Department for Constitutional Affairs Resource Accounts For
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Resource Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2005 Published by TSO (The Stationery Office) and available from: Online www.tso.co.uk/bookshop Mail, Telephone, Fax & E-mail TSO PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN Telephone orders/General enquiries 0870 600 5522 Fax orders 0870 600 5533 Order through the Parliamentary Hotline Lo-call 0845 7 023474 E-mail [email protected] Textphone 0870 240 3701 TSO Shops 123 Kingsway, London WC2B 6PQ 020 7242 6393 Fax 020 7242 6394 68-69 Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AD 0121 236 9696 Fax 0121 236 9699 9-21 Princess Street, Manchester M60 8AS 0161 834 7201 Fax 0161 833 0634 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD 028 9023 8451 Fax 028 9023 5401 18-19 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1PT 029 2039 5548 Fax 029 2038 4347 71 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9AZ 0870 606 5566 Fax 0870 606 5588 The Parliamentary Bookshop ISBN 0-10-293650-1 12 Bridge Street, Parliament Square, London SW1A 2JX Telephone orders/General enquiries 020 7219 3890 Fax orders 020 7219 3866 TSO Accredited Agents (see Yellow Pages) 9 780102 936506 and through good booksellers Department for Constitutional Affairs Resource Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2005 Presented pursuant to the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, Chapter 20, Section 6 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 30 November 2004 HC 715 LONDON: The Stationery Office £17.70 Department for Constitutional Affairs Resource Accounts 2004-05 Contents Annual Report 1 Statement of Accounting Officers’ Responsibilities 10 Statement on Internal Control 11 Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons 15 The Accounting Schedules: Schedule 1 – Summary of Resource Outturn 17 Schedule 2 – Operating Cost Statement 19 Schedule 3 – Balance Sheet 20 Schedule 4 – Cash Flow Statement 21 Schedule 5 – Statement of Resources by Departmental Aims and Objectives 23 Notes to the Accounts 26 Department for Constitutional Affairs Resource Accounts 2004-05 Annual Report The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) Executive Agencies: is the Government department responsible • Court Service for upholding justice, rights and democracy. Central to the delivery of justice, it is DCA’s role is to drive forward the reform and responsible for the administration of the improvement of the legal and justice system court system (excluding magistrates’ courts) in England and Wales. It is responsible for in England and Wales. upholding the rule of law and for reforming and safeguarding the constitution so that • Public Guardianship Office (PGO) they serve the public effectively. Assists in the protection and administration Principal Activities of the financial affairs of individuals with mental incapacity. DCA administers the courts and tribunals in England and Wales and the legal aid budget Associated Offices: (through sponsorship of the Legal Services • Office of the Official Solicitor and Commission). Public Trustee The core Department consists of a headquarters, • Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman two executive agencies and a number of associated offices. While consolidated within • Office of the Legal Services Complaints the Department’s Resource Accounts, the two Commissioner executive agencies publish separate agency • Her Majesty’s Magistrates’ Courts Service accounts. Decisions relating to the day-to-day Inspectorate running of them remain the responsibility of their individual Chief Executives. • Law Commission The associated offices are controlled and • Council on Tribunals monitored by the Department. While some • Office of the Judge Advocate General report financial performance in separate annual reports, only the Office of the Legal Services • Judicial Studies Board Ombudsman and the Office of the Legal • Commission for Judicial Appointments Services Complaints Commissioner prepare separate statutory accounts that are audited Scotland Office by the Comptroller and Auditor General. • Scotland Office The administrative functions of the Scotland Promotes the devolution settlement and Office (including the Office of the Advocate represents Scottish interests within the General for Scotland) and the Wales Office UK Government. also fall under the DCA umbrella. Entities within the accounting • Offices of the Advocate General for Scotland boundary of the Department Provides legal services and bridges the gap between Scottish and British legal issues. Core Department • Executive non-departmental public bodies: Boundary Commission for Scotland • Department for Constitutional Affairs This is reviewing the parliamentary Headquarters constituencies in Scotland. Responsible for supporting Ministers in policy, funding and regulatory functions as well as providing key services to intra-departmental entities. 