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Lord Chancellors Dept

Answer

Mr. Dawson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Lancaster and Wyre constituency, the effect on Lancaster and Wyre of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [154680] Jane Kennedy: The Lord Chancellor's Department is responsible for the administration of the courts and for legal services. We have taken steps to improve the management and effectiveness of the services we provide and to meet customer needs, including working closely with other agencies to provide a fair, swift and effective system of justice, improve the availability of affordable and good quality legal services and to improve the lives of children and help build and sustain strong families. In particular, the constituency of Lancaster and Wyre is part of the North-West Lancashire Community Legal Service Partnership. The partnership is recently formed and is in the process of agreeing its priorities for future funding. The current annual Legal Services Commission expenditure for the partnership on Civil Legal Help is £451,100. Also, the Trustee Act 2000 came into force on 1 February this year. It sweeps away the restrictive default investment powers granted to trustees, including charitable trustees, by the Trustee Investments Act 1961. They are replaced by a much wider investment discretion for the trustees and the power to make use of modern investment practices. These new powers will continue to be exercisable as default powers by trusts and charities whose founding documents give no, or no sufficient, investment powers themselves, and contain no restrictions which forbid the taking of such powers. It is expected that older trusts and charities will be the most likely to benefit. There are over 500 charities on the Register of Charities associated with Lancaster and Wyre by name, and no doubt many more trusts, charitable and otherwise associated with the area. It is not possible to say which of them might benefit, but the potential for benefit is there for all of them.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

154680; 365 c257-8W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Government departments Lord Chancellor's Department Lancaster

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk