Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on (1) families, (2) children’s best interests, (3) the length of family court proceedings, and (4) family court capacity, of delays in access to the Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes recommended by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service; and what steps are they taking to reduce delays in accessing such programmes.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Access to in person Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes (DAPPs) has been adversely affected during the pandemic due to the necessary face-to-face delivery model. We are aware that some providers are continuing to provide a full service, but that others have had to reduce their offer due to social distancing restrictions.
The Government is therefore working with the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) and the judiciary to process cases as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to minimise the impact that the on-going restrictions to this service may have on families using the family courts, and vulnerable children in particular.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 8 April (HL14792), what financial structures are in place to govern decisions about where the Victim and Witness budget is spent; and whether they ensure that receiving organisations ring-fence the funding they receive from that budget.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) allocates around £96m from within its Victim and Witness Budget to fund crucial support services for victims of crime. The majority of this funding has been devolved to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) as they are best placed to respond to local demands and priorities, and commission services supporting victims in their communities. This area of spend is allocated using a population based funding formula, as it is a simple and transparent method for assigning funds. This funding is provided to PCCs via grants from the MoJ, which carry the condition that the funding provided is only to be used to fund support for victims of crime and that PCCs report to the MoJ on spend within that funding.
Where the MoJ directly funds and commissions support services from within its Victim and Witness budget, the money is allocated via grant funding and decisions on such funding are guided HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money publication, and overseen by the MoJs financial and accounting structures. Grant recipients need to comply with the terms of the grant and must only use their allocation for the delivery of services supporting victims of crime. Compliance with the terms of the grant is measured through bi-annual monitoring reports and annual financial accounts.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding each organisation that provides victim services was awarded from the revenue of the victim surcharge in each year since 2013.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Revenue from the Victim Surcharge forms a part of the Ministry of Justice’s Victim and Witness budget which is used to fund services that enable victims to cope and recover and support witnesses to give their best evidence in court. The Victim and Witness budget funds national support services such as: the National Homicide Service, Rape Support Centres, and the Court Based Witness Service. It also funds Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) who commission local support services for victims. Consequently, it is not possible to identify which services receive funding from the Victim Surcharge revenue specifically.
However, information on how much revenue is generated from the Surcharge and subsequently contributes to the Victim and Witness budget is available in the HMCTS Trust Statement, which are published every year. Below is a table with information taken from the Trust Statements detailing how much revenue has been generated from the Victim Surcharge since 2013.
Financial Year | Victim Surcharge Collected |
2013/14 | £19,548,000 |
2014/15 | £24,569,000 |
2015/16 | £28,307,000 |
2016/17 | £31,029,000 |
2017/18 | £35,022,000 |
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which organisations that provide victim services have been awarded funding from the revenue of the victim surcharge in each year since 2013.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Revenue from the Victim Surcharge forms a part of the Ministry of Justice’s Victim and Witness budget which is used to fund services that enable victims to cope and recover and support witnesses to give their best evidence in court. The Victim and Witness budget funds national support services such as: the National Homicide Service, Rape Support Centres, and the Court Based Witness Service. It also funds Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) who commission local support services for victims. Consequently, it is not possible to identify which services receive funding from the Victim Surcharge revenue specifically.
However, information on how much revenue is generated from the Surcharge and subsequently contributes to the Victim and Witness budget is available in the HMCTS Trust Statement, which are published every year. Below is a table with information taken from the Trust Statements detailing how much revenue has been generated from the Victim Surcharge since 2013.
Financial Year | Victim Surcharge Collected |
2013/14 | £19,548,000 |
2014/15 | £24,569,000 |
2015/16 | £28,307,000 |
2016/17 | £31,029,000 |
2017/18 | £35,022,000 |
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the new procedure in Magistrates' Courts routinely not to provide bailed defendants with written details of their bail conditions and future court dates on the number of defendants who (1) break their bail conditions, and (2) fail to appear at court; and whether they intend to monitor and track the impact of that change.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The procedural requirement in Magistrates’ Courts for the provision to defendants of written details of their bail conditions, and future court dates, has not changed. The Criminal Procedure Rules require the court to serve notice of a decision about bail on the defendant. This notice can be either personally served on the defendant at court, or sent by post following the hearing.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in what proportion of cases referred by the youth court through the National Referral Mechanism, following the use of statutory defence of modern slavery, a youth court receives a recommendation that the defendant is a victim of trafficking or modern slavery.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the use of the defence in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Neither does Crown Prosecution Service data capture such information.
The Home Office is responsible for the National Referral Mechanism. Referrals are made by designated First Responders which do not include a court. In practice an NRM referral made during court proceedings where the defendant relies on the section 45 defence would be made by the police or another First Responder.
Data on NRM referrals made during court proceedings is not collated centrally and could only be provided, through examination of individual NRM referrals and court transcripts, at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in what proportion of cases referred by the youth court through the National Referral Mechanism, following the use of the statutory defence of modern slavery, the court receives a recommendation from the National Referral Mechanism within 45 days.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the use of the defence in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Neither does Crown Prosecution Service data capture such information.
The Home Office is responsible for the National Referral Mechanism. Referrals are made by designated First Responders which do not include a court. In practice an NRM referral made during court proceedings where the defendant relies on the section 45 defence would be made by the police or another First Responder.
Data on NRM referrals made during court proceedings is not collated centrally and could only be provided, through examination of individual NRM referrals and court transcripts, at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in what proportion of cases in the youth court in which a defendant is charged with supply of drugs or possession with intent to supply has the statutory defence of modern slavery, under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, been used.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the use of the defence in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Neither does Crown Prosecution Service data capture such information.
The Home Office is responsible for the National Referral Mechanism. Referrals are made by designated First Responders which do not include a court. In practice an NRM referral made during court proceedings where the defendant relies on the section 45 defence would be made by the police or another First Responder.
Data on NRM referrals made during court proceedings is not collated centrally and could only be provided, through examination of individual NRM referrals and court transcripts, at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans are in place to ensure that magistrates’ courts in England and Wales are compliant with the Equality Act 2010 in terms of access arrangements for people with disabilities.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
HM Courts & Tribunals Service holds detailed data on our estate, but this has not been refreshed recently. We will be continuing to inspect and audit our estate. Our last audit was conducted in 2015, with our next audit scheduled for the first quarter in the next financial year.
We have recently conducted Building Condition Surveys at over 250 of our sites. These surveys factor in various elements of a building and help us better understand where future spend is required.
We seek to accommodate all access requirements, including where appropriate, the use of technology, such as video-conferencing and online services, which reduces the need to attend a physical court building.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which magistrates’ courts in each of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service regions in England and Wales are, in terms of their access arrangements for people with disabilities, (1) compliant with the Equality Act 2010, and (2) not compliant with the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
HM Courts & Tribunals Service holds detailed data on our estate, but this has not been refreshed recently. We will be continuing to inspect and audit our estate. Our last audit was conducted in 2015, with our next audit scheduled for the first quarter in the next financial year.
We have recently conducted Building Condition Surveys at over 250 of our sites. These surveys factor in various elements of a building and help us better understand where future spend is required.
We seek to accommodate all access requirements, including where appropriate, the use of technology, such as video-conferencing and online services, which reduces the need to attend a physical court building.