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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): Between 18 June and 10 September 2008, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) consulted on options for how payments made under the family graduated fees scheme, which governs payments to barristers for family legal aid work, could be reduced in order to live within budget and to protect services to vulnerable clients. Our consultation was announced in a Statement made by my noble friend Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 18 June (Official Report, col. WS81).
Expenditure on legal aid barrister family advocacy has risen unsustainably from £74 million to nearly £100 million in the last five yearsa rise of over 30 per cent. Over the same period, the number of cases has increased by only 11 per cent, so there has been a significant rise in average case costs in a short period. Payments to family barristers now form over 10 per cent of the entire civil legal aid budget. Legal aid operates within a fixed budget and the department is obliged to take action to remain within that budget or risk being forced to reduce vital services.
Following the close of our formal consultation in the autumn, we have continued to engage with interested parties and to hear their views. We are grateful to respondents for their time. We have listened and changed many of our proposals and accepted some of the suggestions made by consultees.
Today I am announcing a package of measures to restructure family barrister payments, reduce overall expenditure and refocus resources on high-priority clients. Given the significant priority afforded to public law children cases, these reductions will apply primarily to private family law work, such as child contact and residence disputes, and disputes over property. The Government are considering how we can increase the number of private law disputes which are resolved through mediation, because adversarial proceedings are not always in the interests of the parties. We will make the following changes to the family graduated fee scheme for barristers:
Abolish the more than two parties special issue payment, which provides a 40 per cent increase to fees when claimed in public law cases. We received strong representations from interested parties that this element of the scheme did not represent a sufficiently special issue to merit a fee increase, as there are more than two parties in the large majority of such cases.Redirect most of the funding spent on the more than two parties special issue payment into increasing by £4.4 million per annum. the fees paid to barristers for hearings and conferences in child care or supervision proceedings. This will mean an increase in fees paid to lawyers in at least 3,500 of these cases each year. In private law disputes concerning child contact or residence, reduce the special issue payments claimable by barristers for conduct issues and additional experts from 50 per cent to 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Both of these payments are currently running at 150 per cent of the level intended. In private law disputes concerning financial settlement on divorce, abolish the most expensive special issue payments claimable by barristers for issues concerning conduct, analysis of accounts, assets which are outside the control of the parties, and more than one expert. In addition, we intend to reduce the special issue payments claimable for litigants in person or a relevant foreign element from 25 per cent to 20 per cent. All these payments are running at a level higher than that intended.Annual expenditure on family barristers fees is now nearly £26 million per year higher than it was five years agoan increase which far outstrips any increase in cases. These changes will help us to reduce net expenditure by £6.5 million per year and to refocus resources on some of the most vulnerable families and children in society.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My honourable friend the Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife and Rural Affairs (Mr. Huw Irranca-Davies) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I wish to inform the House of the process and decision on the future location of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) HQ, which will become the UK Governments marine delivery body, subject to the passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.
In line with the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, it is proposed the MMO will set the standard in the UK and internationally for strategy and planning in the marine and coastal environment, so delivering the Governments commitment to introduce a new framework for the sea that balances conservation, energy and resource needs.
In June 2008, KPMG were appointed to help provide an independent assessment of the most suitable locations for the MMO headquarters, ensuring that the process was transparent and fair. The first part of the process was an evaluation against agreed business and quality of life criteria, based on assessing published information and wide stakeholder consultation, to reach a shortlist. Copies of the final KPMG report along with an explanatory narrative will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
In consultation with the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA), Defra Ministers and senior officials along with other key stakeholders, KPMG produced a short list of 5 locations, while retaining London as the benchmark. Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth was added in order to ensure good geographical spread and to ensure that full consideration was given to any business benefits potentially arising from location alongside a directly related part of the Defra marine network.
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Defra officialsaccompanied by KPMGvisited all the short listed locations to help inform the decision. Each location also had the opportunity to put forward a case to be the home of the MMO to me through its Members of Parliament. I would like to thank parliamentary colleagues for their time and effort, and for the quality of their presentations.
All of the shortlisted locations made professional, well-presented submissions and I would also like to thank all those people and organisations involved for their efforts, enthusiasm and time. All of the short listed locations had much to offer as a home for the MMO HQ.
