Asked by: Lord Carter of Haslemere (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Master of the Rolls about the impact of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on the justice system.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Lord Chancellor is responsible for the Government's relationship with the judiciary. As would be expected, he and other Departmental Ministers have regular engagement with the senior judiciary, including the Master of the Rolls, on a whole host of matters including legislation that affects the justice system.
It is standard practice not to comment on the specifics of discussions between Ministers and the judiciary. In line with constitutional conventions, discussions with the judiciary do not cover the merits of policy proposals and are limited to technical matters relating to the operation of the courts and the wider administration of justice.
Asked by: Lord Carter of Haslemere (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of digitising possession cases on the speed at which legitimate possession cases are processed by the courts when the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins to be implemented
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The most recent published statistics show that claim to possession order median timeliness is currently 7.6 weeks, an improvement from the same period in 2024, and within the 8 weeks set out in the Civil Procedure Rules: (Mortgage and landlord possession statistics - GOV.UK). As the Renters’ Rights Act is implemented, HMCTS will put in place measures including additional sitting days and administrative resource to ensure sufficient capacity is in place for the county court to handle the anticipated change to the possession caseload.
The digital service will offer an online route for making and responding to possession claims, filing documents, and receiving updates and outcomes, offering an improved user experience through guided journeys. It will reduce the time taken to deal with printing, posting and administrative handling of paper forms.
Asked by: Lord Carter of Haslemere (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners sentenced to Imprisonment for Public Protection who have been recalled to prison have been released by the Secretary of State under section 32ZZA of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
29 prisoners serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection were released by the Secretary of State under section 32ZZA of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 between 1 November 2024 (when the power became available) and 1 June 2025. We are determined to make progress towards safe and sustainable releases for those in prison, but not in a way that undermines public protection.
Asked by: Lord Carter of Haslemere (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average time for the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber to consider, process and rule upon rent appeal cases brought by tenants.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold the requested information centrally. To obtain this data would require a detailed analysis of the individual case records, which could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.