§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when his Department will consult(a) the Lord Chief Justice, (b) the Vice-Chancellor, (c) the Master of the Rolls, (d) the president of the family division, and (e)other members of the senior judiciary under schedule 16 to the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 on his proposals to contract out court functions, and what considerations underlay his decision not to consult them before tenders were invited. [5048]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansNeither the local office county court system project nor the probate records centre project is at the stage where it becomes possible to have formal consultation under the terms of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994.