§ Lord Lester of Herne Hill askedHer Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Filkin on 6 October (WA 9), what practical impact the Government's decision not to allocate funds to modernise the civil and family courts as part of the 2002 spending review will have on the way in which the components of the modernisation programme can be implemented and the time scale of that programme. [HL5022]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Lord Filkin)The investment available, £75 million, will still allow us to improve the speed and quality of work in the civil and family courts and reduce unnecessary delays caused by manual working practices. Customers will be able to communicate electronically with us. Already our money claim online service has grown to be the largest issuer of money claims in a single year.
We have a range of ambitious plans to use technology to reduce delay, increase access to justice, and improve efficiency in this spending period. We are constantly reviewing the strategy for modernisation as the plans for the unified administration of the courts emerge.
Although I am not yet in a position to make a formal announcement about individual modernisation projects, all our plans will go through a rigorous internal evaluation to ensure that they contribute to our public service agreements. We will also use the Office of Government Commerce's gateway review process where appropriate.