§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Manchester, Gorton constituency of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [136176]
§ Jane KennedyThe policies developed by this Department generally relate to England and Wales as a whole and it is therefore not possible to say what the specific impact is on the Manchester, Gorton constituency. However, Manchester, Gorton is within the Manchester Magistrates' Courts Committee (MCC) area and will be part of the Greater Manchester MCC that comes into effect on 1 April 2001. A new 18-courtroom building is to be provided by Manchester City Council under a PH contract. The Lord Chancellor's Department will be providing PH Credits to the City Council to the value of approximately £45 million, which is 70 per cent. of the net present value of the scheme. Also, since 1997, £78,804 has been provided by the Lord Chancellor's Department to improve facilities available at the Manchester Magistrates' Court.
In addition, the Manchester Community Legal Service Partnership (CLSP), which covers Manchester, Gorton constituency, is one of 143 CLSPs throughout England and Wales. Throughout the Manchester, Gorton constituency, 12 agencies have been awarded contracts with the Legal Services Commission.