§ Derek TwiggTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will publish the report of the Quinquennial Review of Her Majesty's Land Registry. [1103]
§ Mr. WillsMy noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor has today published the Report on the Quinquennial Review of HM Land Registry. HM Land Registry is a Government Department established in 1862 for which the Lord Chancellor is the responsible Minister. In 1990 it was launched as an executive agency and granted Trading Fund status in 1993.
I would like to thank the reviewer, Andrew Edwards CB, for conducting such a thorough review and for his most comprehensive Report. The Review has found that public confidence in land and property ownership depends on HM Land Registry's ability to guarantee title and to deliver its services impartially. For these reasons the Review finds that HM Land Registry should remain in the public sector as a Government Department, an executive agency and a trading fund; while continuing the significant amount of work in partnership with the private sector that it currently undertakes. The Government accept the Review's conclusions on HM Land Registry's 85W continued public sector status and the Lord Chancellor has now asked officials to take forward the review of HM Land Registry's Framework Document.
I note that the Review makes wide-ranging proposals for the enhancement of the Land Register and for improvement in the operation of the property market in England and Wales. It also provides a timely contribution to the debate on the future of e-conveyancing and land registration services. While some of the recommendations are consistent with programmes of reform already under way, others are more radical and wide-ranging. The Lord Chancellor has therefore asked officials from his Department and HM Land Registry to examine the recommendations carefully with officials from other interested Government Departments. Together with colleagues, we will wish to assess the more wide-ranging and radical proposals, including, in particular, their implications for, and impact on, other Government 86W initiatives, before reaching conclusions on the best way forward in this important area. The Lord Chancellor intends to publish in the autumn a plan for taking forward the wider recommendation contained in the Report once this more detailed consideration has been completed.
Copies of the Report and a summary of its recommendations have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.