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8 May 2006 : Column 108W—continued
Written Answers to Questions
Monday 8 May 2006
Constitutional Affairs
Armed Forces (Inquests)
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many inquests remain to be heard in relation to members of the armed forces who (a) lost their lives as a result of military duties in Iraq since 2003 and (b) lost their lives as a result of such duties in (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005; and in how many such cases an inquest has not been concluded a year after death. [66543]
Ms Harman [holding answer 27 April 2006]: Bodies from military personnel who died in Iraq are returned to the UK via RAF Brize Norton within the jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire coroner. I understand from the Oxfordshire coroner that 31 inquests remain to be heard from 2003, nine from 2004 and seven from 2005. Information about the number of such inquests being concluded within 12 months of the death is not available.
Children's Legal Centre
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been paid in legal aid to the Children's Legal Centre in each of the last three years. [67206]
Ms Harman: The legal aid paid to the Children's Legal Centre in each of the last three years is as follows
| £ | |
These figures represent payments to the Children's Legal Centre for legal services provided to publicly funded clients.
Civil Courts (Enforcement of Judgments)
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what progress her Department has made in drafting a Bill to improve enforcement of judgments in the civil court system; when she expects the Bill to be ready to introduce into Parliament; and what measures her Department is planning to include in the Bill. [67145]
Ms Harman: The Bill is currently being drafted and we are hoping to publish in draft this session.
The Bill will then be formally introduced when Parliamentary time allows, and will include provisions for charging orders, attachment of earnings and information sharing.
Community Justice
Mr. Allen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking in order to facilitate the creation of community courts and community justice panels in Nottingham and elsewhere; and if she will make a statement. [66200]
Ms Harman: In Nottingham the Chief Crown Prosecutor has held discussions with local agencies about developing the concept of Community Justice.
Elsewhere the CPS is involved in two Community Justice projects—the Community Justice Centre, North Liverpool and the Salford Community Justice Initiative. Both of which were launched at the end of last year.
We will consider the lessons learned from the Liverpool and Salford projects and work with local agencies to determine ways the concept can be applied elsewhere.
Court Funds
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which classes of (a) litigants and (b) former litigants are entitled to have money in the Court Fund Special Account; and if she will make a statement. [67309]
Ms Harman: Those entitled to have money in the Special Account are:
Adults who lack mental capacity whose funds are either controlled by the Court of Protection or who have had monies awarded to them which are held under the jurisdiction of a county court, the High Court or a district registry
Children who have received an award as a result of litigation
There are also a very small number of instances where monies were placed in the Court Funds Special Account prior to 1 April 1983 and have not yet been paid out or transferred to the Unclaimed Balances account. The main component of these is widows' funds. There are twenty-nine widows' accounts remaining and most of these result from industrial fatal injury cases originating in the 1950s and 1960s where the judges paid the money into court rather than direct to the surviving spouse.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what assessment she has made of the possible alternatives to the Court Fund Special Account available to litigants and Court of Protection clients; and if she will make a statement; [67310]
(2) what the cost was of the (a) consultants and (b) departmental staff used to conduct the investment and banking review within her Department; and if she will make a statement; [67312]
(3) what representations she has received on the future of the Court Funds Office and the Court Fund Special Account; and if she will make a statement; [67314]
(4) when she expects to publish the outcome of her Department's Investment and Banking Review; and if she will make a statement; [67323]
(5) who conducted her Department's Investment and Banking Review; how he was appointed; what qualifications he holds; when he reported to Ministers; and if she will make a statement; [67324]
(6) what plans she has to change the Court Funds Special Account; and if she will make a statement. [67385]
Ms Harman: A review of the Banking and Investment activities within the Department for Constitutional Affairs was completed in October 2003. Within this report the role of the Court Funds Office was considered. The review was carried out by an independent reviewer who is a Member of the Securities Institute. They were engaged as a result of a requirement to provide expert advice for a review of DCA's investment and banking operations that was not available 'in house'. The review required detailed knowledge of the regulation of financial services and the investment market and they were selected for their comprehensive knowledge of the investment and banking industry.
The report was commissioned at a cost of £60,000 which included all departmental staff costs.
The Department has in place an Investment and Banking Programme. The Programme is looking at the operations of the Court Funds Office, its constituent parts and any alternatives, within the context of Departmental policy and priorities. This work is still in progress and propositions for change may be developed. If that is the case the Government will engage with interested parties.
There are no plans to publish the internal report which has informed Government policy and other than the activity described in this question I have received no representations about the future of the Court Funds Office and the Court Funds Special Account.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many accounts on behalf of (a) individual litigants and (b) clients of the Court of Protection are held in the Court Funds Special Account; what the average balance was of the fund over the last 12 months; how many transactions the Account administered in that period; and if she will make a statement. [67376]
Ms Harman: The average balance of funds heldin the CFO Special Account for 2005-06 was£3.12 billion. There are 83,195 accounts held on behalf of individual litigants and 18,895 accounts held on behalf of clients of the Court of Protection. During the course of the last year there have been 912,075 transactions.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what rate of interest has been payable on the Court Funds Special
Account over the last 12 months; how much abovebase rate this rate was; and if she will make a statement. [67386]
Ms Harman: The Special Account has paid interest at a rate of 6 per cent. throughout the last 12 months. The base rate set by the Bank of England was at4.75 per cent. from March until August 2005 when it changed to its present rate of 4.50 per cent. Interest rates on Court Funds accounts are kept under regular review.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to upgrade the IT available to the Court Funds Office; and if she will make a statement. [67313]
Ms Harman: The IT infrastructure for the Court Funds Office is kept under regular review. The processing power of the system is currently being upgraded at minimal capital cost.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many staff are employed in the Court Funds Office; what the (a) salary and (b) on-costs are; and if she will make a statement. [67318]
Ms Harman: The Court Funds Office staffing level has remained constant over the past reporting year with 195 staff employed as of 31 March 2006. The salary cost for staff for the financial year 2005-06 was £4.96 million, and on-costs were £0.6 million. The total cost for staff was therefore £5.52 million.
Courts
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the (a) magistrates courts, (b) Crown courts and (c) county courts which have closed in each year since January 1995, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and what (i) the date of and (ii) reason for each closure was. [66861]
Ms Harman: The information available to my Department on the county, Crown and magistrates courthouses that have closed since 1995 (broken down by parliamentary constituency) is set out in the following tables.
It has not been possible to include individual reasons for closure against each building. However, the reasons for closures include:
under-utilisation
cost effectiveness
lack of secure custody facilities to meet Human Rights Act requirements
lack of separate waiting area for witnesses and victims away from defendants
facilities being outdated and not meeting Disability Discrimination Act requirements
alternative, improved provision of access to justice (including where the courthouse is being replaced with a new building containing modern and fit for purpose facilities)
Since 1995 a number of new courthouses have been built which has improved the standard of facilities provided to court users.
| Magistrates courts | |||
| Courthouse closed | Date of closure | Constituency | |
Other than the closure of the satellite courts highlighted in the following table there have been no other Crown court closures.
| Court | Date of closure | Constituency | |
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