§ Lord Gainfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress is being made towards establishing Her Majesty's Land Registry as an executive agency in accordance with the recommendations of the report of the Prime Minister's Efficiency Unit, Improving Management in Government: the Next Steps.
§ The Lord ChancellorI am pleased to be able to inform the House that the Land Registry is to be established as an executive agency on 2nd July 1990.
The Government consider that the Land Registry is well suited to the executive agency form of organisation and that the resultant management flexibilities together with the possibility in the longer term of the registry operating a trading fund will provide significant overall improvements in the service provided to the registry's customers.
Consistent with the basic approach of the Government's "Next Steps" initiative, I have decided that the Chief Land Registrar (who will be the Agency Chief Executive) should no longer be required by statute to be a barrister or solicitor of 10 years' standing. I wish to be able to appoint the best possible person for this important post and consider it essential that he or she should be selected primarily on the basis of his or her management abilities. The Government therefore propose to introduce amendments to the Courts and Legal Services Bill at Committee stage in another place for this purpose. Arrangements will be made, by regulation, to ensure that the legal functions currently performed personally by the Chief Land 1616WA Registrar are reserved to an appropriately qualified senior lawyer in the Land Registry.