Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the independence of the office of the Children’s Commissioner for England; and whether it is consistent with the independence of that office for the postholder to be a member of a registered political party.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Children’s Commissioner post is a significant public appointment and must adhere to the requirements of the Governance Code for Public Appointments.
In accordance with Section 9 of the Governance Code for Public Appointments, it is permissible for public appointees to be politically active providing the activity is publicly declared. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has published a register of interest on their website for their Advisory Board, Audit and Risk Committee and Senior Leadership team.
As set out in the Framework Document between the Children’s Commissioner and the Department for Education, the Commissioner has freedom to determine their own priorities and activities, and should be subject to as few constraints as possible in deciding how to carry out their business within their statutory remit. This independence is secured primarily through the Children Act 2004.
The Commissioner is required under Section 8 (1) of the Children Act 2004, to publish an annual report which sets out the way in which she has discharged her functions, and what she has found in the course of exercising those functions. This report is sent to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and laid before each House of Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government through what process the post of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is filled; what the term of appointment is; whether the appointment is renewable; and if so, how many times the appointment can be renewed.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Appointments to the post of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector are conducted in line with the Public Appointments Process, following the Governance Code, as set out by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Further information on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-code-for-public-appointments.
These are Crown Appointments made by the Queen in Council, on the recommendation of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. The duration of terms served for public appointments can vary, but it is presumed that no individual should serve more than two terms or serve in any one post for more than ten years.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government through what process the post of the Children’s Commissioner for England is filled; what the term of appointment is; whether the appointment is renewable; and if so, how many times the appointment can be renewed.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Paragraph 3 (1) of Schedule 1 of the Children Act 2004 states that the Children’s Commissioner is to be appointed by the Secretary of State.
The Children's Commissioner for England is a significant public appointment. This means the appointment process must adhere to the requirements of the Governance Code for Public Appointments, and that the preferred candidate is subject to scrutiny by the Education Select Committee.
Paragraph 3 (4) and (5) of Schedule 1 of the Children Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) states that a Commissioner can only be appointed for a maximum term of up to six years, and that a person who has previously held office as the Children’s Commissioner may not be considered for reappointment.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government through what process the post of the Children’s Commissioner for England is filled; what the term of appointment is; whether the appointment is renewable; and if so, how many times the appointment can be renewed.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the independence of the office of the Children’s Commissioner for England; and whether it is consistent with the independence of that office for the postholder to be a member of a registered political party.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what requirement as to political independence is placed on (1) appointments to the post of Children’s Commissioner for England, and (2) appointments made by the Children’s Commissioner for England to that office.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government through what process the post of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is filled; what the term of appointment is; whether the appointment is renewable; and if so, how many times the appointment can be renewed.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the potential revenue of introducing a windfall tax on companies supplying (1) PPE, and (2) private COVID-19 tests.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It is right that, as the economy rebounds, those best able to contribute share in the task of restoring the public finances to a sustainable footing.
That is why, at Budget, the Chancellor announced an increase in the Corporation Tax (CT) rate from 19 per cent to 25 per cent from 2023 onwards. This will, by definition, only apply to companies that are making profits, and profitable businesses have continued to pay CT throughout the pandemic.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 23 December 2020 (HL11501), what is the parent court for each Nightingale court; and what was (1) the number of days sat in each parent court from 1 January 2019 to the date on which its Nightingale court opened, and (2) the number of days sat in each parent court from the date on which its Nightingale court opened.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
We have now opened Nightingale courts at 21 locations bringing the total number of temporary court rooms set up nationwide to 40. These additional temporary courtrooms have allowed us to increase capacity, particularly for jury trials, in locations where there is an operational requirement and hold additional hearings within a safe environment.
A list of Nightingale parent courts and the number of days sat in each parent court is provided in the table below using the latest available validated data.
