HC Deb 19 July 1995 vol 263 cc1308-9W
Mr. McAllion

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how the Woolf Commission recommendation of greater control of case progression by the judiciary will be achieved under the market testing of the County Courts LOCCS project. [35322]

Mr. John M. Taylor

The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. John McAllion, dated 19 July 1995: The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Question about how greater judicial control of case progression will be achieved under the market testing of the county court Local County Court System (LOCCS) project. The Private Finance Initiative is not a market testing exercise but is a procurement project designed to obtain information technology services in support of the LOCCS project. Lord Woolf s interim report draws attention to the need for active judicial case management, supported by computer. The LOCCS system will provide a comprehensive electronic database to support a wide range of county court functions, including a case progression.

Mr. McAllion

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement in relation to the market test of the Department's county courts LOCCS project, on the judicial areas of work, or areas of work advising the judiciary, that will be prevented from being contracted out under the Courts Act 1991 as amended. [35332]

Mr. John M. Taylor

The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. John McAllion, dated 19 July 1995: The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Question about the market test of the Department's County Courts LOCCS project on the judicial areas of work, or areas of work advising the judiciary, that will be prevented from being contracted out under the Courts Act 1991, as amended. I should first say that the LOCCS project is not being market tested. It is however, the subject of a Private Finance Initiative procurement exercise, designed to obtain information technology services in support of the project. The Courts Act 1971, as amended by the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 permits the Lord Chancellor to contract certain functions of court staff. However, such functions do not include judicial functions nor giving advice on judicial functions. Before exercising the power to contract out, the Lord Chancellor must consult the Senior Judiciary. The power is exercisable by order which is subject to Parliamentary Scrutiny. Any decision to contract out the function of LOCCS will be subject to the above limitations.

Mr. McAllion

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the future of the 250 county courts in England and Wales following the market testing of the Department's LOCCS project and the need to retain local access to justice. [35321]

Mr. John M. Taylor

The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. John McAllion, dated 19 July 1995:

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Question about the future of county courts and the policy of retaining local access to justice, following the market testing of the Local County Court System (LOCCS) project.The Private Finance Initiative is not a market testing exercise, but it is a procurement project designed to obtain information technology services in support of the LOCCS project. The LOCCS computer system will provide high quality computer support to all local county courts and will improve both the quality of service we provide to court users and the efficiency with which that service is provided.