Written question asked by Vincent Cable (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 5 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 June 2007. It was answered by Vera Baird (Labour) on Tuesday, 12 June 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

eConveyancing Programme

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the (a) original planned completion date, (b) original estimated cost, (c) current planned completion date and (d) current estimated cost of all IT projects associated with the eConveyancing Programme is; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The original approved Business Case for the Electronic Conveyancing Programme (2005) estimated that full implementation would occur by 2013-14 with whole life costs to that date in the range of £270 to £310 million. Land Registry's latest estimate of completion is 2014-15 with a revised estimated cost of about £227 million.The introduction of Electronic Conveyancing in England and Wales is one of this Government's priority programmes of work that will make the conveyancing process simpler and more transparent for both conveyancers and their clients. The Programme's implementation plan is constantly reviewed and updated by Land Registry to ensure that each new service and product is fully tested and that customer feedback is taken on board. This has led to some slippage in the overall programme with a consequent reduction in the running costs contained in the original costing.An early prototype of the Chain Matrix TM has already been launched and is being tested by a number of conveyancers in the Southwest of England. A pilot of electronic conveyancing will follow once the necessary legislation is in place.

Secondary information