§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received from(a) hon. Members and (b) other people concerning the creation of the Court Service agency; and what percentage of these representations has been (i) in favour and (ii) not in favour of its creation.
Mr. John M. TaylorI have received a number of representations from hon. Members and others on this issue. Most have been concerned with practical considerations and have not addressed the question of the desirability or otherwise of agency status for the Court Service. In the process of working towards the launch of the Court Service as an agency, we have consulted the judiciary and a number of interested organisations including the Bar, the Law Society and the departmental trade union side. We have received responses from these organisations and have held discussions with some of them.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the total cost of management consultancy and other professional consultancy fees will be for the launch of the Court Service agency.
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Mr. John M. TaylorThe total amount of management consultancy and other professional consultancy fees incurred so far in the process of making the Court Service into an executive agency is £103,966. This amount has been spread over the two financial years 1993–94 and 1994–95. There may be a very small amount of further expenditure on consultancy fees in the remaining period leading up to the launch of the Court Service as an agency.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if there was an open and competitive selection process for the post of chief executive of the Court Service agency; and when and where this post was advertised.
Mr. John M. TaylorFollowing the decision to proceed with agency status for the Court Service, the existing head of the court service was appointed in 1993 as chief executive designate, with the intention that he should continue in post to prepare the court service for establishment as an agency and to take the agency into its early stages. It is intended that the post will be subject to publicly advertised open competition not later than April 1997.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the current job title and salary of Michael Huebner; for how many years' duration is his current contract for the position of chief executive of the Court Service agency; and what his total salary will be for each of those years.
Mr. John M. TaylorAt present, Michael Huebner is grade 2 head of the court service and chief executive designate of the Court Service agency. His current salary is £73,750. On becoming chief executive of the Court Service agency, he will remain an established civil servant on the same terms and conditions of employment as at present. Any performance pay awards he receives will, however, take into account the achievement of the targets set for the Court Service. In common with other members of the proposed senior civil service, he will in due course he expected to sign a contract, as outlined in the White Paper on the civil service.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what provisions for performance-related pay on top of basic salary are contained in the contracts of(a) the chief executive and (b) other staff of the new Court Service Agency; what criteria will determine whether or not this additional pay is awarded; and what is the maximum amount each could claim under these provisions.
Mr. John M. TaylorStaff of the Court Service, including the first chief executive, will remain as established civil servants and will not be employed within the agency on a contractual basis, with the proviso that it is intended that contracts will be introduced for the proposed senior civil service as announced in the White Paper "The Civil Service: Taking Forward Continuity and Change" (CM2748).
For details of the performance pay scheme for the chief executive, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given today to his question on the salary and contract of Michael Huebner. Performance pay awards to staff at grade 3 in the Court Service will continue to be made by the permanent secretary on the basis of performance against objectives and on advice from the chief executive, taking into account job weight and loading.
686WThe pay of staff in the Court Service below grade 3 is currently determined in accordance with a number of national pay agreements negotiated by the Treasury. The provisions of these agreements are described in the "Civil Service Management Code", a copy of which is in the Library. Under the agreements staff receive pay increases in accordance with their personal performance, measured in terms of the overall "box mark" in their annual report. The maximum increases which may currently be awarded to individual staff in the main grades employed in the Court Service are as shown in the following table.
Grade Box Mark London £ National £ Grade 4 Box 1 3,786 3,786 Box 2 3,029 3,029 Box 3 2,272 2,272 Grade 5 Box 1 2,851 2,851 Box 2 2,281 2,281 Box 3 1,711 1,711 Grade 6 Box 1 2,398 2,398 Box 2 1,918 1,918 Box 3 1,439 1,439 Grade 7 Box 1 1,950 1,950 Box 2 1,560 1,560 Box 3 1,170 1,170 SEO Box 1 1,919 1,844 Box 2 1,478 1,419 Box 3 832 798 HEO Box 1 1,535 1,472 Box 2 1,182 1,133 Box 3 665 637 EO Box 1 1,120 1,075 Box 2 862 826 Box 3 484 465 AO Box 1 1,003 938 Box 2 771 721 Box 3 554 509 AA Box 1 792 740 Box 2 609 568 Box 3 431 402 Bailiff Box 1 1,062 992 Box 2 816 763 Box 3 576 539
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the cost of the Court Service for the current financial year; what the cost has been for each of the last five financial years; and what the planned cost of the Court Service agency will be for each of the next three years.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe figures requested are set out in the table.
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£000 1989–90 396,125 1990–91 453,970 1991–92 544,626
£000 1992–93 586,199 1993–94 581,656 1994–95 1598,411 1995–96 2627,024 1996–97 2632,298 1997–98 2632,254 1Estimated. 2Planned. The figures showing the planned expenditure from 1995–96 onwards cannot be compared directly with the current and previous year's expenditure. The Court Service becomes an executive agency on 3 April 1995, and a number of the central functions which are currently provided by the Departments; headquarters will transfer on that date to the Court Service's headquarters.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Department began paying rent on the new Court Service agency headquarters; what the yearly rent is; how long the lease is for; when Court Service staff are to move in; and what is the cost of furnishing and equipping the headquarters for its first two years of operation.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe Court Service headquarters will be accommodated in an office building in which the Department had leased space since 1989; two additional floors were acquired in the building in 1994. However, as part of providing a separate headquarters for the Court Service, the Department has retionalised its departmental headquarters accommodation, which will result in savings.
The rental costs of the accommodation that will ultimately be allocated to the Court Service headquarters is approximately£2 million per annum. There are several leases under which the accommodation is held, all due to expire in 2003–4.
Some of the staff who will be working in the Court Service have already moved into their proposed headquarters accommodation; the remainder, currently accommodated in buildings elsewhere on the estate, will be moved into the building as part of the on-going rationalisation process over the remaining months of this year.
The cost of furnishing and equipping the Court Service headquarters is anticipated to be minimal as staff moving into the Court Service headquarters building have taken, and will continue to take, furniture and equipment with them from their previous locations.
§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what office rental and other administrative savings are being made by moving Court Service staff to new Court Service agency headquarters.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe setting up of a headquarters for the Court Service has taken place at the same time as a wider rationalisation of the Lord Chancellor's Department headquarters estate. This is anticipated to provide estimated savings of £1.8 million in 1995–96. These savings include office rental and estimated administrative costs.