§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the running costs of each probate district and the income generated for the latest year for which figures are available. [10798]
§ Mr. StreeterThe question concerns a matter which has been assigned to the Court Service under the terms of its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Paddy Tipping, dated 13 January 1997:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about the running costs of and income generated by each Probate District.The following table details the running costs of each district for the financial year 1995–1996 and the fees recovered for the calendar year 1995:
Probate district Fees recovered (calendar year 1995) Running costs (financial year 1995–96) Birmingham 3,097,675 333,404 Brighton 4,091,954 356,055 Bristol 3,349,502 400,071 Ipswich 3,368,046 351,956 Leeds 2,739,697 369,301 Liverpool 2,454,852 332,946 Manchester 2,834,928 380,594 Newcastle 2,609,140 386,457 Oxford 3,613,422 331,746 Wales 1,611,637 394,952 Winchester 4,617,840 337,002 London (PRFD) 25,417,488 25,864,191 1 This figure includes fees received from the Record Keeper's Department (which provides copies of wills and grants). 2 This figure is the overall running cost of the Principal Registry of the Family Division in London which houses the Family Proceedings Department and the PRFD Secretariat as well as the Probate Department. Additionally, £2,996,597 was paid for probate accommodation centrally during the financial year 1995–96.