Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - 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 10 May (HL15362), if such data on the waiting times for appeal hearings on Personal Independence Payment claims are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost, how they determine whether (1) claims are being dealt with in a timely manner, and (2) the resources allocated to deal with appeals are adequate to meet the backlog of appeal claims.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) closely monitors waiting times. However, HMCTS does not keep data on waiting times within the specific and localised timeframes cited in the earlier question, answered on 10 May (HL15362), to which this question refers – namely, (1) up to six months, (2) six to 12 months, (3) 12 to 24 months, and (4) over 24 months. Information about volumes and waiting times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. HMCTS receives a bi-annual forecast of expected appeals from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and that informs our resourcing plans as well as informing judicial recruitment. Additional fee-paid judicial office holders have been recruited: 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 118 disability qualified members and up to 232 medical members. In addition, more PIP appeals are being listed per session and case-management “triage” sessions have been introduced, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. All these measures will increase the capacity of the tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants. |
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that a delegation headed by the director of Bahrain’s Jau Prison, Brigadier General Abdul Salam al-Araifi, visited correctional facilities in the UK before Easter, by whom the visit was funded; and if it was funded by the Government, from which funding stream this came.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
In April 2019, a delegation of officials from Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior visited HMP Berwyn and HMP Whitemoor. This delegation included Brigadier Abdulsalam al-Arifi, the Director General of Reformation and Rehabilitation in Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior. HMP Berwyn and Whitemoor provided complimentary refreshments for the delegation during their visits, at a cost of approximately £69.00 total. All other costs associated with the visit were borne by the delegation.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Abdulsalam al-Arifi, the General Director of Bahrain's Jau Prison, has visited prisons in the UK recently; if so, which prisons he visited; and what was the purpose of each such visit.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
In April 2019, a delegation of officials from Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior visited HMP Berwyn and HMP Whitemoor. This delegation included Brigadier Abdulsalam al-Arifi, the Director General of Reformation and Rehabilitation in Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior. The visit was arranged in support of Bahrain’s efforts to develop rehabilitation programmes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in the Yorkshire Region have been waiting (1) up to six months, (2) six to 12 months, (3) 12 to 24 months, and (4) over 24 months, for an appeal hearing on their Personal Independence Payment claims.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The data requested are not available centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Latest figures for Personal Independence Payment (to December 2018) indicate that since it was introduced, 3.9 million decisions have been made. Of these 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at Tribunals.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in the Yorkshire Region are waiting for an appeal hearing for their Personal Independence Payment claims.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The information requested is set out in the table below.
Number of Outstanding cases with a status of Ready to List1 - Yorkshire Region2
Date | Personal Independence Payment3 |
31 December 20184 | 4637 |
1 Ready to list includes cases waiting to be listed to a Tribunal hearing, these cases may already have had an initial hearing and be awaiting a subsequent hearing. The data in the answer are the number of cases ready to list. The actual number of live PIP appeals in the Yorkshire region as at 31 December 2018 is 7421. This figure includes those cases which are not yet ready to list as they are awaiting, for example, further evidence or a response from the DWP.
2Social Security & Child Support (SSCS) appeals are usually registered to the venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. We cannot retrieve data based on an appellant’s actual home address but can produce reports detailing the number of cases that are dealt with at one of our Regional centres or heard at a specific venue. Cases relating to the Yorkshire Region are attributed to the following SSCS venues: Leeds, Barnsley, Doncaster, Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull, Scarborough, Sheffield, Wakefield and York.
3PIP (which replaced Disability Living Allowance) was introduced on 8 April 2013, and also includes Personal Independence Claims (reassessments).
4Latest data, which are available, in line with published statistics.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale management system and are the best data available.
These data may differ slightly to that of the published statistics as they were run on a different date.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to urgently review the detention of prisoners subject to imprisonment for public protection sentences who have served their minimum tariff following reports of the numbers of those who await a decision from the Parole Board.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
By law, it is for the independent Parole Board to review the detention of those prisoners serving an IPP sentence who have completed their tariff period. The Parole Board no longer has a backlog when it comes to listing cases for an oral hearing. The Board will direct the release of these prisoners only if it is satisfied that the levels of risk posed to the general public are reduced enough that the National Probation Service and its partner agencies can safely manage them in the community under supervision.
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have been working to improve the management and progression of prisoners serving these sentences for some time, which is evident in the increasing number of overall releases we have seen in recent years: 576 in 2016 and 616 in 2017.
A joint action plan is in place, co-owned by HMPPS and the Parole Board, with the specific aim of providing opportunities for prisoners serving IPP sentences to progress to safe release. Through continuing the joint Action Plan, we are prioritising post-tariff prisoners in accessing rehabilitative interventions, including Psychology Services-led reviews in cases where there has not been satisfactory progression, and enhanced case management, for those prisoners sentenced with a complex set of risks and needs. We have also developed Progression Regimes at four prisons across the country, which are dedicated to progressing indeterminate prisoners struggling to achieve release via the usual routes.
Whilst HMPPS is focused on giving all prisoners serving IPP sentences opportunities to progress towards release, public protection must remain our priority.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of the appeal procedure against first instance decisions on asylum applications in the UK over (1) the last 12 months, and (2) the last three years.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The average clearance time, in weeks, from lodgement to disposal of an asylum appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) was:
Oct 2016 – Sept 20171 | 2016/17 | 2015/16 | 2014/15 |
30 | 35 | 26 | 13 |
[1] The last 12 months for which data are available, in line with published statistics.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of the appeal procedure against first instance decisions on asylum applications in the UK over (1) the last 12 months, and (2) the last three years, for (a) Syrian nationals, (b) Afghan nationals, and (c) Iraqi nationals.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The average clearance time, in weeks, from lodgement to disposal of an asylum appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) was:
| Oct 2016 – Sept 20171 | 2016/17 | 2015/16 | 2014/15 |
Syrian nationals | 37 | 39 | 28 | 16 |
Afghan nationals | 33 | 37 | 28 | 14 |
Iraqi nationals | 29 | 31 | 25 | 13 |
[1] The last 12 months for which data are available, in line with published statistics.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 27 April (HL7786), what temporary measures they plan to take, pending the review by the Lord Chancellor of the recommendations arising out of the review of extremism, to ensure that literature of a homophobic nature is not handed out by prison chaplains.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Prison chaplains are already aware that they should not distribute any unacceptable material, including material of a homophobic nature, to prisoners. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Justice is considering the recommendations of the review of Extremism. As the Secretary of State told the House on 26 April, a summary document will be published in due course. The full report cannot be published due to sensitive security issues.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take in the light of the findings of the review submitted to the Ministry of Justice that reportedly shows that government-appointed prison chaplains have routinely distributed homophobic literature to prisoners.
Answered by Lord Faulks
My Rt hon Friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice is considering the recommendations of the review of Extremism.