1 Department for Constitutional Affairs Resource Accounts 2004-05 • Commission on Boundary Differences and Operating and Financial Review Voting Systems in Scotland The Commission’s remit is to examine the In December 2004 the DCA published its consequences of having four different strategy for the next five years (www.dca.gov.uk systems of voting in Scotland, and different /dept/strategy/index.htm) based around the boundaries for Westminster and Scottish top priorities of: reducing crime; speeding up Parliament constituencies. asylum and immigration appeals; protecting the vulnerable; faster and more effective dispute Wales Office resolution; and renewing the relationship between the public and the state. • Wales Office Promotes the devolution settlement and In parallel to this, the Spending Review in 2002 supports the representation of Wales within set DCA’s Public Service Agreement (PSA) for the UK Government. the period 2003-04 to 2005-06. The PSA for this period covers the delivery of justice, civil and Executive non-departmental public administrative law, protecting the vulnerable, bodies outside the accounting modernising the constitution, increasing boundary consumer choice, and working in partnership with the independent judiciary. Legal Services Commission There are seven targets that support the PSA. Oversees the administration of legal aid in These, and the six objectives, are explored England and Wales. briefly here and in more detail in the 2004-05 Departmental Report (Cm 6530), and in the Information Commissioner’s Office Autumn Performance Report to be published Reports to Parliament on aspects of data later this year. The core Department was protection and freedom of information. responsible for approximately £3.5bn of public spending in the financial year. The use of these Both executive non-departmental public bodies resources is reported against the objectives in fall outside the accounting boundary and Schedule 5 of these accounts. prepare separate accounts that are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The aim of the Scotland Office is to support the Secretary of State for Scotland in promoting Three sister departments – The Northern Ireland the devolution settlement and Scottish interests Court Service, Land Registry and The National in Parliament. A brief review of performance Archives also report to the Secretary of State is shown by objective in Schedule 5. Further for Constitutional Affairs. Each of these has a detailed information, in respect of performance separate Parliamentary Estimate and prepares against PSA targets is provided in the Scotland separate accounts. Office’s Annual Report (Cm 6544). Likewise, the Departmental Report Wales Office’s aim is to support the Secretary of State for Wales in promoting Welsh interests In June 2005, the Department for Constitutional and ensuring the smooth implementation of Affairs published a series of three documents the devolution settlement in Wales. The Wales that make up the 2004/05 Departmental Report. Office’s Annual Report (Cm 6545) details its key The first document (Cm 6530) concentrates on achievements and performance by objective. the core Department. The other two documents Expenditure by objective is provided in are the Annual Report 2005 of the Scotland Schedule 5. Office and Office of the Advocate General for Scotland (Cm 6544) and the Annual Report The Department as a whole was responsible for 2005 of the Wales Office (Cm 6545). These approximately £30bn of public spending in the reports, along with the Main Estimates, the financial year. Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005-06 and the Supplementary Budgetary Information 2005-06, present the Government’s expenditure plans for 2005-08. 2 Department for Constitutional Affairs Resource Accounts 2004-05 Performance highlights of the core Objective 2: to ensure a fair and effective Department for 2004-05: system of civil and administrative law • Target 3 Objective 1: to ensure the effective delivery of justice Proportionate dispute resolution Many people who are apprehensive about DCA works with others across Government using the courts are unaware of the alternative and with local partners to reduce crime and ways of settling disputes. Over the last financial anti-social behaviour and empower people year the Department has developed and to exercise their right and enforce their undertaken a series of pilot mediation schemes responsibilities. In particular DCA works to looking at reducing both the adversarial nature reduce the number of ineffective trials and of solving disputes and the associated costs. to guarantee the rights of defendants whilst Over the year the number of non-family claims ensuring that the public are protected and that issued in the civil courts has risen to 1.791m, jurors, victims