Having assessed all of this information carefully, together with further analysis on the cost of the move, the impact a relocation would have on current MFA business and staff, and Defras wider corporate responsibilities, I am pleased to announce that Tyneside will be the new home of the MMO.
Tyneside has a broad range and a good balance of marine interests including a working port, fisheries, a growing renewable energy sector, environmental and industrial sectors, and a strong and developing university sector in marine specialisms, all of which will complement very well the role of the MMO. Tyneside also provides strong transport links to key stakeholders in London, Brussels, Scotland and across the UK. In addition, the extensive evidence of partnership working in the area provides confidence that Tyneside will be able to help the MMO to fulfil its role under the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.
The House will also wish to know that whilst the North East has had some notable success in encouraging private sector investment in recent years, it has not benefitted to the same extent as some other regions in the UK from the relocation of public sector organisations and employment following the Lyons Review.
As I indicated earlier, all of the short listed locations could have provided a good base for the MMO, and this is a tribute to the continuing strength of those locations, to the case made by their respective Members of Parliament, and to the professionalism of the teams who put their presentations together. There can however be only one MMO HQ, and in thanking all the other locations teams, I am sure they will join me in offering Tyneside our congratulations and best wishes.
To ensure there is a smooth transition and to mitigate against any risks arising as a result of the relocation an MMO skeleton body is proposed from Autumn 2009. Subject to Royal Assent on the Bill, the expectation is that this will run in parallel with the MFA until midnight 31 March 2010 at which time the MMO will be operational.
The Marine Bill and further information about the Bill can be accessed at: http://defraweb/marine/legislation/index.htm
And further information on the MMO and its implementation is on the MFAs website http://www.mfa.gov.uk/
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My right
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Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Defence Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) will be increased by £626,555,000 (voted and non voted) from £37,510,083,000 to £38,136,638,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on Resources and Capital are as set out in the following table:
Change | New DEL | ||||
Voted | Non-Voted | Voted | Non-voted | Total | |
The changes to the resource and capital elements of the DEL arise from:
a net increase in the RfR2 of near Cash Resource of £237,000,000 and near Cash Capital DEL of £65,000,000; and a further Indirect (non Cash) Resource DEL request of £500,000,000 to reflect the forecast costs of peace keeping operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Balkans; the take up of Resource End Year Flexibility (EYF) of £45,000,000 and Capital End Year Flexibility of £214,000,000;transfers in from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of £1,800,000 for helicopter pilot training for counter narcotics operations (RfR1); transfers in from the Department for International Development of £300,000 being reimbursement for locally employed contractors in Iraq (RfR2), £18,899,000 as a contribution to the Global Conflict Prevention Costs Pool (RfR2), and £917,000 as a contribution to the Iraq Stabilisation Aid Fund (RfR2);transfers out to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills being the MoDs contribution to the new Government Skills Strategy initiative of £235,000 (RfR1); and a transfer out to the FCO of £15,350,000 being the MoDs contribution to the Stabilisation Aid Fund (RfR2); additional fiscal Capital DEL provision of £50,000,000 relating to the MoDs planned sale of its Spectrum holding;to re-allocate Royal Hospital Chelsea (RHC) costs of £9,224,000 from Non-Voted expenditure to other current Voted expenditure to correct a misalignment in the Winter Supplementary Estimates;to re-allocate DEL Grants in Aid from DEL to Non Budget Grants in Aid (Non Voted) to reflect a further classification changes for the Council of Reserve Forces & Cadets Association of £29,081,000; to increase Grants in Aid funding for the Royal Naval Museum of £773,000; the Council of Reserve Forces and Cadet Association (CRFCA) of £3,000,000; and the RAF Museum of £400,000; by reducing Resource DEL current costs and increasing Non Budget Grants in Aid with no overall impact on resource; to increase operating Appropriations in Aid by £180,700,000 and Non Operating Appropriations in Aid by £25,879,000 to reflect current forecasts of outturn offset by corresponding changes to Resource and Capital spending with no overall effect on Resource or Capital DEL; and to revise sub-head provisions to reflect Resource and Capital revisions in allocations between Top Level Budget Holders to match required defence outputs, with no overall impact on DEL.Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |