§ 40. Mr. AmessTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he is taking to make his Department more accessible to the general public. [49913]
§ Mr. HoonIt is the Lord Chancellor's policy that all new court buildings and existing buildings undergoing significant alteration or extension should enable disabled people, staff and court users alike, to gain independent access into and within the building.
449WMagistrates courts are locally managed by magistrates courts committees under the provisions of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997. Decisions concerning the future and number of magistrates courts in their area are for the relevant MCC to determine in accordance with section 56 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997. While my Department has no role in the actual decision making process, we may have a limited role if a magistrates courts committee decides to make a bid for a new building via the Private Finance Initiative.
My Department has also directed that all magistrates courts committees should meet specified standards of performance relating to disabled court users. To assist courts committees in implementing the standards, a booklet containing guidance and useful contacts accompanied the direction. Copies of the guidance can be found in the House of Commons Library.
The Court Service Agency is responsible for all civil and the higher criminal courts. It keeps court accommodation under constant review.
To comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), the Court Service is reviewing its practices, policies and procedures. A number of initiatives are under way: Customer Service Officers will have disability awareness training, covering the DDA and all staff will receive printed guidance; interpreters for deaf court users are provided and paid for in criminal, civil and family cases; the tribunals for which the Lord Chancellor has responsibility are considering a similar scheme; a leaflet is being prepared advising court users about available facilities for people with different needs, for example, information about the Court Service will be made available on audio cassette and is available in Braille, as are a series of leaflets about small claims in seven minority languages: Arabic, Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu, Chinese and Bengali.