§ Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Attorney-General what financial resources will be made available to the county courts to enable them to take over High Court work under the Courts and Legal Services Bill.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Lord Chancellor has already announced his intention to increase the number of court staff by around 350 in the next financial year and subsequently by up to a further 100 during the transitional period while new initiatives are being introduced. In addition the introduction of a computerised summons production centre in January and, from next month, the curtailment of the county court banking function will, over time, release staff time savings equivalent to around 350 staff.
The injection of resources will take place during 1990–91 and will put the courts in a strong position to implement from 1991 onwards the new case allocation arrangements, and other reforms flowing from the civil justice review and the Children Act.