| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Written Answers
Tuesday, 26th March 2002.
Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill
Lord Jacobs asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether in preparing for the drafting of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill a bargain was struck between the interested parties.[HL3299]
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): The Government's proposals for commonhold and leasehold reform were the subject of extensive consultation with landlords, leaseholders and other interested parties. The resulting Bill is designed to strike a fair balance between legitimate interests of these different groups.
Public Guardianship Office: Investment Strategy
Lord Carlile of Berriew asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the usual investment strategy of the Public Guardianship Office in relation to investment in equities on 27 June 2001, 3 August 2001, 21 September 2001, 29 November 2001 and
13 March 2002 respectively.[HL3325]
The Lord Chancellor: It has been, and remains, the practice of the Public Guardianship Office to offer its clients a range of investment strategies based on varying mixes of cash deposits and equities according to their individual needs. For those clients with longer terms interests and larger portfolios, the policy is normally to offer some element of equity investment, taking into account the clients' own preferences. This policy applied prior to 27 June 2001 and has remained in force throughout the stated period and has been applied not only to damages awards but also to the ongoing portfolios held by the Public Guardianship Office's mental health patients.
Lord Carlile of Berriew asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will revise downwards the personal injury damages discount rate of 2.5 per cent in the light of the exclusion of equities by the Public Guardianship Office from its usual investment strategy and the Lord Chancellor's statement on
27 June 2001 that the strategy included investment in equities.[HL3326]
The Lord Chancellor: The Public Guardianship Office has not excluded equities from its usual investment strategy, and thus the question does not arise.
Law Commission Annual Report
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When the Law Commission intends to publish its thirty-sixth annual report.[HL3510]
The Lord Chancellor: The Law Commission has today published its thirty-sixth annual report and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Personal Injury Awards
Baroness Gale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will publish the impact analysis of the discount rate change for personal injury awards from 3 per cent to 2.5 per cent.[HL3515]
The Lord Chancellor: I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses the analysis of the impact of the discount rate change.
Land Registry: Performance Targets
Lord Haskel asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What key performance targets have been set for Her Majesty's Land Registry executive agency for 2002–03.[HL3513]
The Lord Chancellor: The following table sets out the key performance targets that have been set for Her Majesty's Land Registry for 2002–03.
| Indicator | Target 2002–03 |
| Speed | |
| Percentage of office copies and official search applications to be processed within two working days | 98 |
| Percentage of registrations to be processed within 20 working days | 75 |
| Accuracy | |
| Percentage of registrations processed free of any error | 98.5 |
| Overall Satisfaction | |
| Percentage of customers who, overall, are very satisfied/satisfied with the full range of services provided by the Land Registry | Better than 94 |
| Financial | |
| Percentage return on average capital employed | 6 |
| Efficiency1 | |
| Cost per unit in cash terms(2) (real terms3) | £29.53 (£23.10) |
| Strategic | |
| Percentage electronic delivery capability of the Land Registry's key services | 60 |
| Percentage take up of electronic services | 50 |
| Critical Action Points | |
| Draft Rules under the Land Registration Act 2002 ready for consultation | By July 2002 |
| Carry out a major public consultation on the possible system for e-conveyancing and prepare a final report for ministers | By February 2003 |
(1) This is a milestone towards the HM Treasury-agreed cost per unit target for 2004–05 of £28.78 in cash terms (£21.43 in real terms).
(2) Based on GDP deflator issued by HM Treasury on 20 December 2001 (base year 1992–93).
(3) The real term unit cost in the base year of 1992–93 was £30.65.
Further details of HM Land Registry's targets are published in its Business Plan.
Lord Hughes of Woodside asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Lord Chancellor: The following list sets out the key performance targets I have set for the Public Record Office for 2002–03.
Public Record Office Key Performance Indicators 2002–03 1
EFFICIENCY
KPI 1—Unit Costs of Key Activities
KPI 1A—Selecting and preserving the public records per metre: To ensure that the unit cost does not rise above £107.00.
KPI 1B—Giving Access Onsite: To ensure that the unit cost per information transaction with customers onsite does not exceed £8.80.
KPI 1C—Giving Access Online: To ensure that the unit cost per information transaction with customers online does not exceed £0.15.
KPI 2—Backlog of records in departments reported as being over 30 years old and awaiting review: To reduce the backlog, assessed in January 2002 as 1987 metres, by 115 metres.
QUALITY OF SERVICE
KPI 3—The achievement of Charter Standards as follows:
What performance targets the Lord Chancellor has set for the Public Records Office Executive Agency for 2002–03.[HL3516]
A (i) to make newly opened records and their catalogues available to users in accordance with specified time targets.
(ii) To answer 98.5 per cent of written correspondence within 10 days days.
(iii) To deliver records to users for consultation in the reading rooms in accordance with specified time targets.
(iv) To supply 98.5 per cent of copy orders in accordance with the specified targets and standards.
(v) To answer 80 per cent of telephone calls within 20 seconds.
(vi) To keep 98.5 per cent of appointments which visitors have made with us within 10 minutes.
B To carry out four onsite satisfaction surveys and to achieve assessments of "good" or "excellent" from 90 per cent of those expressing a view; to carry out two online satisfaction surveys and to achieve assessments of "good" or "excellent" from 80 per cent of those expressing a view.
26 Mar 2002 : Column WA34
-
INCOME GENERATION
KPI 4—To increase revenue generated by commercial activity to £850,000.
MODERNISING GOVERNMENT
KPI 5—Electronic Records Management:
To support other government departments in achieving the government target for electronic records management by 2004 by;
- (i) monitoring progress in departments against milestones and reporting to the Lord Chancellor, the e-Government sub-group and departments every six months and to others as appropriate to the level of action required;
- (ii) targeting under-achieving departments and developing action plans to accelerate progress;
- (iii) delivering a programme of workshops to support the action plans.
KPI 6—Electronic Service Delivery:
To develop digital access to popular records so that 20,000 digital record images are delivered to customers.
KPI 7—To raise an awareness of the PRO's holdings among under-represented groups in our user profile by means of a rigorous social inclusion programme the chief components of which are:
- (i) To make available 90,000 images online as part of the Moving Here project.
- (ii) To conduct an evaluation exercise with users (remote, at Kew and at the FRC) of the usability of PROCAT, DORIS and PRO Online.
- (iii) To organise an event as part of Black History month and to produce one other targeted event.
- (iv) To organise an educational focus event as part of the London String of Pearls Golden Jubilee programme.
1 More information on these and other key targets is published in the Corporate and Business Plans.
Zimbabwe
The Earl of Caithness asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will seek to have Mr Robert Mugabe indicted in the international court for crimes against his countrymen.[HL3362]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos): The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has not yet come into force. When it does, the court will have no jurisdiction in respect of events pre-dating its existence. It may try only the offences listed in the statute. And it has limited jurisdiction in respect of offences committed in states which are not party to the statute, of which Zimbabwe is presently one.
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |