§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 January,Official Report, column 719, what representations he has received about human rights in respect of the arrangement for passing information from the courts to central Government.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 January,Official Report, column 719, on matrimonial cases, when the decision to set up the arrangement in question was made; by whom that decision was taken; what representations he has received concerning the arrangement; who made the decision to discontinue it; what reasons led to its discontinuance; when that decision was taken; what its estimated cost was; and in how many cases and by how many courts the information was requested under the second heading by the Home Office supplied.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe arrangement came into effect on 1 November 1993, following discussions between junior officials in the civil business division of my Department and officials of the Home Office between July and October. I have received no representations other than those from the hon. Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng). The matter became known to senior officials on 18 January 1994. Legal advice was sought which stated that the arrangement had no statutory authority. The decision to discontinue the arrangement was taken by the head of the civil business division on that day. Arrangements have been made to ensure that legal advice will be sought in all future cases of this type. The cost of each notification made under the arrangement is estimated at £1.16 for the inner London area and £1.06 for the remainder of the courts. I am informed by the Home Office that they received approximately 30 notifications between 1 November and 18 January, which have all been destroyed. It is not therefore possible to say how many separate courts provided information.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 January,Official Report, column 719, on matrimonial cases, how many arrangements currently exist or have existed within the last five years by which information from the courts is disseminated to (a) the Home Office or (b) other central Government Departments.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe following arrangements currently exist or have existed within the last five years by which information from the courts is or has been disseminated to central Government Departments:
To the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys
Information about divorce decrees absolute (in accordance with the senior district judges' direction of 20 January 1992).
To the Child Support Agency
As required by the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 1992.
248WTo the Inland Revenue
Information about small maintenance orders in accordance with the requirements of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 (this was discontinued on 6 April 1989).
To the Home Office (Immigration and Nationality Department):
Information about divorce cases where the parties were married in the United Kingdom and separated on the same day (this was discontinued on 18 January 1994).
In addition to this information, various pieces of statistical information which do not identify particular cases or parties are supplied by the courts for use, for example, in the Judicial Statistics.