TABLESitting Proceedings Time for conclusion of proceedings 26th June (a.m.), (p.m.) 1st July (a.m.), (p.m.) Clauses 1 to 4, Schedule 1; Clauses 5 to 6, Schedule 2; Clauses 7 to 35; Clauses 37 to 45, Schedule 4; Clauses 46 to 65, Schedule 5; Clauses 66 to 85. 5.00 p.m. on 1st July 8th July (a.m.), (p.m.) Clauses 86 to 94; Clause 97, Schedule 6; clauses 98 to 104; Clause 107; Schedules 7 and 8; Clauses 108 to 110. 5.00 p.m. 10th July (a.m.), (p.m.) Clause 36, Schedule 3; Clauses 95, 96, 105 and 106; new Clauses, new Schedules and any remaining proceedings on the Bill. 5.00 p.m.
Courts Bill [Lords]
10:15 am
Mr Christopher Leslie (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Shipley, Labour)
I echo the comments of the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome about the fact that it is nice to have had such a wide-ranging debate right at the outset. I have served on Committees that have started with semantic and drafting changes, which rather takes the wind out of the sails of the proceedings. It is important that we have already had the opportunity to think about some of the significant principles of the Bill.
I shall start by providing some background to the Government's thinking behind clause 1, and, indeed, the rest of part 1. The current arrangements provide for separation of the management of the courts in England and Wales. The Supreme Court, as currently understood—the High Court, the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal combined—and the county courts are managed by the Court Service, an executive agency of what is now the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The magistrates courts are administered by 42 separate magistrates courts committees.
In his review of the criminal courts, Lord Justice Auld recommended that a single agency should replace the Court Service and the MCCs. In the White Paper ''Justice for All'', the Government accepted Sir Robin's view that the difference in practice, procedure, management and funding of the current 43 organisations and their respective administrative cultures is occasionally inefficient and could be harmfully divisive, contributing to the fractured nature of the criminal justice system as a whole.
That is why the Government are considering the unification of court administration. It has important benefits. First, the unification process will establish a clear overall direction and accountability for national performance, while giving managers the freedom to innovate as local needs require. It will enable resources to be better used at both national and local level. That includes the better use of the court estate. My hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, West (Gareth Thomas) asked about the local dimension. The agency will be
flexible and will be able to match resources to need, uninhibited by organisational boundaries. It will be more efficient, providing better value by sharing and pooling resources and purchasing power, freeing resources for front-line operations.
The proposal will make justice more accessible. Many hon. Members have mentioned their concerns about rural access to justice. The process of the Bill might help to allow the business of magistrates courts to be conducted at any place in England and Wales that the Lord Chancellor directs. That could lead to greater use of local non-court buildings where appropriate.
The benefits include improved customer service—the new agency will be easier for the public and court users to communicate with and understand—and improved liaison in the criminal justice system, with closer and more coherent liaison between the courts, user groups and justice agencies at national and local levels. Unification will help to provide a framework for the setting and monitoring of national standards to enable best practice to be shared and standards in poorly performing areas to be raised. We must not lose sight of the benefits of unification in our discussions.
The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome tabled amendment No. 1, which would require the Lord Chancellor to ensure that the system supporting the business of the courts is ''accessible'', as well as efficient and effective. He rightly predicted that I take the view that that amendment is unnecessary. The general duty that the Bill imposes on the Lord Chancellor clearly includes access to the courts:
''to ensure that there is an efficient and effective system to support the carrying on of the business of the courts, and that appropriate services are provided for those courts''
I was saddened by the extreme comments by the hon. Member for Surrey Heath, who described the ''mania for modernisation'' as a disease. The hon. Members for Witney and for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) made me feel a bit better because they tempered the Conservative party's official Opposition view with more moderate comments.