
2003	484

Note:
The figures exclude sales to sitting tenants and any other sales believed to be below market value.
Source:
Land Registry

Small Claims

Ross Cranston: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to extend the small claims jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement. [201599]

 
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Mr. Lammy: The Better Regulation Task Force in its report, 'Better Routes to Redress' recommended that research should be carried out into the potential impact of raising the small claims limit for personal injury cases from the current limit of £1,000. In its response to the report, published on 10 November, the Government indicated its acceptance of this recommendation. The Government also indicated that it intended to review all the financial limits that define the small claims and fast tracks, and to also consider other options in addition to raising the small claims limit for personal injury.

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