§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the initiatives undertaken by his Department since 1 May 1997 which have involved the establishment of(a) action zones and (b) pilot schemes limited to particular geographical areas, indicating the name of the programme and the action zone or pilot scheme areas covered in each instance. [47054]
§ Mr. HoonThe information requested is set out in the table.
Name of programme Area(s) covered Legal Aid Board pilot franchises for the provision of publicly funded mediation services. Pilots commenced May 1997. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Durham, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry, Northampton, Cambridge, Peterborough, Bristol, Cardiff, Bromley and London. Pilot to test the administrative arrangements necessary to implement S.9 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. Pilots commenced January and June 1998. Coventry, Southampton, Oxford and Carlisle Pilot to test draft checklist in Crown Court cases involving children. Pilots took place June to September 1997. Liverpool and Norwich Information Meetings Project (pilot to test arrangements for S.8 of the Family Law Act 1996). Pilots commenced June 1997. Birmingham and Coventry, East Anglia, Greater Manchester, Leicestershire and East Midlands, London, North East, South Wales, South West, South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire.