Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Bill for a ministerial veto and subsequent appeal to the Upper Tribunal for 'top tier' parole decisions, what assessment they have made of the importance of clarity and finality of parole decision making for (1) the victims of crime, (2) prisoners, and (3) the safe and efficient management of prisons; and of the likely impact of these new stages of the parole process.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Bill for a ministerial veto and subsequent appeal to the Upper Tribunal for 'top tier' parole decisions, how they intend to implement these new stages of the parole process whilst complying with the legal duty under Article 5 ECHR to determine parole decisions ‘speedily’.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Bill for a ministerial veto and subsequent appeal to the Upper Tribunal for 'top tier' parole decisions, what assessment they have made of the effect of these new stages of the parole process on (1) prison capacity, (2) the victims of crime, (3) prisoners and (4) prison staff.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Victims and Prisoners Bill impact assessment which states the that the average annual cost of implementing the proposed reforms will be £32 million, and the total annual budget for the Parole Board being £23 million, whether this additional expense will (1) be met by new funding or (2) have to be found from existing budgets, and if so from where they plan to reallocate this money.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The published impact assessment outlines the cost and impact on prison places of these reforms. The £32 million refers to the average annual cost of the reforms over the next 10 years (excluding transition costs). The bulk of this cost (£28.7 million) is attributed to the additional prison places required – the actual increase in costs to the Parole Board is expected to average £0.7 million over the next 10 years. However, it is important to note that these figures are averages and will not be this high immediately as the number of additional prison places required will increase gradually until the reforms reach ‘’steady state’’, which is expected to be more than 10 years away. No further funding has been allocated in this spending review period; any further funding expenditure will be determined at future spending reviews.
The impact assessment can be accessed here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-03/0286/VictimsandPrisonersBillParoleImpact_Assessment_March23.pdf.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any country has rejected a UK request for extradition, for reasons of the inadequacy of (1) the UK justice system, or (2) the UK prison conditions, within the past five years; and if so, which countries have done so, and on what grounds.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As a matter of long-standing Government policy, we do not comment on whether an extradition request has been made or received.
However, I can confirm that the UK makes every attempt to respond as fully as possible to requests for assurances in relation to matters such as those referenced by the Noble Lord when such requests are received in relation to extradition requests made to other countries.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bellamy on 8 March (HL5707), what assessment they have made of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory report What do we know about children and young people deprived of their liberty in England and Wales?, published on 9 February 2022; and what steps they plan to take in response to the recommendations for collecting and publishing data made in that report.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department welcomes the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory’s report ‘What do we know about children and young people deprived of their liberty in England and Wales’, and recognises the growing concerns regarding deprivation of liberty (DoL) cases. Children and young people deprived of their liberty are some of the most vulnerable children in society.
The newly launched National DoLs Court has helped the judiciary and the government gain more robust data and a greater understanding of this cohort of children who are often the subject of DoL proceedings, which requires a cross-system response.
The department accepts that there is a need for more robust data and will be meeting with the Ministry of Justice, HM Courts and Tribunals Services, and Nuffield to discuss their recommendations. Officials are meeting with Nuffield on 19 April. As data collection continues, we will be able to better understand the number of children placed in different settings, their characteristics, experiences and outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bellamy on 8 March (HL5707), whether they will record and publish data in relation to applications to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction, on a comparable basis to that for children subject to secure accommodation orders.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) are committed to making changes to internal case management systems to enable the routine publishing of data relating to applications to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the court, taking consideration of the data-related recommendations made within the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory report.
HMCTS are working with the Department of Education and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory on how the current data can continue to be made available whilst the necessary changes are made to the case management systems.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bellamy on 8 March (HL5707), what plans they have to improve the recording and publishing of data in relation to applications to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) are committed to making changes to internal case management systems to enable the routine publishing of data relating to applications to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the court, taking consideration of the data-related recommendations made within the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory report.
HMCTS are working with the Department of Education and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory on how the current data can continue to be made available whilst the necessary changes are made to the case management systems.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the Northern Ireland Executive on the creation of a statutory defence for victims of modern slavery or trafficking who have committed an offence.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office has had no discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the creation of a statutory defence for victims of modern slavery or trafficking who have committed an offence.
Asked by: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, how many parents whose children were subject to applications to deprive them of their liberty under (1) the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court, and (2) a secure accommodation order, were legally represented during the court proceedings in the last five years; and what percentage of such parents this represents.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Information regarding legal representation of parents whose children were subject to applications to deprive them of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court is held by the government as unstructured information within the family court administrative system and the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Information regarding the number of respondents that were legally represented in cases where children were subject to applications to deprive them of their liberty under a secure accommodation order is provided in the table below (this does not include the children themselves who are always entitled to legal representation).
Applications for secure accommodation orders for children can, and often are, made as standalone applications following the conclusion of proceedings which may have taken place to remove the child from the care of their parents, meaning their involvement in the new proceedings may be limited which in turn may limit the requirement for legal representation. In other instances, proceedings may be made at the request of the parents themselves and they therefore work alongside the local authority without separate legal representation.
Cases / Respondents with Application for Secure Accommodation Order | ||||
Issued January 2018 to September 2022 |
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Management Information |
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Year of Issue of Application | Cases* | Respondents** | Represented Respondents† | % Represented |
2018 | 499 | 886 | 185 | 21% |
2019 | 483 | 856 | 152 | 18% |
2020 | 379 | 682 | 141 | 21% |
2021 | 389 | 714 | 133 | 19% |
To end September 2022 | 222 | 406 | 60 | 15% |
| 1,972 | 3,544 | 671 | 19% |
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* Cases with at least one application in the period for a secure accommodation order **Respondents include, but are not limited to, parents of the child. | ||||
† Representative is recorded on case management system as acting for the party | ||||
This is Management Information, the data is taken from a live management information system and can change over time and may differ from previously published data. In July 2022 the President of the Family Division launched a national deprivation of liberty (DOL) court at the Royal Courts of Justice for a pilot period of 12 months. This pilot is being monitored by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory who have full access to the data. The Government will consider carefully the results of this pilot when they are available. | ||||