§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what action his Department is taking to promote the use of alternative dispute resolution in legal cases in which Government Departments are involved. [138931]
§ Mr. LammyIn March 2001, the Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg) announced the Government's pledge to consider and use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in their own disputes where suitable and wherever the other party accepts it. Since then, Departments, individually and collectively, have been taking forward work on embedding ADR in the way they handle their disputes.
This Department collates information on the Government's use of ADR under the pledge. The latest report, published in July 2003, demonstrated increasing use of ADR. The report also highlighted the programme of awareness training that has been introduced across Departments. In addition, this Department's legal adviser chairs the ADR sub-group of the Government Legal Service Liaison Group, a cross-government body that was established as a result of the pledge, to promote awareness and use of ADR.
§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what cost savings have been achieved by Government Departments through the use of alternative dispute resolution in place of legal proceedings since 2001. [138932]
§ Mr. LammyFrom information provided by Departments, savings have been estimated at over £17 million in the period April 2001 to June 2002, attributable to their use of ADR. That said, it has not been possible to quantify potential savings in every instance.