Courts (Hansard, 20 November 1997)

§ Mr. Letwin
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the ratio between the cost of maintaining courts in(a) rural and (b) urban areas.[15945]
254W

§ Mr. Hoon
The Lord Chancellor's Department does not hold information on the comparative cost of maintaining individual magistrates courts. Expenditure information is only collected at magistrates committee level and this will, in many cases, cover more than one court.
The Court Service does hold information on the maintenance cost of individual crown and county court centres but does not classify them as either rural or urban.

§ Mr. Letwin
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor' s Department what account was taken of representations received from courts committees in formulating the strategic plan for 1997 to 2007; and what savings will be made as a result of the closure of court houses under the strategic plan.[15977]

§ Mr. Hoon
The Lord Chancellor's Department has not formulated a strategic plan for the years 1997 to 2007. The Dorset Magistrates Courts Committee has drawn up a plan covering those years. The Lord Chancellor's Department was not consulted about the content of the plan and there is no statutory requirement for the Committee to have done so. It is for the Committee itself to determine what account should be taken of any representations received during the formulation of its plan.
The strategic plan makes no specific reference to the level of savings that could be achieved through the closure of court houses.

§ Mr. Letwin
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will review the practice whereby individuals representing themselves at court in civil cases, who win their cases, are not entitled to claim for costs other than travel expenses.[15947]

§ Mr. Hoon
Under the Litigants in Person (Costs and Expenses) Act 1975, litigants in person are entitled to recover costs other than travel expenses, including disbursements incurred and time for preparing their case. However, as part of the civil justice reform programme, my Department issued a consultation paper in August 1997, on the general provisions relevant to taxation of costs, including the costs of litigants in person.