B R I E F S: Boateng blasts 'extravagance'

Boateng blasts 'extravagance'

Paul Boateng, Labour's legal affairs spokesman, has dismissed as "extravagant and irrelevant" the National Court User Survey published by the Lord Chancellor's Department last week. Not only did the survey omit questions about rapidly rising fees for civil business, said Mr Boateng, but it also cost more than £140,000. Coming on top of the £900,000 spent on consultancy fees in establishing the Court Service Agency, it meant that more than £1m had been spent "without any appreciable reduction in delay and inefficiency".