§ Sir Geoffrey Finsbergasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the number of judicial reviews in which his Department has been involved since 1 March 1974; and on how many occasions the court of final recourse has found against him.
§ Mr. Major[pursuant to his reply, 28 April 1986, c. 276]: From 1 March 1974 to the end of 1978 there were 54 applications for leave to seek a judicial review and the corresponding proceedings prior to 1977 when judicial review was introduced. From 1979 to date there have been a further 38 applications, but since 1979 the litigation brought against the Department has been dealt with by the solictors' office to the Department and the Treasury Solicitor and the 38 cases are those in which the Department's solicitors' office has been involved. Information about the outcome of proceedings brought between 1974 and 1983 and the number of applications dealt with by the Treasury Solicitor since 1979 is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
288WInformation about the outcome of judicial proceedings against the Secretary of State for Social Services since the beginning of 1984 is as follows:
Decisions* Heard by court of first instance in favour of against the Secretary of State 1984 4 3 1 1985 8 4 4 1986 1 1 — * Decisions given either by the court of first instance or on appeal.