Table showing data on sitting days covering the period 1 January 2019 to 30 November 2020
Parent Court(s) | Associated Nightingale Court | Nightingale Court Open Date | Sitting Day1 Total in Parent Court Only before Nightingale Court (Jan 2019 - Nightingale Court Open Date) | Sitting Day 1Total in Parent Court Only after Nightingale Court (Nightingale Court Open Date - Nov 2020) |
Worthing Magistrates' and County Court | East Pallant House | 20/07/20 | 1743 | 421 |
Southwark Crown Court | Prospero House | 03/08/20 | 3540 | 628 |
Swansea Crown Court (St Helen's) | Swansea Civic Centre | 17/08/20 | 1308 | 214 |
Telford Justice Centre2 | Former County Court at Telford | 17/08/20 | 1967 | 315 |
Teesside Combined Court | Middlesbrough Town Hall | 18/08/20 | 5275 | 817 |
Blackpool County Court | Former Magistrates court Fleetwood | 24/08/20 | 1027 | 92 |
Blackpool Magistrates' Court | Former Magistrates court Fleetwood | 24/08/20 | 1748 | 253 |
East London Family Court | 102 Petty France | 24/08/20 | 3732 | 614 |
Leeds Combined Court | Cloth Hall Court | 28/08/20 | 8991 | 1130 |
Luton Crown Court | Knights' chamber and visitor centre Peterborough Cathedral | 28/08/20 | 1435 | 280 |
York County Court | York, Hilton hotel | 28/09/20 | 1736 | 195 |
Manchester Crown Court (Crown Square) | The Lowry theatre, Salford | 28/09/20 | 3927 | 357 |
Manchester Crown Court (Minshull street) | The Lowry theatre, Salford | 28/09/20 | 2691 | 235 |
Manchester tribunal3 | The Lowry theatre, Salford | 28/09/20 | 5299 | 443 |
Teesside Combined Court (Middlesbrough County Court) | Middlesbrough, Jury's Inn hotel | 28/09/20 | 5559 | 521 |
Chester Crown Court | Chester, Chester Town Hall | 19/10/20 | 1465 | 116 |
Bristol Crown Court | Bristol Law Society | 19/10/20 | 2881 | 145 |
Bristol Civil Justice Centre | Bristol Law Society | 19/10/20 | 5782 | 361 |
Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts | Liverpool, St Georges Hall | 26/10/20 | 8317 | 548 |
Winchester Combined Court | Winchester Guild Hall | 26.10.20 | 1975 | 124 |
1. If a courtroom has been used at all on a given day, we count that as 1 ‘day sat’
2. Includes Telford Justice Centre Annex
3. Manchester Tribunals: Includes Alexandra House – Manchester Tribunal and Piccadilly Exchange – Manchester Tribunal
Data and management information can change over time and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available.
Ensuring that we can operate safely during the Covid-19 pandemic is our top priority. We have put in place measures in our court rooms so that they can hold Covid-19 secure trials, moved to virtual hearings where possible and opened additional court rooms in Nightingale courts as part of a package to increase available capacity.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 4 January (HL11555), (1) how much funding has been made available from the budget of the Reform Programme, and (2) how much money has been allocated from Administrative Data Research UK, for implementing the recommendations of the report by Dr Natalie Byrom Making the most of HMCTS data: HMCTS’ full response and update to Dr Byrom’s recommendations, published on 9 October 2020.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
Dr Byrom’s report makes a number of important recommendations which HMCTS is in the process of implementing. Because HMCTS’s response to the recommendations is integrated into the wider work on reviewing data use and management, spending is included in departmental and programme budgets. As such, it is not possible to disaggregate work on the recommendations from other work on data. In addition to spending from these departmental and programme budgets, HMCTS has allocated £4.92m of reform funding specifically to implementing our Data Strategy in 2020/2021.HMCTS budgets for future years have not yet been set.
ADR UK awarded MoJ a grant of £2.89m over three years for the data-linking programme Data First to facilitate and promote research in the area of justice. This work was commissioned for overall strategic aims of ADR UK and Data First and not specifically to address the recommendations from the Byrom report.