HL Deb 24 June 1991 vol 530 cc32-3WA
Baroness David

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Lord Chancellor's Department is proposing to commission research to evaluate the operation of the new concurrent jurisdiction and criteria for allocation and transfer of cases under the Children Act 1989.

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)

The Lord Chancellor's Department currently chairs a working party that was set up to consider the management information that should be collected by the courts to monitor the Children Act 1989. The working party comprises representatives from the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Lord Chancellor's Department and various external bodies. The working party has drawn up a comprehensive set of returns and samplers that will be completed from October 1991 by all the Family Proceedings Courts, the High Court and the appropriate county courts. The working party will be considering whether any research projects are required to supplement these routine statistics.