§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money has been allocated to the development of information technology in(a) criminal and (b) civil courts in Scotland; and what arrangements have been made for (i) judges, (ii) sheriffs and (iii) clerks of court who participate in information technology training courses.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonSince 1989, an investment programme at a level of approximately £1.1 million annually has been allocated to information technology provision in the supreme and sheriff courts. Initially, the investment was used primarily to produce a criminal operations system for the sheriff courts and is now being utilised mainly to develop a system to support the handling of civil business in the court of session and the sheriff courts, and to provide personal computers to members of the judiciary. Training is provided either by commercial organisations, under contract, or by the court service training centre, as appropriate.