§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many cases his Department forecast would be brought under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in its first year of operation. [20278]
§ Mr. HoonIt is forecast that approximately 200 cases are expected per year, for the first three years, following commencement of the Act.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many cases were brought under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 during its first year of operation; and how many of those cases were won by the appellant. [20279]
§ Mr. HoonThe Disability Discrimination Act 1995 came into force on 2 December 1996. Statistics have been collected only since the beginning of February 1997. The number of cases issued between the beginning of February and the end of October 1997 was 36. Of these 13 cases were for damages only and 23 were for damages and/or an injunction or declaration. The information requested as to the number of cases won by the appellant is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the impact which his recent legal aid proposals will have on disabled people seeking to take legal action under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [20280]
664W
§ Mr. HoonWe will be consulting widely before any final decisions are made about changes to the scope of civil legal aid. During this process careful consideration will be given to whether there are proceedings for which public funding should continue to be available for money or damages claims. If the hon. Gentleman believes that disabled people seeking to take legal action under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 face particular problems, I would be grateful if he could let me know what they are so that consideration can be given to this during the consultation process.