HC Deb 21 March 2000 vol 346 cc514-8W
Mr. Maclennan

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the expenditure incurred by his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on(a) the setting up and (b) the operation of websites, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if he will list for each website (i) the topics covered, (ii) the average number of hits per month and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each website for each of the next three years. [115089]

Mr. Lock

The information sought regarding the websites of my Department, agencies and non-departmental bodies is as listed:

Websites

1. The Lord Chancellor's Department

  1. a. Set up costs: £7,368
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £16,200
  3. c. Topics covered: What's New?; Press notices; The department; LCD research; The courts; Judges & QCs; Magistrates; Speeches; Civil Procedure Rules; Consultation papers; Access to Justice; Legal aid; Civil matters; Individual and Family matters; Criminal matters; Statute Law database; Year 2000; Complaints procedures; and links to related sites.
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 22,000
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £65,000
    2. ii. 2001–02: £65,000
    3. iii. 2002–03: £65,000
  6. f. The Department is currently developing a Community Legal Service website which will be launched in April. Final costs are not available at this time.

2. The Court Service

  1. a. Set up costs: £18,542
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £16,000
  3. c. Topics covered: What's New; Court of Appeal and High Court judgments; Practice Directions; Daily Lists for the Supreme Court and the Crown Court (together with their Warned Lists); Supreme Court Costs Office; Crown Court and county court contact details; county court Parish Index; Courts with Divorce, Family and Care jurisdiction in England and Wales; Vexatious Litigants; Civil Procedure Rules Practice Directions; court forms and information leaflets; Court Service Annual report (in English and Welsh); Court Service Plan; Job Opportunities; Judicial Statistics; an Introduction to the Court Service; the Courts' Charter; the Office of the Social Security and Child Support Commissioners; the Immigration Appellate Authority; Special Commissioners for Income Tax; VAT and Duties Tribunal; and links to 19 Related Sites
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 27,280
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years;
    1. i. 2000–01: £16,000
    2. ii. 2001–02: £16,000
    3. iii. 2002–03: £16,000

3. The Northern Ireland Court Service

  1. a. Set up costs: nil
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): nil. The NICS maintains a number of pages on the Northern Ireland Civil Service website.
  3. c. Topics covered: Courts Charter and complaints procedures
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: not monitored by NICS
    5. 516W
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: unknown at this stage
    2. ii. 2001–02: unknown at this stage
    3. iii. 2002–03: unknown at this stage

4. The Public Trust Office

  1. a. Set up costs: £2,500
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £2,000
  3. c. Topics covered: introduction to the PTO; charter statements for each business area; details of the complaints procedure; "dormant funds in court" and links to other relevant sites.
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: Not currently monitored.
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. s: i. 2000–01: estimated at £20,000. A contract to re-design, build and maintain the website is about to be let. This will provide both for initial work and ongoing development over the next year.
    2. ii. 2001–02 and 2002–03: the future location of the work done by the PTO is under consideration, following the Quinquennial Review of the agency published in October 1999. Due to this, it is not possible to say what the expenditure will be nor by which department it might be incurred.

5. The Public Record Office

  1. a. Set up costs: Total development cost £2,100,000.
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £70,000.
  3. c. Topics covered: the public records; the services provided by the PRO and Family Records Centre; the operation of the public records system; the PRO contribution to the National Grid for Learning; information for records managers, conservators and the archives profession; the interactive enquiries service; interactive consultation on new developments; and links to other sites of archival or historical interest.
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 1,430,262
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £80,000 (development costs—£500,000)
    2. ii. 2001–02: £90,000 (development costs—£500,000)
    3. iii. 2002–03: £100,000 (development costs—£500,000)

6. Her Majesty's Land Registry

  1. a. Set up costs: £1,000
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £31,350
  3. c. Topics covered: About the Land Registry; Exhibitions and Events; Complaints procedure; Areas served by the Land Registry; Direct Access Service; Fees Calculators; Online publications including Annual Report and Accounts; Business Plan; information leaflets; application forms, District Land Registries, Residential Property Price Reports; Guide to Land Registry Services; Feedback facility; Online Property price database.
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 29,000
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £44,431
    2. ii. 2001–02: £44,431
    3. iii. 2002–03: £44,431

7. The Law Commission

  1. a. Set up costs: £2,400
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £12,000
  3. c. Topics covered: library containing full text of all Law Commission publications since March 1997; background information on the organisation of the Law Commission; summary of projects currently being undertaken by the 517W Commission; information on current recruitment campaigns; information on all law reform projects underway in all government departments ("Law Under Review").
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 3,500
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £18,500
    2. ii. 2001–02: £18,500
    3. iii. 2002–02: £18,500

8. The Official Solicitor's Office

  1. a. Set up costs: nil
  2. b. Operating Costs: (1999–2000): £120
  3. c. Topics covered: History of the Office; current legal basis and staffing of the office; areas of work covered and workloads; information for the legal profession and for individuals.
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: not known.
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £120 (but website development to be reviewed)
    2. ii. 2001–02: £120
    3. iii. 2002–03: £120

9. The Judicial Studies Board

  1. a. Set up costs: £925
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £1,080
  3. c. Topics covered: the structure and work of the JSB and its committees; all publications that are available free of charge to members of the public (for example, the "Annual Report" and "Annual Lecture") as well as those publications whose circulation on paper was previously limited simply for financial reasons (for example, the "Equal Treatment Bench Book" and the "Specimen Directions").
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 450
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. iv. 2000–01: £1,000
    2. v. 2001–02: £5,000
    3. vi. 2002–03: £3,000

10. HM Magistrates' Court Service Inspectorate

  1. a. Set up costs: £7,000.
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £7,208
  3. c. Topics covered: What's new; Who MCSI are; what MCSI do; how to contact MCSI; Published documents—field inspection, thematic review, business plan and guidelines; Order forms; feedback from the public; links to other related sites
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 116
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £15,000
    2. ii. 2001–02: £6,500
    3. iii. 2002–03: £6,500

11. The Legal Aid Board

  1. a. Set up costs: £47,000.
  2. b. Operating Costs (1999–2000): £12,920
  3. c. Topics covered: the Legal Aid Board's Regional Legal Services Committees; details of the Legal Aid Franchise Quality Assurance Standard; Civil contracting documentation; guidance issued by the Legal Aid Board in relation to the current legal aid scheme, the franchising quality assurance standard and on contracting regime; details on the development of legal aid policies and research reports together with draft consultation documents and final versions of documents for the new funding scheme under the Access to Justice Act 1999, including the Funding Code and the guidance on the Code; addresses and locations of legal aid area/regional offices; details of how to obtain legal aid forms; information on current legal aid leaflets; 518W News about legal aid—copies of Press releases, issues of FOCUS, the Board's newsletter to legal aid providers; and other information of importance; Links to other related websites (e.g. LCD/NACAB etc.).
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: 15,000
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £43,000
    2. ii. 2001–02: £25,000
    3. iii. 2002–03: £25,000

12. The Civil Justice Council

  1. a. Set up costs: £1,116
  2. b. Operating Costs: £1,175
  3. c. Topics covered: the background of the Council; the membership of the Council and its Sub-Committees; and summary reports of Council and Sub-Committee meetings.
  4. d. Average number of unique access hits per month: Not monitored.
  5. e. The estimated expenditure on the website for each of the next three years:
    1. i. 2000–01: £1,175
    2. ii. 2001–02: £1,175
    3. iii. 2002–03: £1,175.

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